Our model A Coupe has layers of different colors of paint and lots of rust. I know sandblasting can warp panels and make the repairs to the body more difficult . I see a lots of ads lately from shops advertizing media blasting and the use of different kinds of material to blast away old paint and rust ; including dipping the entire body in a acid as a unit .Is this worth it to pay someone to do this or is it a waist of time and money ? Gene
I've had cars sandblasted and, if the guy is careful, you get no warpage. However, I could never get all the sand out of the car, and would be driving down the road and sand would come out of every little crevice. I think my Son is going to have his Mustang soda blasted or maybe with that new dustless process. That seems to be the current hot setup, from what we read and see. Don
You can scrape all the large areas with a razor and get the lions share of paint off. Then its a lot smaller blasting job keeping off or away from the parts most prone to warpage. Ill assume since its multi layered there's no rust where there is paint?
Might be easier to keep the blasting media out of the car if the car is all assembled when you blast it... I'm still getting little piles of sand on the floor in my Chevy II, I blasted it last Feb and been driving it for several months. If you can afford to have someone else do the "dirty work" of stripping the metal, by all means, go for it! I always seem to end up doing the hard work myself.
Yep, a razor and a heat gun will remove serious amounts of old paint without the mess of blast media or paint strippers. I've had an OT 69 Vette since it was about a year old. Painted it in the early 80's with lacquer primer, featherfill, and lacquer topcoat. Been working on it recently getting ready for repaint. Probably have 12 hrs with the heat gun and razor now, and everything forward of the doors is stripped. Takes an hour or so initially to get the hang of it as far as the angle of the blade and how fast to move the heat gun, but after that you can take everything off down to the bare substrate in single passes. In addition to not putting anything on the body that can come back to haunt you later, the entire toolkit consists of a $15 heat gun from HF, a decent blade holder for about $8, and a 10 pack of single edge blades for a couple bucks. The razor blade works because its thin rather than because of a razor sharp edge. Wouldn't make any difference on steel, but I found on the fiberglass it helped to dull the edge a bit with a stone. I was skeptical of how well a razor would work when I read about it on another forum, but I'm a believer now.
Look for someone in your area that is very familiar with blasting cars. I have had several bodies media blasted, and I am always asked if I want them to remove everything including any filler or just the paint. They have always used plastic or other "soft" media on my sheetmetal and I've been very satisfied with the results, no warpage, no residual media left in the body. Sandblasting is for heavier, thicker metal like frames or suspension parts.
I had a Model A coupe media blasted. It was stripped to bare metal inside and out. No warps but like sand blasting, I find media pellets now and then. I would do it again in a heartbeat. Plastic media did not leave the metal as raw as sand does so flash rusting was not a problem.
If you live in a large urban area you can have it chemically stripped . It seems to be the less messy alternative. Personally I hand sanded 85 per cent of the outside and inside of my project and sand blasted the rest with my little HF pot blaster. I used 70 grit sand and less than 100 PSI. Results were good. Yes every time I rotated the rotisserie I found more sand. Hopefully I won't end up with sand in the final paint finish....Sand blasting at home is messy and time consuming but it is cheaper than the other alternatives.
X3 on the razor blade trick !!! Spent about $15.00 on an extended reach scraper and 100 heavy duty blades. Removed about 3 paint jobs from my 36 Chevy in less than a week. Saved the money that would have been spent for paint removal and will use those $$$ for parts later............ Jeff
Sandblasting...best for lots of rust, but you need a good operator to prevent warping. gets everywhere! Media...plastic will not remove any med- heavy rust. Will remove paint, and bondo, if they stick with it long enough. Glassbead/slag...will remove rust and paint, just takes a bit longer Chemical/acid dipping...removes paint, second process can remove rust, If not completely neutralized and washe,d you WILL get the chemicals seeping out from under seams, overlap joints, and such, and destroy paint. Acid can thin the metal (even good steel) if left too long, again, need a dependable, experienced operator. Soda blasting, works on thin paint very well, takes long to do heavy paint, doesn't remove med-heavy rust. Can change the Ph of the metal and you'll have problems with anything sticking to it, unless properly prepped.
Lots of paint stripper and a wide putty knife combined with lots of elbow grease will get the exterior done. Very messy and be careful of skin contact, protect your eyes and wear a mask. Don't inhale the fumes or work in a not ventilated area. Soda or media blasting IMHO is better than sand blasting. Sandblasting in the hands of an amateur can destroy your panels by putting too much heat in, warping it and tempering the metal. In saying that I've had a few of my cars sand blasted over time those who knew what they were doing, moving around and not concentrating the nozzle heat in any spot for periods of time causing it to heat up. Sand and media WILL GET in everywhere and will trickle out over time, albeit minute, despite being methodical and cleaning everything. Acid dipping and soda blasting requres rinsing and neutralisation. When done, run over with a scotchbrite pad on a polishing buff to clean the surface before etch priming as it will flash off and start oxidising if not sealed. Time is $$$ though. Rust won't be removed but identified.
I have had my last three vehicles sandblasted by a local old timer who has done some very high dollar cars over the years. He never does damage and I have never had a problem with sand continuing to fall out of the cars. I agree you want to make sure the guy knows what he is doing.
