Hey fella's My 49 Chevy pickup is 10 days away from being delivered....i'm going to be stripping it down to the bare chassis on NYE and NYD. What's going to be the best way to clean the chassis back to bare metal, I know I could get it blasted but i've got the time to clean it up myself.... Seb
I think you will spend more money in sand paper and discs then just getting it blasted. But wire wheel and disc will do it
what they said and look at http://www.kbs-coatings.com/, their Rust Blast works real well, I coated the chasis of my 52 with their system, very happy with it.
Not sure about that...in the UK I would say yes but I live in France and everything seems to over priced! I can order discs for next to nothing!
I haven't tried it on a rough surface but I really liked what the Scotch-brite wheel on my small ra grinder did on a table saw surface. Fast and slick.
I must be mad i'm actually looking forward to it....wood burner going, plenty of tea and all day in the garage over new year!
Over the years I have stripped and cleaned more frames and suspension pieces than I care to remember but any more I simply have them blasted and get it over with. By the time you factor in the grinding discs, wire wheels, and your time, it is just so nice to drop it off and pick up a frame that is way cleaner than you can ever get it using tools yourself. If I were doing one the size of that truck frame there is no question I would have it blasted. Don
I took a 47 chevy fender to the blaster he used soda and it sucked. Cost me.$50. I bought a 3 pack of 36 grit for my angle grinder from Lowes $5.99. used 7 . 5 . 3 size disc. Cutting the worn 7 disc to 5 then 5 cut to.3. Getting as much mileage as I could. And got shiney metal. Couple hours time. Cost.benefit ratio - u decide.
I'm going with a bulk load of flap discs and 2 days flat out on it....I'll be putting up a build thread too. My time costs me nothing.....
Cost wise, it sounds close. I think your already convinced that you want to do it. Jump in with both feet and "git er done".
I don't know if you have done this before. I did it once and never want to again. Get it blasted, then you can spend your time painting or what not. It just takes alot of time, materials, noise and DUST. Pain in the ass.
Have it blasted by someone that has everything already in place, but you could and should clean and degrease it the best you can before you take it to the blaster. it will save you money in the long run. I blast for others and I don't try to blast away grease, I charge to clean it first. Clean any dirt , gravel , mouse nests out that might be in boxed areas too. Pressure washing before blasting is the best bet. Gary
Most of it can be easy to do with a grinder, it the damn nooks and crannies the you can't get at that take time and cause aggravation. That's where it starts rusting again if you don't get it all. A needle scaler gun works well for some of those tight areas but not all of it. I did a complete truck chassis myself once, never again blasting is the way to go for me. Maybe ill try a electrolysys tank long enough for one rail at a time but that's line of sight only.
Thanks for all your input guys but getting it blasted is going to be more of a chore than sitting there grinding it. I've got 20 80 grit zirconium flap disc's to get me started.
i think you can easily do that frame with a couple wire cup brushs on a 4" grinder. wear heavy clothing and EYE protection.
As old as that bugger is there probably isn't much paint left on it and what is there may not be very stable. A high pressure washer will do you as well as anything initially. Something in the 1200 to 1500 PSI range. It will also knock the grease and crud off of it that really wants to come off before you drag the wire brush out anyway.
Apply lots of degreaser, scrub with a heavy scrub brush, followed by a thorough high-pressure washing. After it's all dry, apply heavy duty paint remover, scrub it, followed by high-pressure washing. Repeat as often as is necessary, then a finish degrease/scrub brush/high-pressure wash. You'll never be able to grind/flap wheel the insides of the c-channels, and areas where cross members meet the rails, etc. Save yourself the aggravation....let the chemicals work for you.
Sounds to me you got your mind made up. You will be grinding and having a great time! I had a 80 lb sand blaster and it did a great job, took my engine hoist lifted for all the hard areas. Alot of nooks and crannies but got her done. Good luck and look forward to the pics of your build.You Will be feeling the soul of this truck when you finish..LOL
Tools for the job, #1 Pressure Washer. #2 hoist or strong friends. #3 Cutting torch, #4 small angle grinder, with eye protection. #5 impact wrench, with sockets, #6 hand tools/ wrenches. Pressure wash the exterior, pull the front sheet metal, cab, bed, drive train, then pressure wash the frame. Patience, persistence, perspiration, inspiration. Good luck on your project, share lots of pictures with the rest of use. Most of us have been there done that and are willing to help.
Since you are taking it down to bare metal, it is a pretty big job. Hopefully, you have an air grinder, but if you are using an electric angle grinder, take your time, especially if it is a little 4" job. If it feels or smells like it is overheating, do not turn it off. Lift it off the load and let it run for a while, letting the cooling fan pull air over the motor. Keep it clean.
Grind awayEven if it was the exact amount of money to do both, you can't go down to the sand blaster guy and say......just do $25.00 worth thats all I have today.You can however go to your local jobber and order $25.00 worth of discs/wire wheels, etc. When you are on a budget like mine, using your own sweat equity is not only more cost effective, but more satisfying as well. "Wow that frame is awesome looking!" Reply...."Yeah, I knocked that out myself, it was a dirty messy bitch of a job, but that's all my work!"
Wear a respirator. That old rust and lead paint can screw with the lungs pretty good. Also, whatever time you think it will take multiply that by about 4. I am guessing you won't be down to the chassis between NYE and NYD
I have got the option to hire a sand blaster and big road compressor for the day, not too pricey either. I'll see how far I can get with discs, chemicals and pressure washing it. If all else fails i'll hire the sand blaster. Can't wait to get stuck into it though....I bought the truck in october from Minnesota it's been on a 8000 mile journey since then. It will now be residing in the south west of France. Well travelled truck! I'll do my best to get it stripped down and get the chassis cleaned up, as soon as thats done I can get cracking on the body work.
He has a couple of good suggestions no matter which way you do it. 1. get the grease and mud cleaned off it before you start blasting or hitting it with a wire brush or abrasive disk. 2. remove everything that won't get used again in the build so you aren't working on or around or paying someone else to blast parts that you aren't going to use. On the frame I'd still have sandblasted after I got all the dirt and grease off it and removed what I didn't plan to use again.
One more thing, which you probably already know. If you have any humidity it will flash rust over night after you expose the bare metal.
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