Sandblasting and metal streching?

I have been reading and talking with folks about repainting large pieces of metal including hoods, fenders and the like. I'm looking for advice on how to strip rust from these pieces. I read that sandblasting can strech larger pieces of metal. What is the prefered meathod of stripping rust from pieces like this? I'm new to painting and any advice would be appreciated. Thanks

 

You can still sandblast seams and such just like normal but if you have to sandblast a trunk lid or hood then just using a small pot blaster will work fine, fenders and doors will be fine you will just sometimes have a problem with panels that have a inner support.

 

There is a ton of information here on this subject. If you do a search and read for about the next week or so, you'll be an expert.

 

Here's a thread related to this:

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=233375&page=3

And my advice:

Re: The Best way to remove rust from a 80 year old body?

Since most old bodies still have a mixture of paint and rust, I like to do it like this:

I used 3M black paint/rust stripper 4 1/2" pads on a Makita style grinder or the 7" pads with velco backing for the 7" body grinder(Eastwood sells them all) to strip all the rust/paint off the flat panels that are susceptable to warping from blasting. You can work pretty fast and what's nice about it, is you can do a little bit at a time inside your shop without having to set things up and then clean things up every time. When I get all the flat panels done, then I move it outside and sandblast the reveals, corners, pitted areas, nooks and crannies that you couldn't do with the stripper pad. It is the safest way to avoid warpage of the flat panels, especially if you are not experienced. I used a Tractor Supply 20 gal. $129 sandblaster with Black Diamond media, It seems to work much better than silica sand. The pattern with it is wider and it cuts faster (with less heat/warpage). It does leave a co****r finish but you can knock it down with a sanding pad or your filler primer will cover it, since it will have to be blocked out anyway.

 

Welcome to the HAMB!!!

 

Thanks for help guys!