Lord knows I have sand blasted a bunch of cars in the last 40 years and although you can't seem to get ever grain of sand out I am diligent and hen we finished up the wagon I haven't seen any indication of sand. You can sweep,use a air hose,a vacuum cleaner and a multitude of other devices but when you think you have it all drag out the leaf blower...that tool does wonders..then start over again because it will find tons of sand. As was said earlier,for heavy rust and multiple layers of paint sand blasting seems to do the job. Using common sense and don't holding the spray too close to the metal,especially on flat surfaces as not to build up heat. HRP
I sand blasted my convertible, and also the 42 Chevy that I am building. As long as you keep the nozzle at a 45 degree angle to the panels you should not have issues with warping the panels. I have never had a problem getting all the sand out. Blow it out with air and a shop vac for what is left
You have to get that rust off somehow. I use sandblasting on my cars but typically only on parts or small areas where sand won't get trapped, if I can help it. A good blasting guy can do a car body in not that many hours and save you a ton of work, plus you have a clean slate to work with, very much worth it. Look into wet-blasting, I've been hearing really good things about it on car bodies. And as was said, the more old paint you get off beforehand. the less amount of blasting required, and that's a good thing. If you know you have areas that will need to be cut out, like door bottom skins, consider cutting them open so the inside can get blasted as well. Stinks to have a car blasted, then cut away a rotten spot to reveal trapped rust. If you have to cut too much out, consider bracing it back up with rod or something, to prevent warpage.
I don't think I'll have too much sand trapped in the Steelback, nothing left to cut away. Things will get well braced before it goes out to the local blaster. Bob
Sandblasting...best for lots of rust, but you need a good operator to prevent warping. gets everywhere! Media...plastic will not remove any med- heavy rust. Will remove paint, and bondo, if they stick with it long enough. Glassbead/slag...will remove rust and paint, just takes a bit longer Chemical/acid dipping...removes paint, second process can remove rust, If not completely neutralized and washe,d you WILL get the chemicals seeping out from under seams, overlap joints, and such, and destroy paint. Acid can thin the metal (even good steel) if left too long, again, need a dependable, experienced operator. Soda blasting, works on thin paint very well, takes long to do heavy paint, doesn't remove med-heavy rust. Can change the Ph of the metal and you'll have problems with anything sticking to it, unless properly prepped. Ditto on the response exactly from "Chopolds" above, on all aspects. My projects have their fair share of rust, and I have media blasted every panel, I believe my blaster is using aluminum oxide, it leaves a great "profile" on the metal for the primer to bond to, so I am a fan of that method. Plus everything is clean and you know what kind of condition your paticular panel is in to start with. If you have a choice, the better panel you start with, the better and easier it is to get it perfect right? Just my two cents....
I've had bodies dipped in chemicals and sand blasted. I won't dip one again. The chemicals keep seeping out for years and can actually cause corrosion later down the road. Blasting is the only way to go. Just be very careful and use low pressure.
Blasting sure does seem the most efficient way as long as the operator knows what he is doing. One caution though - many guys seem to do it as a first step. That's ok if it is mostly surface rust, but if you have more extensive rust I'd rather wait. Even panels that look like a tea-strainer will often give you the shape information you need to make and position patch panels accurately - If you blast before starting metalwork much of that will be gone and getting things accurate can be a lot tougher. I'd rather do metalwork first - you only need to clean the metal in the areas you're going to weld (3M strip discs work great without heating/hurting good metal), then have it blasted when you're ready to start bodywork. If you do blast first, also look at what is going on afterwards for corrosion protection. I have a car in my shop that was blasted and epoxied. Great product, but getting it off in areas still needing welding has been a major PITA...
Had my 56 Victoria wet blasted. Was a little leary about the warpage but he said it wouldn't. I let him take my prized 56 and couldn't have been happier. Being a bodyman for over 40 yrs and seen the destruction blasting can do. Came back clean in and out Nothing nicer than starting with a clean car for a change and believe me the blaster tells no lies and shows all the weak spots and there is no warpage. This was a experianced operator. Saved me a lot of dirty filthy cleaning in the garage. Not to mention the countless hours and hundreds of dollars only to get lousy results results.
Get on the web and find a Dustless Blasting operator in your area. Posted using the Full Custom H.A.M.B. App!
I bought a dustless blaster system to use on all my projects. Blows everything off as fast as you can move it on paint and filler and light rust. Heavier rust takes a little longer. Still have to deal with the leftover crushed glass just like sand but there is no dust to deal with.
The key is "experienced operator" when it comes to having sheet metal sandblasted. A skilled and experienced operator can do great but I've some messes created by heavy handed operators who aren't used to light sheet metal. Ask to see some of the metal that they have blasted lately. One of the local shops showed me several pieces that the had done the week I went in and asked about having my Model A done and they do some nice work. They also told me that they have one guy who does all the sheet metal while several might do the heavier stuff. I wouldn't take the body to the sandblast outfit that I pass on the way to and from work each day that does heavy equipment though as they are used to doing heavy steel and may not be gentle enough on tin.
I've had that same problem, in my case it got in the cowl so it came out of the vents. It's like payback, you sandblast the car, it sandblasts you back.
I connected the kick panel vent cables on my 57 suburban when I put it back together, but I never opened them. I had sandblasted lots of parts of the truck, including the firewall, cowl, etc. When I was going to Drag Week last year with it, towing my other car, my friend decided he needed some fresh air, and opened one of the vents, as we were cruising at about 70. that was exciting.
Hehe, yep. Every time I turned on my heater sand would blow out. I vacuumed and blew out every little place I could find, and the damn sand was still hiding in there, just waiting to get me. Don
The Jalopy Journal
