Which would be better and what are the cost differences for anyone out their who has researched this more than me?
Anyone know of any good shops near Colorado Springs area that can do either or and a good paint job too?
chemical dipping the best way to remove everything except good sheetmetal. the problem with this is that you dont have a good way to protect the bare metal inside the panels. for example, inside the rocker panel. you can spray the outside, and get some overspray inside, but you wont be able to coat everything. there are some wax wands that can spray inside the panels, but you are not guaranteed to get full protection.
media blasting is great, because it is not as aggressive as sand blasting. if you have tons of rust, media blasting usually wont remove all the rust, and some sandblasting may be required. the bad part about blasting is the clean up. you will be vaccuming media out of the cracks and crevices forever. when you think it is allgone, some more will appear a few days later.
also with media blasting, you dont have to completely diasassemble the entire car.
i have chemical dipped parts of my car. fenders, doors, decklid, bumper brackets, etc. a buddy has done a hood as well. these parts are better, because you can usually get into the backsides of the panels easier. BUT, you need to get them primed ASAP, as it is bare metal. they do put a temporary coating on them, but you need to get them primed fairly quickly.
which ever you decide to do, dont forget the backsides of the panels, otherwise you just wasted your time and money. rust usually starts from the inside, and with bare metal, you are asking for trouble.
i have some pics of the panels i had dipped. let me find them and scan them, so i can post them up for you.