Whatever media you use have the frame checked for "straight" before refinishing. Walnut shells may not be aggressive enough? Dipping then powder coating would be my choice. Just as important to get inside the frame as the exterior. Im sure you'll get 17 thousand other opinions here.

 

 

Unless your doing concours restoration, I’d wire wheel it, then POR15 and call it done. It will last another 50 years.

 

My frame was blasted with walnut shell. You be the judge. Frame painted with Eastwood Chassis Black.

 

 

Sand , frames are made of very thick metal . No chance of ever " blasting through " a frame with sandblasting . Unless the frame was so rotten that there was no metal there anyway .

Now sheetmetal is a different story . Large panels can be warped terribly if sandblasted too aggressively . This is why walnut shells , soda , and other media is used there .

 

Who dips frames and bodies for that matter in the U.S.(east coast) ? Redi strip IL or IN is one name I came across but thats about all I know? Media blasting and even dustless blasting is fairly common these days but I don't know of many dipping options?

 

 

What compressor ( CFM ) did you need and what blaster did you use.

I am weighing the costs of sending it out and doing it myself.

For around 1k IR SS5 L5 compressor is rated at 18.1 cfm at 90psi.

 

Walnut shells seem kind of mild as a media for a frame. I use crushed glass media with no issues. My compressor is 23.5 SCFM and I have an ancient TP Tools pressure pot blaster. The higher the SCFM, the larger the nozzle you can use and the faster you can strip the frame.

 

Walnut shells is really for polishing only, use garnet, black beauty, steel shot, glass etc, your not gonna hurt a frame with that much meat, better blast will show you what you need to fix as well as a better bond for the paint..why waste all that time using walnut shells to get white metal, use a more aggressive media, better profile on the blast will get better bonding in the paint.

 

I did not blast the frame myself I took to a sandblasting company and they blasted my control arms and rear end as well and it was 80.00 per hour and it took them right at 2hrs to blast them. Now I did paint it myself. The thing about blasting yourself is you do have to have a compressor with enough cfm's to make a blasting pot operate and also sandblasting is a nasty job. Now I do have a 50lb blasting pot which I use "sugar sand" as the media. My compressor is an Ingersoll Rand 60 gallon model #2340L5.200-3 which is rated 14 cfm @175psi. It allows me to use any of my air tools with it. I am very happy with the results of how my frame turned out.

 

I had my frame sandblasted and powder coated for $550 here in Orlando .
It might be worth checking into it in your area .

Powder coat is far superior to any paint as far as resisting chips and scratches .

 

I blasted with copper shot and the sprayed with pot 15. I’d expect it to out last me.