More blasting advice

[Gary_N]

So, I have two inner fenders, splash pan and numerous other parts that need to be blasted. There's a local place that uses sand and charges $65 per hour. I think there's also a more "sophisticated" blaster in the are that can use soda, and maybe some glass bead/walnut shell media, at or near the same price. The questions is, since these are not body panels, is sand still too abrasive? Are there portable blasting units that actually work? Eastwood advertises a few, just not sure how good they may be. It seems like I'm going to get hit with some big blasting bills soon.....so maybe I should buy something instead....but what do you get that can handle parts that are too big for a cabinet?

By the way, has anyone tried and succeeded with a bath of sodium carbonate and a 12V negative charge for rust removal?

Gary

[Guest imported_MrEarl]

Gary, I've been doing it all the hard way...airplane stripper, putty knife, wet sand paper and Scotchbrite pads. Lots of work but they come out OK.

If I had the bucks, I'd buy me one of these from Northern Tool though

[Dandy Dave]

Gary, You may want to look in to getting the parts done in a place that does it Chemically. I had a neighbor that had some done somewhere in Connecticut. In fact, it was a whole 1933 Olds body. The parts get dunked and everything comes off, paint and all. You are right to be cautious about sandblasting everything as sand can get into places that you do not want it. Also, body panels can be warped and distorted if not done carfully. Don't send them to a place that Blasts Bridges for a living. The pressure is too high and the nozzels are to big for delicate body panels. If you have the time and the elbow grease you can also opt to do it Mr. Earl's way. Say, those panels and parts look like they just came hot off of the press Mr. E! Nice work.

Faster isn't always better. Dave!

[Guest Dyna]

hehe, bubby looked really funny he really dislikes blasting .. Anyways, don't blast unless it's with something like walnut shell just to remove the paint. Sand blasting is way to over rated. It leaves sheet metal in a sorry state, you will need to sand to make it look good again. Instead go MrEarls way.. as you can see in the fantastic pics you end up with sheet metal looking like they just left the stamping.

Hubby is a bit more brute, he dress up in a space suite and use a wire brush mounted on a grinder to remove the paint when the stripper has soften it. no I keep a safe distance since that nasty gel is flying everywhere..

Yep the reverse electrolyte is working fine, do it before removing the paint, just scratch it to make sure all rust is exposed.

Cheers Dyna....

[Gary_N]

Well, Mr. E. does good work. My back is hurting looking at that work, but it sure is shiny. I've heard very good things about soda blasting -- not being very abrasive; not causing fast rust flash; and not producing enough heat to warp panels.

Lamar, that Northern Tool may get a home soon!

Dyna: How long do you have to keep the parts in the sodium carbonate solution? It's a matter of days is it not? Also, where are you located in the UK? The scariest experience I had behind the wheel was driving in the UK. It's just not right driving on the wrong side of the car on the wrong side of the road. And looking up and left to see out of the rear mirror? Now that takes too way much coordination!!

Gary

[Guest cfBuick]

If you go to TPTools.com, they should have a breakdown for what medium to use for what is being blasted. If you have the $$$ though, a chemical dip is the way to go. That's what the pros use and it is quite a time saver.

[Bhigdog]

There's pro/cons to the different ways of parts cleaning. If not too rusty the paint remover elbow grease method works. Down side is time consuming, fumes are a carcinagin, and remover can stay in joints, ruining a paint job.

Chemical dip works great. Down side is cost, few places do it, if the whole body is dipped ALL sealer is also removed, and there is the above mentioned chemicals in seams.

Soda blast works OK on paint, won't do too much on rust and gets pricey.

DA sander works good on large flat areas and is a good choice for that.

Sand blasting has its place, even on sheet metal, if you are careful and know what you are doing. In fact blasting probably has the best over all usefullness. Downs are larger compressor needed, sand everywhere, silicosis if you don't use a resperator. I use a crushed slag media marketed as Black Beauty, It contains no silica.....Bob

[Mark Shaw]

I have done this with both aircraft stripper and via sandblasting. I have never had a car "dipped".

All methods work best with panels and parts removed from the car so sand and stripper cannot get trapped between panels and painted parts.

