Hears my Question. I have a 36 dodge 5 window project I'm gonna start on this summer, the body has the usual dings and dents and rust here and there and lots of old paint left over. I've asked around about getting it sand or media blasted, everyone in town wants more than i paid for the danm car and friends say dont sand blast it you'll warp it. So what's left, chemicals. I was even told a 7" grinder is bad too. should forget it and drive a "RATROD" piece a shit, need feed back guys whats a poor boy to do?????
Welcome to resurrecting old sheet metal. Sand blasting can indeed ruin a lot of sheet metal, but not if you figure out how to do it properly. It's a monumental mess and you'll be picking sand out of ....everywhere, but it's probably the best way to remove corrosion. I don't know what you paid for the car or what they want to media blast it, but one really doesn't have anything to do with the other.....You'll pay either way.. pay someone else to do it or you'll invest the time to learn and do it yourself, which includes buying a sandblaster that's adequate to do the job. The "cost" is pretty much a wash, when comparing all the pros and cons of each. You have to decide whether you want this particular car enough to invest the effort, time or money, to get it done One mistake a lot of guys make when blasting is using too much material and too much pressure. Cut the sand flow down so it does the job and nothing more. By adjusting the air pressure you can gain the most efficiency out of the sand. Back the gun up a little and let the material do it's job. Good luck.
I think Its worth $500.00 to strip the outside of a car, between materials, noise, and black crap every where...$500.00. But if you must, Norton has a blue spongy looking disc, for stripping paint. It fits on a 4 inch grinder, it will stand 10,000 RPMs, and Its at Home Depot...cheap. It is probably the best stripping disc I've seen, to date.
I own a media blast company, we charge $800 for your basic outside surface blast job. We use crushed glass which does not warp the metal since we blast with considerably less pressure and glass does not heat the metal very much. For rust, it is the best method. Sand will pit the metal and sand blasters use too much pressure for sheet metal. If you want it done, you are going to have to pay for it. You can buy a small hobby blaster and do it yourself, but you are probably going to regret that decision, hobby blasters suck, it takes ten-times longer to get the job done. I can blast a full-size car in one day. I can even leave the glass and chrome intact with the right preparations. Of course, you being in NM, you can take as long as you want, clean metal doesn't seem to rust in the desert!
If you have a place to blast it yourself you might check out the cost of renting the equipment. If you can rent a good gasoline powered compresson and find a decent blaster you can prolly do it in a good day. Don't forget a good hood and a respirator.
Just don't use sand, whatever you do. It gives off free silica when it shatters and that can make you really sick. Even if you wear a respirator, anyone around will be effected, plus it is not efficient. Spend the $10-20 per 50 pounds for crushed glass. Use a 60-40 mix of #3 to #4 glass for a 120-grit profile that you can simple blow off, wipe down and primer over.
You won"t be the first guy that has broke out a grinder and got busy on a project. Get you some paint remover,do that first and then break out the elbow grease and get to work.With the new paint removing wheels they make today its easier than it looks. Just time and energy. save that $800 bucks for the drivetrain.
Pay some pro to do it. I've done both and I assure you it's worth it...........unless you don't have ANYTHING else to do and you have a big compressor and don't mind sweating your ass off while you get filthy. And, as has already been mentioned, you'll do this for several days. Should you decide to do it yourself, make damn sure you do it outside and away from your shop and house unless you want everything covered with dust. Don't ask me how I know all this.
We made our own sand blaster from a propane tank, it works fine with regular sand but it isn't small enough to use inside. Its great for use in your driveway if you don't mind a little mess. I can get you pictures of it for you if you want to see more, and what you'd need to build one. It wont cost you anywhere as much as having someone blast for you, plus you can use it over and over. Don't worry fellas its safe, not cobbled together.
sand is silica based and so is glass. Silica is not poison, it's sharp edges damage tissues and cause scarring. That scar tissue is the problem. Glass does the same.
I halfway thought about hiring my friends brother when he's tweaked. Figure he'll work like crazy for 3 days day and nights. We'll at least know where he is and not on the streets, but then I don't want all my tools to come up missing. :O Actually, my wife's cousin is 16 and wants to earn some money. I told him I'll pay him $10 an hour to sand a car I have. This will be his first job and I warned him it will most certainly be treated as a job and he is to behave and work accordingly. I also know it will keep him out of trouble. I've already used paint stripper and took off as much as it would cut.
Blast it. You really will appreciate it when it's sitting in your shop all clean and rust free. No undercoating, no rust, no seam sealant. It's like starting with a blank canvas. You know what needs to be done, no surprises. I had a '67 Mustang that I media blasted on a rotisserie and epoxy primed (in FL, if you LOOK at bare steel, it'll rust). One thing I will never regret is media blasting it. Selling it on the other hand... Blasting made my life SO much easier. I still think that is the only way to go for these old cars. Sure, you could break out the sander and spend a week chugging away at it (not to mention consumables), or take it to a guy like '71buickfreak above and it'll be done in a day. Look at it this way: how much money are you gonna put into this car when it's all said and done? More than $500 I'll bet. When you rebuild your engine, are you gonna say, "I paid more for that engine than I did the entire car?" No. Youre gonna rock the shit outta that thing! Food for thought.
