what is your technique of choice for taking a car down to bar metal to do needed metal work and customizing?
i prefer walnut blastiing , or plastic media if there is a bunch of material on the car. if its just primed or sealed, i usually just sand it off, or use an abraisive pad such as those sold by sunchaser to strip it down. by the time you factor the cost of sandpaper and such, the blasting works out to a pretty good deal skull
skullhat hit it good. if you have it medi blasted?? epoxy seal as soon as possible. otherwise , 80 grit on a buffer or bondo hog works really well. just watch the heat!! good luck
Media blasting works best, like Skullhat said. I have seen several types that work well, but I think the walnut shell blasting or soda blasting takes it down well without damage to the metal. SpeedAddict001
Blasting is the best but can be costly. I find a DA set up in grinding mode and 40 stickies works great. I only do my flats with this. Edges and lips will kill a pad in no time.All these cars were stripped this way
Just remember that baking soda must be nutraized with water, It just kills me to hit that bare metal with the hose. If you dont get all you will get paint lifting. Latley ive been getting a guy that uses a grit called star-brite. It doesnt warp the panels and will cut rust, it leaves a finish between sand blasting and 80grt D/a
I dont have the access to the blasting end of things. My current project I am using Mar Hyde stripper which is working well. I clean the area, then I use a flap disc of 80 grit, 60 for scale, on my angle grinder. I have gotten good at taking off the residue without making alot of heat. Keep the pad moving, change often. They arent that expensive to do that. I will then seal with Upol this time.
thats true, thats why i like the walnut shells or plastic better. i had a hard time washing a bare care as well. walnut shells leave it just a straight, and you dont have to wash it
Media blasting is a very good choice . I can't afford the price of blasting so I use a DA sander with 40 & 80 grit . Takes longer but much cheaper . Just remember when you remove the old paint , make sure you get some primmer of some kind on the bare metal ASAP . It will rust up real fast ! RetroJim
Aircraft stripper and a putty knife. Use a wire brush to clean the nooks n crannies then wipe it down with some laquer thinner. Hit it with some 80 grit on a DA and if there is any surface rust, the stripper will break it down and allow the 80 grit to remove that as well.
yeah, real walnut shells, broken up.....they leave the metal bare, slightly textured but not as much as sand, a little more than plastic. walnut shells in a rock tumbler will polish the crap out of you hardware as well. toss in nuts and bolts for a week or so and they look like mirrors. same stuff on high pressure blows off paint and rust, but leaves no harmful residue like soda does skull
Hey, Your choice is going to be tied to your budget! Chemical stripper (Aircraft Paint Remover) and a putty knife work well. If you're talking a frame-off resto/kustom, I'd go the blasting route. I wouldn't suggest mechanical removal (DA or Grinding) because of the dust/lead paint factor, and the fact that unless you've a medium to large compressor you'll sign your small/old compressor's death warrant with a DA sander, to say nothing of the noise factor. If the vehicle has a lot of coats of finish, rust or large areas of old repairs, blasting can actually be pretty cheap from a time/material factor. " Spending a nation into generational debt is not an act of compassion"
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