Stripper works better for sheet metal panels that can become warped from the heat generated by sandblasting. Once this happens, any time saved by blasting is more than consumed in added body work.

Blasting works best on heavy parts like frames, axles, etc. Just make sure all seals and close tolerance machined areas are sealed & covered with duct tape.

My 15 Buick speedster wood spoke wheels needed to have the steel fellows blasted. So I carefully taped up all the wood spokes and took them to my local blaster. He saw the spokes all covered and asked why. I told him that I thought blasting the wood might raise the grain rather than just remove the paint.

He is in his 70's (and knows his craft) & did a demonstration of his blasting technique with "greensand" media. I was surprised when I saw what a beautiful job he did; I took off all the tape and now have beautiful natural wood spoke wheels.

He said that if I had rotted wood spokes, the blasting would reveal it. I was lucky to have all good wood, but I had him blast them not only to save time, but to also find out if my spokes were OK.

[Guest Dyna]

Hi Folks,

In regards to reverse electrolyte it depends on the amount of rust and how large the area is. If it's say some brackets you can just leave it over night. The good thing is that it works while you doing other things. Just do a google and you will find plenty of sites and how to do it... You need to wire brush afterwards to remove scale.

I dunno, but hubby only complains about the gel flying everywhere and you can just forget to clean up nasty stuff -- I suspend heavy duty plastic sheets to cover walls etc. Anyways not that much of a back breaker when you get to it-- at least he doesn't complain.

Hubby only blast very few things, like cast iron. Anything that is pressed in one form or the other gets, the electric, stripper, wire and sanding treatment. Yes if you don't clean out you can have trouble with the paint job, but so far we been "lucky". Beside blowing up sand or soda, when painting will ruin a paint job too.

If you are into dipping check this out -- http://www.surfaceprocessing.co.uk/ -- it's really nice since they also e-coat (EDP primer) after they strip it. I don't remember the name of the companies doing it in the states but do a search. It's costly although $4k (2000 pounds) for strip and dip a full car (frame, body, doors, trunk, hood, fenders, inner fenders etc).

Cheers Dyna...

PS: We are in South London, Croydon/Sutton area - we only have one RHD car the V90. Gosh was it hard to shift, lock in the mirror and not drive to far to the left (scraping the mirror) -- scary. One of the things you don't think about is that there is no space to rest the clutch foot -- the tunnel is there while on a LHD there is plenty of space between the kickpanel and the clutch.

[Gary_N]

Dyna:

Love London!! Should you be near Harrods, and should you be interested in a very nice little Italian meal at a reasonable price, try 13 1/2, located at 13 1/2 Beauchamp Place. I've eaten there a number of times since the early 80's (last time in 2000). The restaurant has been there for at least 30 years, and by your standards, it's still "new". Hope it's the same owner. Of course, you may already know about this one!!

For me, $4,000 is a bit much for stripping the car. I think I'll have to stick to the Lamar/small portable blaster/do it by hand routine. At least until it seems to be taking forever or my back finally gives out!!

Gary

[Gary_N]

I was just at the coolest radiator shop. I mean this one was a one man; in the basement of a building; old radiators everywhere; and old equipment kind of place. I mean stuff you just don't seem to see anymore. He took my order on a desk blotter. And he was working on all kinds of old ones while smoking Camels. So, I think this was a good find.

Anyway, there was a spot on the top of the radiator that looked a little too rusty to him. So, we walked out into the parking lot where he had a small shed and a portable blaster with media that looked like black sand. I think this was a portable pressure kind of blaster. I was amazed at how nice of a job it did. Although I think it would take long time to do a sizable part. It wasn't very big either. I think I'll have to try one out.

And speaking of seam sealer -- don't I want to get the old stuff off? Or is this really asking for trouble.

Gary

[Bhigdog]

Re seam sealer. Getting rid of the seam sealer that is easily acessable is fine, it's easy to replace it. If the whole body is "dunked" there are lots of places where the factory sealed joints can't be gotten to for an effective reseal. In those places even old sealer is better than no sealer........Bob

[Gary_N]

Well, that makes sense. I'm going the dunked route anyway. I've heard too many horror stories about what it can do to paint jobs, and besides, I could buy lot's of stuff with the thousands I'd save by scraping, a little blasting, and some help from Mr. E!