Im in the same place greaserchief is but i have a '35 ford pick up ... What about the hard to reach and tight spot inside the vehicle? i was under the impresion that media blasting can get these hard to reach spots that i cant[without alot of flexablity lol] get to with a grinder..
F&J are you talking about the car or your skin? seems like all media will rip the shit out of skin. I think i may look into buying a small 20 gallon and finding a media that wont heat up as much. I dont mind the time it takes, all i have is time, not money. I have everthing to go including built motor and trans. so now it's time for the bod. I live in the mountains east of albuquerque, not worried about a mess either or sweet, never that hot up hear.
While both are silica based, raw sand still has free silica, processed recycled glass does not. When sand is broken, it gives off a cloud of free silica which causes silicosis, which is very similar to mesothelioma, caused by scarring and inflamation of nodular lessions in the lungs. processed glass has does not release free silica, the act of melting the sand and forming glass prevents it. You still have to protect your lungs from breathing crushed glass dust, but a simple respirator will do that. You need a hood for sand blasting. there is a reason sand blasting is illegal in certain places, crushed glass is not. its all about the free silica. If the car does not have any rust, you can blast it wil walnut shell or soda. If it has rust, the best method is crushed glass.
I love blasting, everything comes out looking brand spanking new! it is messy but bundle up and go at it. I found a 69 Camaro that sat in the desert for 17 years, blasted it in my driveway and it came out perfect. They are right, not too much pressure and dont shoot big panels straight on, use an angle. I used red garnet #80 and when I run out just sweep it up and strain it, always strain it. I have a pressure pot unit, dont get a gravity machine. spend the extra, but you will need a big compresser to keep up or you will have to stop all the time and wait. Once you have the media blaster you can do it anytime and on other surfaces with different medias. Love it.
Garnet and aluminum oxide works great for heavy parts, I don't use it because I do a lot of mobile blasting and my blast facility is gravel. If I had an indoor blast booth, I would reclaim. I do love some aluminum oxide though, it will take scale off like nothing else. Most of my customers are restoration shops and architectural jobs, AO is not too good for brick and wood!
If you aint afraid of a couple of days of hard work, do the same thing I did. I stripped the 34 2dr sedan (see my 34 build thread) of the primer, paint, and a million pounds of filler in 2 days. Long days, but I got it done. I bought a total of 22 "turbo paint stripping wheels" for my 4 1/2" angle grinder and went to work. It was dirty, dusty, and a hell of lot of muscle soreness. The Turbo wheels came from Leigh-High Valley products. American made stuff. I think they were 5 bucks each.
I've stripped quite a few older cars myself. The old metal is usually pretty thick and really doesn't warp as easily as one would think. With sand blast, if the operator is relatively careful there will be no damage. As far as a7" grinding disk (the flexible ones), I usually use this method myself. I work one panel at a time and have *never* warped a panel. I would wire brush and por15 the inside and have at it with the 7" 80 grit flexible grinding disk for the exterior. You would need to stay in one area for a very long time to warp anything....
I've got more time than money so I used aircraft paint stripper from the auto paint store. It takes some time but I did it in a few evenings. Mine had about 6 paint jobs over the years so it had to be done in stages. I'd start on the cowl and let it soak. Then scrape what loosened up. Reapply some to what was left and apply the first coat to the door. Coarse steel wool with rubber gloves to the first panel and reapply as you work your way around the car etc. etc. etc. It actually can be rewarding as it gets cleaner and cleaner. I'll put the money into cool old hotrod parts. It's really not that bad a job unless you are a sissy.
the only thing about blasting is you will blow it out of cracks for hours but I did outside, inside and the bottom of a completely gutted car. Dont think it would be too bad if you only blast the outside. Someone recommended blasting the jams, corners, etc. then D.A. the big panels if your worried about warping. I had no problems, I cant stress enough how nice it turns out after blasting, brand new, unless you live back east, then brand new rust holes I guess. Also there are no chemicals to burn you or leach trought and ruin the new paint, just sand in your ears. I look forward to trying aluminum oxide sometime, I have a bunch of walnet shells but they do not work well on rust, just paint. Once you have the blasting equiptment and compresser all future projects are clean as a whip. I put por15 under the car and inside right after blasting, an etching primer for the outside. Heard good things about epoxy primers also but we will be sanding most off as we do the body work. Enjoy
Also consider using baking soda, I have used glass, sand, walnut shells and baking soda for my media . It all depends on what you are blasting. Sand will warp sections of sheet metal unless done quickly. Baking soda will not harm glass or trim pieces. You can order a blaster from Harbor Frieght and rent a compressor. I have built blasters in the past and bought some others. Elevate the tank so you can still fill it. use a smooth bore hose to the valve. You are lucky you have low humitity... A pain in FL and then I have to paint or prime a piece right away. Last week I blasted a couple of 94 bases and forgot them on top of the bead blaster. Two days later they had surface rust and had to be reblasted. The air flow from the compessor is the key to proper blasting, not just pressure.....
Ok as promised here is the blaster we built, keep in mind there is no money in this except for the nozzle from harbor freight. And this is a piece off my 34 cab which I blasted about a week ago, it does an excellent job even tho it may look bad because the metal is so rough on the truck
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