Just saw a nice blasted body in a HAMB thread and wondered about the cleaned to bare steel protection. What have you used to cover all the behind the panels brackets and nooks & crannies so they don't start to rust?
Gibbs is good on an outer surface, but once behind things getting it off for primer to stick is a problem, I would think. Bob
Blasted metal starts to rust immediately.I like to get it in primer right away.Here's my 32 5/w body after being soda blasted.It got a coat of self etching primer ( no pic of that) and then a coat of ppg black epoxy primer ( the quarter panel pic.) Not the dp primer,this is a high build epoxy that sands like lacquer primer but don't shrink, great stuff !
Lots of POR haters out there, but for the initial protection in the areas you'll never touch again it's a viable solution. Let it ooze through seams and lob it all in behind those brackets and such. Then forget it, FOREVER. The rest, give it a light coat of epoxy just to protect things as you work. Not like it's gonna live in the driveway for a year or 2, right? Did you already do this or is it in the game plan? If there's welding and the like I like to do all that before stripping. Clean as needed where to do the work then have it dipped or blasted. Gives the welds and new metal the same treatment, same prep, cleans hidden areas too that are not logical to try and prep from behind so let the stripping process do it. I'm kinda lazy like that...
I have had numerous vehicles chemically stripped, in my opinion it is the best way to start a rebuild. I always have the car stripped then bring it back to my shop for metal work, fabrication and mock up. (Basically assemble the whole car) I then send the car back to the strippers to have everything e coated, this ensures that all the surfaces including the area’s that are inaccessible are protected from future corrosion. This does ad to the cost of the project but I prefer this method. Here is my Comet after e coat. Jim
I cannot imagine Gibbs on a blasted surface. It's too rough. On a metal finished surface it's really great and easy to apply. I epoxied my old T roadster after blasting. It's still good after a decade.
After I use molasses to its masterful ability. I’ve used por which is great And when I’ve ran out I’ve substituted with this from The orange box store I’ve had my 32 parts laying around the garage for over four years with no new rust showing up. Every time the wife or kids bring snow or rain in there I freak out but nothings happened. When the garage sweats from a temp swing or high humidity I cringe but still notta. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I just saw a body in a thread and wondered how all that never seen stuff gets coated. Some stuff is 80 years old or older so ever if left bare I guess it would be OK to some people, but not to me. Bob
Cold phosphate, then PPG DP90.....then top coats....bullet proof. Sent from my XT1710-02 using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
My coupe body was blasted and worked on and then shelved with nothing done to it. For 10 years it sat aside with no sealer or protectant. We live in a dry climate and it was inside, so overalls it was good. After all that time there was very little oxidation. It really depends on where the body is.
Same here I've got stuff that was blasted years ago still looks good. Ever meet someone that has hands the ooze rust forming sweat, hand prints over everything they touch? Bob
I have seen it. My coupe had some sweat drops, haha. I have a raw decklid panel that has a couple finger spots.
According to tbe Gibbs website and video, pri.er and paint over Gibbs is not a problem I've done it on a few parts and have not had a problem with paint. Sent from my SM-G973U using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Been discussed before Dipping Have had this done on a few old Cushman motor scooters. If there is ( any ) dipping chemical left in the seams it will lift the paint. Yup it,s happened to me & I thought I was being very thorough with cleaning & blowing out the seams. Just my opinion.. gene
I have heard this before but as I mentioned in my previous post I have had numerous body’s dipped and have never had an issue with paint lifting. I believe that the e coat process helps prevent the issue, but also every body (or parts) I have had dipped has been painted by the same person. He prefers the item be stripped chemically instead of blasted, I know he has some special concoction that he uses on the metal before he applies the epoxy primer. He does high end restoration work and his paint never fails. I feel that fabrication and welding on clean metal yields better results than working with dirty metal. These are just my personal opinions.
Like @-Brent- I live in a dry climate this T metal was blasted 15 years ago. Sent from my SM-J337V using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I used to prefer to do my metalwork on bare sandblasted metal. I thought it was a waste of epoxy primer to coat a freshly blasted body, then strip half of it off in the metalwork phase and then what is left has to be sanded to put more epoxy on top of it. I figured it was easier to just sand any spots that started to rust during the metalwork phase, then epoxy after the work is done. A couple of months ago, a guy brought me a body that another guy started the metalwork, then got cancer and coated the whole sandblasted body inside and out with ospho. I have now changed my tune about having to work around epoxy. I would take sanding epoxy any day over having to neutralize all of that phosphoric acid. So far, I've probably got 20-30 hours of brushing and scrubbing and 2 quarts of ospho to get all of that shit off of the car. Dave
My son & I have a "sandblasting" business here. We strip whole cars , bodies, frames, whatever. We do work for the Petty Garage & Detroit Speed. Usually they take the bodies bare metal & epoxy prime them in their shop. When we do prime bare metal parts we use PPG 375 or 377 epoxy. The guy here is right, getting to tight places is tough. We blast with 80 grit Garnet. We blast inside so can reuse it a few times. The hardest part is cleaning out the material left in the body . Blowing it out & vacuuming works best. If we have a tight place we either flood it with primer after spraying it with a substance similar to Ospho (which u can paint over), or if customer wants using POR which I don't like. Superman couldn't get it off. Usually on trailers, truck frames, etc., we use Rustoleum rusty metal primer (over bare metal) & topcoat with Rustoleum paint, usually s. g. black. We do have customers that want their parts powder coated, that's when parts have to be 100% cleaned. I started the co. BLASTMAN (see us on facebook) in 1984, so we have lots of practice. Our process does not warp metal ! , like many sandblasters do. good luck. contact me if I can answer a question, thx Alan
Unless you live in the desert, what ever you decide to do, you better do it quick! Rust never sleeps.
Years ago I worked with a guy that drank a few beers several days a week. He stank of cheap beer the next day. BUT every piece of bare steel he touched those days wound up with his rusty fingerprints on them.
I've had a nightmare time with my bare 400 SBC. I spent $1200 on the shortblock work, and had to store it in a rental building when I moved. I go to empty the building months later, and it looked like it had just come out of a creek!! I was almost in tears! I took it back to the shop for a fresh hone and dunk again, and now sitting in the garage, it's slowly starting to flash rust again. I just keep trying to coat it with oil until I can get it built..
I've had all my bodies sand blasted by someone that knows what they're doing. Once done I've always blown the debris out and epoxy etch primed everything. My current 46 Olds body has been sitting for years without issue, only slight surface rust is coming through on 1K primed parts. If not sealed parts could / will flash rust within a short space of time.
Blasted and epoxy primer. I’ve used Gibbs and it works great. I wipe it with prep-all and paint with no issues
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