My sons and I have finished disassembly and are ready to have everything media blasted. I have been calling around and found several places to do it priced from $1,500 and up. Eachshop that I call try to talk me into letting them do the body work and priming/painting etc. I keep telling them that my sons and I want to doas much as we canourselves. We just don't want to do the blasting part because of the expense and mess for a one time deal. Anyways, they all told me to let them do the primer that way there won't be any rusting. Some of the shops told me that they want to do epoxy primer right after and some said they want to do self etching primer. Personally, I would rather do it myself so that I can see the real state of the sheetmetel and also to make sure that they really blast everything (I have never dealt with any of them before). So what do you guys think? Should I let them prime it? Which type of primer do you think? And, if you have dealt with anyone in the Houston are, please recommend a good shop for the blasting.

Thanks,
Robert

 

I'm an "all or nothing" guy when it comes to paint and body work. Having different people do different stages is not a good idea. When the end results comes out less than perfect everyone will point fingers at each other and nobody will make it right. If you use one place (or do it ALL yourself) then there is only one place to blame.

I'm not sure why you'd be willing to prime ityourself, but unwilling to blast ityourself. I don't think the equipment is all that expensive. I'd also guess that once you owned your own blaster, you'd probably find lots of other uses for it over the years to where it wouldn't be a one time use. Sure when you factor in your time, it's way cheaper pay someone to do it, but if you're worried about time and effort you may as well have them prime and paint it too.

I've only talked to 1 guy about sand blasting here inHouston and he was saying $12k for blast, prime, and paint (extra for body work). I don't know what the blasting alone would cost, but I bet it wouldn't be cheap.

 

dont let them sand blast other wise its gonna be warped to hell and back make sure its a baking soda or a walnut type material as for priming id do an expoxy primer and id would le thtem prime it but id see it before they prime that way soon as it was stripped it would be protected and you can take note on the condition of the surfaces

 

I have considered soda blasting because it was cheap and it produces no heat but someone told me that it can actually cause rust down the road if any residue remains. Has anyone here done soda blasting? What were your results?

 

If I paid some one to blast, I would want them to prime and would prefer epoxy.
You can remove the paint yourself with a variable speed polisher/sander and some 80 grit sand paper. Then clean up the small areas with 3M rust/paint wheels. Took me less than a weekend and I'm very slow!

 

Please, you can use good old fashioned "Black Beauty" slag to blast your sheet metal. The metal gets warped if you hold the gun nozzle directly at a section for five minutes. You can blast your car in your driveway for about $600.00 Then sell the used pressurized Sand Blaster and get back part of your money. You can get a nice TIP blaster (made in USA) for about $350. The rest is slag. Local rental centers carry the slag. Lay out sheet plastic, Park the car on the plastic and blast. Start out by shooting the hood, fenders, trunk lid, and any other parts that you can remove from the car. The layers of paint/primer fall away and the rust is removed. I generally shoot a section , say the hood, then clean it off. I use a tack rag then shoot self etching primer over the piece. You need to make sure you get all the slag out of the nooks and openings on the parts. You can even reuse the slag that has collected on the plastic sheeting. You strain the slag before you return it to the pressure vessel. Most systems come with a strainer. If you are wanting to shoot the car in primer yourself, then I see no reason why you can't blast the car as well. I live in a snazzy neighborhood, and I do it all the time in my driveway. It really doesn't make a big mess. There is some dust but the world is comprised of dust. So go for it. Again, you can use whatever medium you choose. But for everyday sheet metal you can use slag. Its just like mowing the grass. If you leave the mower in one place too long you'll have nothing but dirt. Remember, what you lack in know how, you make up for in caring. Besides, none of the guys that I have ever seen at the local blast shop look like rocketengineers to me!

 

Send it out. Your neighbors will appreciate it and so will you, you will get a better job. Then you can do the body work at your pleasure. If you do send it out, have them prime the car buy select a primer color compatible to your final color: gray -lighter final; red for red; black for blue or black final color. I prefer the 'etched' vs epoxy, especially if you are going to do some additional stuff on you own.
Jim

 

Send it out for media blasting. Many different type of material for different type of problems. But sand is too harsh. They even used walnut shells. With the small unit available for $350, it will take you 4-5 days. Plus material. What about the air compressor? It takes a lotof air. Clean up? You will be getting sand out of that car and everyplace within 50 ft, for weeks! My .02 would be let someone with the specialized equipment do it.

Now primer, I would not trust anybody else to do it. I know mine was done right. Rust wont form on the bare metalfor 5-7 days, if then (depends on the humidity, but don't touch the body with your bare hand). I like the non etching epoxy primer. If you have no rust and a clean surface, then whhy would you needetching. Epoxy primer is expensive, but well worth it. Again, you would be trusting somebody to do a repair component on your baby. If they use a cheap product, you wouldn't know it till it is too late.I used PPGDP90LF and the hardener.

A rotisserie is a great help here, also. Get that paint everywhere, under dash, fenders, etc. If you are doing any metal repair, that rotisserie is a back saver. Built mine for $250.

 

I got a quote for $72.00 an hour, with approx. 10 hours for the whole car, here in SoCal. This is with me providing the car with EVERYTHING removed. Haven't shopped that price out yet to know if it is good or not. The shop is reputible, having done other work in a local club we attend. I have been told that if you have a lot of bondo or undercoating, the time to complete would be longer. These guys are real service oriented and will do as much blasting or as little as you want to fit your budget.

Either way, the folks over at http://autobodystore.com/forum/index.php recommend Picklex 20 for any metal that will not see immediate primer. Note if you use this product, you must not use any type of etching primer over it. An epoxy primer is recommended after you scuff the treated metal. There are guys on that board, who after using Picklex, have left their car for up to a year without any signs of rust. Although media blasting is supposed to remove all rust along with paint, etc. This product also converts any rust that could be left in the nooks and crannies of your metal surface. Go to: http://www.picklex20.com/ for more info.

-Rich

 

how long would does that normally take?

I know the cars are fairly basic, but I'd still guess it takes a long time to remove ALL of it. And what really scares me is how hard it would be to put it all back together (and not have extra parts left over)