Watch A De Tomaso Pantera Go For A Paint-Stripping, Rust-Removing Bath

We all love to see a car restoration. Watching someone turn some grubby, abandoned barn find into a perfectly shiny time machine is just so satisfying. But what about the parts in between, all the little minutiae that comes between Before and After? Well, if this video of paint stripping and rust repair on a De Tomaso Pantera is anything to go by, those steps are just as fun to watch. 

You might have seen YouTuber minute_of_dangle before — he's been chemical-dipping cars on YouTube for years — but I didn't know about the channel until the almighty algorithm served me this video of a paint and rust removal on a Pantera today. I'm guessing it saw my watch history full of motorcycles and Adam Savage and decided I was the exact kind of person who'd like to watch a car slowly lose its paint and rust to a vat of chemicals. It was right.

Of course, the process isn't at simple as "rusty red thing goes in, perfectly stripped rust-free thing comes out." The process requires plenty of dips and liberal application of a pressure washer, but it's all just so nice to sit down and watch. I want a playlist of every one of these videos on a loop, on mute, whenever I'm just hanging out. It's so nice to just see a process happen, through which an object is changed. 

If you liked How It's Made, you'll probably like seeing the hard work of both a factory paint booth and years of rot carefully undone by a big vat of liquid and a high-powered Super Soaker. If you didn't like How It's Made, I fundamentally don't understand you, but give the clip a watch anyway. Who doesn't love to see a process be done — or better yet, undone by yet another process?