"Dipping" parts in paint rather than spraying them?

[Kern Dog]

Our Sacramento based Mopar club has had a variety of members over the years, some brilliant, some not.
One guy stood up at a meeting to tell how he planned to paint several parts in his restoration of a mid 70s truck. He said that the factories would dip some parts in paint and not spray them. He said that all you had to do was have a wide vat with water in it but with about 1 1/2" of enamel paint on the top, effectively making two layers. The part was dipped through the paint and into the water until the whole part passed through the paint, then it was pulled out of the vat and the water stayed below the paint, the pain ted part dripped paint back into the top layer. He said this technique was excellent for maximizing materials since there was no overspray.
It is an interesting concept. Have you heard of this?

 

[copper67sat]

I don't have direct knowledge of what the factory did and it's been a long time, but I recall a row of drips in the thick, black paint on my original bar that made me think it had been dipped and hung to dry.

 

[Kern Dog]

Torsion bars, leaf springs, control arms, K members, other chassis parts were supposedly dipped too.

 

[eldubb440]

not sure about the water part, but I like the concept

years ago, I was contacted about painting steel wire "fence" on a new parking garage at a dealership.....pretty much 3/16 steel rod on a 1 1/2 inch grid.

Guy in charge insisted the paint be sprayed for some reason. I told him If I did it, I would roll it on from both sides; it would use less paint, and there would be no overspray issues.

I didn't get the gig

 

[Kern Dog]

The whole concept of dipping would be excellent for huge production conditions. Zero overspray, no issue of cleaning the spraying equipment either.

 

[hanks73340]

First time i've heard of that. Interesting.

 

[Kern Dog]

not sure about the water part, but I like the concept

years ago, I was contacted about painting steel wire "fence" on a new parking garage at a dealership.....pretty much 3/16 steel rod on a 1 1/2 inch grid.

Guy in charge insisted the paint be sprayed for some reason. I told him If I did it, I would roll it on from both sides; it would use less paint, and there would be no overspray issues.

I didn't get the gig

The water underneath the paint allowed the parts to be "passed through" a thin layer of paint so a tall or thick part could still be coated as it was submerged.

 

[69L48Z27]

Dipping was a thing for factory parts for sure. GM did it also. I ‘ve never heard about water being used. Makes no sense to me how that would work or why you would even use water.

 

[F4R/T]

I tried dipping AC brackets, p/s brackets etc and I wound up powder coating them as I can’t deal with runs in pretty black paint... ocd! I also used rustoleum in a aluminum pan...

 

[Kern Dog]

Dipping was a thing for factory parts for sure. GM did it also. I ‘ve never heard about water being used. Makes no sense to me how that would work or why you would even use water.

The theory was that as the part passed through the paint and into the water, the paint was already clinging to the metal part. The water allowed the part to be submerged deeper without spending the money on paint for the full container. Water is cheap, paint is not. If the top layer of paint can ride on top of the water, you'd only need a thin layer of expensive paint on top for this to work.

 

[BeepBeepRR]

Nothing about dipping but pretty cool old video from 59 Maybe some dipped parts. I'm not all the way through the video though.

 

[69L48Z27]

The theory was that as the part passed through the paint and into the water, the paint was already clinging to the metal part. The water allowed the part to be submerged deeper without spending the money on paint for the full container. Water is cheap, paint is not. If the top layer of paint can ride on top of the water, you'd only need a thin layer of expensive paint on top for this to work.

Ah, I see. The dipping for what we do would require at least a 5 gal bucket I guess, for small parts. Report back on the water thing. Should like a huge mess to me.

 

[Kern Dog]

The car club guy Bob also suggested a 5 gallon bucket but that lacks the width and depth for torsion bars and leaf springs. It would work for most other suspension parts: Control arms, swap bars, misc brackets too.

 

[sam dupont]

here is how they did it (though not exactly) I've done it. You will notice that she spins it. The best I can explain is: the paint is suspended on the top and once it touches, it's gone. She is in effect rolling it across the paint while it its floating on the water. I wouldn't swish it at the end, that makes mud.

marbling art dip - Google Search

 

[Sahara]

They did indeed dip some parts, I recall reading in a Mustang magazine years ago about doing this to suspension parts. I dunno about the water part but it does make sense as the part is getting painted as it goes into the water.
To dip torsion bars and such a simple tank can be built out of large PVC sewer pipe and a pipe cap. I’ve been soaking rifle actions in unleaded gasoline as a solvent to remove oil and grease for decades in a four foot pice of sewer pipe, capped off. I put a threaded cap on the other end to seal it so it doesn’t evaporate or smell too much.
Hint to the wise: if you do use pipe as a tank rig up a rope to tie it to your ceiling or high bracket or you WILL tip it over and spill everything. And don’t use gas as a solvent in your house.

 

[coronet68mx]

I tried dipping AC brackets, p/s brackets etc and I wound up powder coating them as I can’t deal with runs in pretty black paint... ocd! I also used rustoleum in a aluminum pan...

Does it work?

 

[WileE]

I've heard of the paint-dipping process... but never with water.

 

[dadsbee]

I dipped quite a few things in my 69 Swinger clean up thread on FABO

 

[Charlie Brown]

The theory was that as the part passed through the paint and into the water, the paint was already clinging to the metal part. The water allowed the part to be submerged deeper without spending the money on paint for the full container. Water is cheap, paint is not. If the top layer of paint can ride on top of the water, you'd only need a thin layer of expensive paint on top for this to work.

You're right about water being cheaper than paint, and from a cost point of view, this might make sense, however, how does one separate paint from water after you've finished your project? This could create disposal issues.

 

[F4R/T]

I powder coated my parts after stripping them back down.. now they look perfect. Does it work yeh BUT it’s not perfection I would spray it or thin out the Rustoleum paint trying to avoid drips and sags was not fun and after it was coated it was terribly slow to dry. So I will say a different paint it or thin it may work if you like that look it was slick but every nook and cranny was thicker and drips coming out of holes as I hung them after dipping didn’t appeal to me.