benji94

I've got my car completely stripped inside and out...well, dash is still there but everything else is out. Next step is to separate the body from the frame.

My plan was to have a local guy take the frame and sand blast it and paint it. I've got lots of other parts that need the same.

I started thinking about the sand blasting part and today looked at a sandblaster at Tractor Supply on sale for $129. Looks to be a decent piece of equipment for the money.

Question: Would it make sense to purchase the machine and do my own blasting for all the parts and then just have the guy I talked to do the painting?

I've never done any sand blasting but it doesn't appear too difficult of a task, just timing consuming...and being retired that's one thing I have a plenty of. Seems like I'd save a lot of money doing the blasting of all the parts myself.

Thanks.

compedgemarine

I would depend on the size of your compressor. it takes A LOT of air to run a sand blaster. it is also very messy. you wind up tracking sand everywhere for weeks. I gave up doing myself years ago for that reason alone. by the time I bought sand, burned up the power to run a compressor non stop for days and spent weeks cleaning sand out of everything I decided to just pay someone and be done.

benji94

I have a compressor that'll handle with no problem. But the "messy" part is definitely on my mind. I don't see it as being much "fun," for sure, but I'm not planning on it for a living. I also have a good location to do it outside and the sand can go anywhere it wants to. Need to get a good respirator, I know, and also not to use silicone based sand.

I actually have no idea what it would cost to sand blast the frame and body, not to mention all the other parts, but I'd guess it would be in the neighborhood of a couple grand for the whole shebang.

Thanks for your input.

sx455raidercelticfan

you can do it if you have the time and room, my neighbor used 2 sand blast his frames and paint them in his garage he made a sealed plastic tent/room in his garage, its very very messy so you have 2 fully inclose it or youll have sand everywhere

OLDSRALLYE350

Last year my son and I did the frame for the rallye350. We did it outside, put down a 16X20 tarp from walmart cost $20 so we could sweep up the sand and reuse it we used 2 bucket blasters took most of the day to do it air compressor was 80 gal unit stayed right with us. Understand the pot blasters work better.

TK-65

The TSC blaster is fine for small stuff, not frames. Youll use a ton of sand, a ton of tips, and a ton of time blasting a frame. And youll make a huge mess. The idea of reusing the sand is great, until you clog up the nozzle with trash. I have the TSC blaster and I used it for the core support, small brackets and such.

Had a pro blast the frame, took about a half hour and it was white when he got done. Youll never get that much off with the home blaster.

6inarow

Just make sure you use a supplied air system when you are media blasting with sand. Silica is nasty and will kill you. It can take up to 5 years for the symptoms of acute silicosis to show up. Particulate respirators are not considered effective when blasting with sand. I learned this from an old timer who chewed me out for blasting with what I thought was a really good respirator. Check places like airgas for a hood with a breathing tube. I am not trying to talk you out of doing it yourself, just wanting to see you live to enjoy your efforts.

OLDSRALLYE350

Actually instead of sand we used the Black Diamond abrasive from TRactor Supply 7.99 a bag used about 4 bags by recycling it, screened it when we put it back in the blaster never had it clog up. Used one tip in each gun.Metal was light gray white when we were done .If there is heavy rust would suggest using a needle scaler before blasting.

benji94

[quote=TK-65;223978]The TSC blaster is fine for small stuff, not frames. Youll use a ton of sand, a ton of tips, and a ton of time blasting a frame.



I got a chance to talk to my local restoration guru and he basically said the same thing. He agrees that I could do all of the smaller stuff including the core support and have those all ready for him to paint. He recommends that he do the frame since he has a diesal powered compressor that will do the job in no time.

benji94

[quote=6inarow;223984]Just make sure you use a supplied air system when you are media blasting with sand. Silica is nasty and will kill you.


Thanks for the heads up on this Ryan. I'm aware of the dangers with silica media and was not planning on using it. Even the clerk at the Tractor Supply said the same thing. And you can be sure I'll have the proper breathing/safety equipment before I ever turn the thing on.

benji94

Yes, this was recommended to me as well. I can do this outside and far enough from the house that it won't matter where the sand goes. I doubt I'd go to the trouble of reusing any of it either.

My car has NEVER spend a day or night sitting outside for the entire 32 years I've owned it so there's very little rust, in fact hardly any. I kept it undercoated well so there's a good coating of that junk on it. Some surface rust in places but that's about it. The body guy I'm dealing came to look at it to get an idea of what he'll be dealing with and was absolutely amazed at the great shape all the metal is in. One 2" x 3" inch spot rusted out at the bottom of the driver's side cowl area behind the fender and that's it.

So I think the sandblasting, even for the frame, won't be as big of a job as some of the other projects. Another reason I got to thinking I could do a lot of it myself.

I really appreciate everyone's comments on this topic. They've all been helpful.

Thanks.

OldCar_Mechanic

I think for bigger jobs like your frame, I would have someone do it.

I built a good sized cabinet out of sheet metal to do smaller items myself. I also bought a cheap sandblaster. Just remember like others have said, you need to have extra tips on hand. It can save a lot of money.

And as long as you have the time, you may want to look into an HVLP gun and do some sparying of paint yourself. You may be surprised at how quickly you pick it up along witht the savings of doing it yourself.

Good luck with the project.

Ron

benji94

Yes, I think that's the way I'm going to go. As far as painting, a long time ago I painted a couple of my cars and I always painted my dirt track car for years before finally opting to purchase pre-colored aluminum and making my own bodies. So that's a good suggestion as well.

I kind of tinker at this with an hour here and an hour or so there. Its taken me about a year to totally strip the car and now finally ready to take the next big step of getting the body off of it as soon as the guy I'm going to pay to do it is ready.

Thanks Ron.

OldCar_Mechanic

You're welcome

Best of luck with the project. If you can do some pictures, I'm sure we would all like to see the progress.

Ron

hamm36

I agree with this.
I painted all the black on my car my self. Shop did the body. And thing that was sandblasted was power-coated, for me. The shop I got the auto paint from gave me all the mixing cups I needed and the directions for mixing. Just work with the HVLP (for $100) on some cardboard before painting the car parts. Good luck.