Paint Stripping with EnvirostripStuart, a regular contributor on the TR forum and face behind the Watermill Carriage Company that specialises in TR restoration suggested that it is well worth spending the money to get the car stripped using a company called Enviro-Strip.
So the panels were taken off just to leave a bare shell. The TR4A panels are bolted and screwed on so it took around 5 hours to get them off. The car is now ready to go to Enviro-Strip to have it dipped and painted in primer before the bodywork and paint can commence. |
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Our Stripped Triumph TR4A With Panels Off Ready For The Enviro-Strip Treatment.
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Enviro-Strip Vehicle collection
To make things very easy, Enviro-Strip send a guy with a covered trailer to collect your body shell. It all gets strapped down, an inventory is taken and you get some paperwork to prove they took the parts away for stripping. All very friendly and simple. The pictures show the TR getting loaded up. Now the body has gone I have a massive space in the workshop:-) It was a howling gale and lashing rain when the vehicle was collected but Allan the guy collecting the vehicle didn't bat an eyelid. Just got it sorted. Very professional all round!
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The Enviro-Strip Process - 1st Stage Paint Removal
You can see all the paint blistering and it all looks a sorry sight at this stage. Next stage is to dip it to remove the paint that's left. This process also removes any glue or rubber sealants too leaving a clean shell.
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2nd stage paint removal dipped in the tank
This is where all of the paint that was left gets removed from every nook and cranny. After this process you are left with a bare metal shell. It goes through this precess a couple of times to get rid of everything.
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3rd Stage. Left out to dry before hand finishing and etch prime 2pk.
This is where you get a real chance to spot the rot. For us it's looking pretty clean all round so maybe not so much required on the body.
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Etch Primed Body
This is how the car looks after etch priming.
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The body returned to the workshopHere you can see detailed pictures of the body. There is some work for us to do but overall it is not bad shape at all. The whole Enviro-strip process is effortless and I thank Stuart of the Watermill Carriage Company for introducing me to Enviro-strip. Looking at the results, it takes a lot of work out of the process of restoring a body shell. To get it this well prepared by hand would be an incredible mission that would take many weeks of work and maybe not as thorough. Enviro-strip keep you informed throughout the process with picture updates via email and Vaughan who handles the collection, pricing, stripping and delivery of your car is incredibly professional.
Cost In terms of cost, to collect and return your vehicle, strip it and have it etch primed costs around £1400. Approx £300 of that is delivery and etch priming is £325 - ish. So if you could do the drop off and collection yourself and prime it yourself you are looking at about £700-£800 to have the car stripped. |
The video above lets you take a good look at the body after the Enviro-strip process. This is how the shell was returned to us after completion of the work.
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