I have had this conversation with a few people I more or less respect, and have gotten several different answers, and am looking for some other opinions... Basically, I have been sanding the rust and paint off my frame (and numerous other parts), with the idea that when I send the stuff off to the blaster, it will reduce the amount of time to completion, thus reducing the final cost. The answers I have gotten fall between: "Why don't you just do all the sanding yourself" to, "You're wasting your time, since they are going to go over the whole thing anyway" Usually the first answer comes from the least affluent of my acquaintances, and the latter from the more affluent (border line goldchainer's). As I said, cost is a factor, I can afford it, but would rather put some elbow grease in and save myself probably hundreds of dollars, and getting into some of the nooks and crannies effectively would be nigh on impossible... Seems to me that even if they do go over the whole thing it would still take less time if all they are doing is blasting out paint from pitting in the metal, rather than starting with pure rust/paint. One suggestion was to call the blaster and ask them, but what business owner in his right mind would suggest you reduce the amount of work and coinciding profit for them? Opinions from the gallery?
The only thing that would save blasting time, is removal of undercoatings, grease build up, filler over a 1/16" of an inch, etc. A real place has big equipment, and it goes quick, so removing paint won't save anything.
the blaster i use likes the paint left on, he can see progress better. i do cut open rot areas, and do any disassembly, put bolts back in holes tightly, wire small items together etc..
"the blaster i use likes the paint left on, he can see progress better. i do cut open rot areas, and do any disassembly, put bolts back in holes tightly, wire small items together etc.." This of course makes complete sense, and everything is broken down as much as possible...only thing left are rivets, everthing else is bagged and tagged... "Talk to the blaster and ask him if you are saving any money" Well, as I said, If it were your livelihood, would You tell someone not to give you extra business? Seems that they would likely be less than honest about that. "The only thing that would save blasting time, is removal of undercoatings, grease build up, filler over a 1/16" of an inch, etc. A real place has big equipment, and it goes quick, so removing paint won't save anything." I would think that since removing as much as you can before hand so they are basically blasting inside corners and hard to get to spots, rather than the whole piece would save time. Perhaps I don't understand the process? I would think that if it was 4 hours to blast the whole thing, compared to 1 hour to just blast the hard parts and things which are impossible to sand completely by hand without great difficulty, that would lead to a savings. Then again, math isn't my strongest subject... Just to be clear, I'm talking frame, suspension pieces, etc., not the body. I intend to have that blasted in it's entirety.
This guy pretty much summed it up : "You're wasting your time, since they are going to go over the whole thing anyway". As someone else said, you should talk to the blaster. I think the only way you might save, is to contract him only to do the hard to reach areas. Ron
Let your blaster do it all. You stated media blasting, most use fine silica sand on frames and hard parts. Keep in mind that most of these abrasives will leave a rough finish that you may not want to paint over. My point is, from experience, you may have to sand the frame after blasting so you can exercise elbow grease then and plenty of it...
Fair enough... I was aware that there would be sanding to do after the fact, it just seemed to me that the less area to blast = less time blasting = less money spent on said blasting. Trust me, I'm not that enthusiastic (not at all, in fact) about pre-sanding everything...but like anyone, if I can save in one spot to spend on another, I will. I have never sent anything out for blasting before, so I will accept the advice from those who have. thanks h.a.m.b.
The blaster will give you an estimate...i/e 250 for the frame. You'll still spend 250 if you strip 95% of it yourself....unless you specifiacally ask "how much to do these spots"?.. Just scrape the grease and oil/dirt build up off, and take it to them.
PS, for a frame after blasting, I used what Napa called a "high build" primer...then scuffed it and sprayed semi-gloss...was nice for me and minimal work.
Talk to who is going to blast it. The guy near me that most people use charges a flat price of $250 to blast and prime a bare frame-any bare frame all same price. Some work by the hour but many have gone to flat rates. You may be working for nothing
The outfit I contacted are by the hour ($145/per), and said it would be about 2 hours for the frame and 2 hours for all of the various bits and bobs...I think the time for the rest of the stuff is a bit of a low ball estimate, but that's irrelevant. The gist of what you guys are saying is to let the blaster do the work and then prepare for paint if like sanding so much ( I don't, lol). So I'm going with that. I don't mind putting the time in if it will save me cash, but if it is just an exercise in futility, pfft.
What are your grinding disks and sandpaper costing you? I'd guess more than you save with the blaster.
A friend actually brought that up....not as much as you would think. I've spent maybe $20 on 60 grit paper and have sanded about 40% of the frame, with more than half the paper left, but if I were on the clock, about 13 hours of my time, and I figure if I kept doing it, eventually 30 hours and another $20 in paper. Still cheaper than blasting monetarily, but pretty high up the scale of pain-in-the-assery... Hence the reason I'm taking the advice of those on here that say to just blast it...in fact I already booked the time and arranged the truck to haul everything.
I've got a guy who will do a frame for about $100. No, I ain't giving out his info, you all would wear him out.
I talked to the blaster yesterday about doing my Model A frame and the one thing that came up was GREASE. Grease on a frame really slows the process down. No fear on mine as it laid on it's side in a field for way too long and the frame is pretty clean. Make sure you remove any nuts, bolts or brackets you aren't going to use though. That will make things a little easier.
For what it's worth,I do my own sandblasting. I know it more time consuming but I have convected myself I am saving money,,I have a big compressor,a small sandblasting unit and proper breathing gear. Plus I know I have everything clean because I do it myself. HRP
$145 an hour is ridiculous. I deal with a few sand blasters for my job. They ALWAYS charge piece work. For a car frame it would cost maybe $150 total. Do you have any other blasters in your area? I'd check around. For the money you are going to spend you could buy the equipment and do it yourself.
We blast hundreds and hundreds of cars. We charge $145/hr, not ridiculous at all when you factor in material, labor, diesel, equipment, EPA, insurance, rent, etc...We've blasted for a lot of you HAMBers, do HAMB auctions, and offer member discounts. Frames usually take us about an hour, so the $150 price is in line... Don't waste you time trying to take off the paint. Just warm up and scrape off as much undercoating and seam sealer as possible. To save time you can have your blaster just remove rust and paint and leave heavy batches of bondo for you to remove.
I always wondered why sandblasting can't remove bondo easily? I understand it takes concentrated blasting in one area, and they may be wary of warping the area. But maybe just blast that are for a while, let it cool, then come back to it?
I spent hours degreasing and cleaning and I still couldn't get it how I wanted. I sent it to the blaster and he knocked it all out. So, I pretty much wasted a lot of time and and $20 in cleaner just to pay someone to take care of it all for me anyways. He was going to charge me the same regardless.
I would just remove any undercoating, bondo or grease. The blaster will remove everything else quickly. ---John
Im with you, we charge 180 dollar/hr for blasting.This is in Sweden,we tend to have higher rates than you in the US.Please remove all grease before you hand ower your stuff to your local blastershop.
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