Need to know about sandblasting

[Stoned_Elvis]

I was quoted $2500 to sand blast and primer my camaro. I have more time than money. what do you guys know about sand blasting that may help me out. Im thinkin that I would buy a sand blaster and some walnut shells or bakeingsoda.

what are good brands? Im thinking that i want a pressurized pot. what size do i need. any info and tip would be appreciated.

thanks

[Mr.VENGEANCE]

i can tell you what needs blasting.. hahahahahh

[LS1NOVA]

I tried blasting my own car-way more work than its worth to me anyway! I ended up getting it blasted by a professional. He charged $900 to do the body minus the front clip but including the underside. He then primed it with etch prime after which was included. I think your price is a tad high.

[Stoned_Elvis]

how are the media blaster on ebay? what grit sould i use?

Venomous Type what is a 96 VW Demon GTI? I too come from the vw scene. and own several vw's

[novanutcase]

started out with a '68 V-dub myself! You may want to try and chemical strip it. Most people say that it is really messy and all but I did it and it really wasn't bad at all! Buy some Aircraft stripper(You can get it at your local auto parts store!) lay it on. Let it work in. Scrape it with a metal scraper. If you need to reapply do it until you get down to the primer and then reapply and use coarse steel wool. It will come out nice and clean and you will get to see every inch of your car and what is going on.

[Duesey]

Without the proper compressor you would take forever blasting your own car. Pressurized is the only way to do it but they take a lot of air. Compressors get very hot and make a lot of moisture when blasting for a long period. I bet you could smoke a home improvement store bought compressor on one car. You gotta have something around 20cfm @ 100psi and that's minimum. Thats actual cfm out of the air hose and not the displacement cfm's that cheap compressors like to advertise. You will get it very hot with makes the moisture which is constantly collecting in your blasters water filter. Realistically a 5hp compressor isn't really enough to blast a full car. And I mean a real 5hp that is two stage, rebuildable, and pistons the size of a smallblock is still is lacking. Blasting sucks and that's why some shops get a premium but 2500 is outrageous in my area. I like to chemical strip the body like stated above and blast the seams. Someone without experience can take a nice panel and warp the piss out of it with sand due to the heat exherted on the panel during blasting. I've even used a blaster before to shrink certain creases in metal. If I don't want to use the torch on the area then a blaster will draw the metal also. Anyway be careful and experiment.

[David Sloan]

We do our own blasting here, an i can tell you it does suck.
I have to agree with everthing that Duesey said.
The price on the other hand is not that bad off. the blasting itself runs around $1500 to $2000 depending on the car. the epoxy primer is around $200 to $400 depending on the size of the car then you have the clean up of the shell an all parts that go with it.
Then there is the paint booth time to put 3 coats of epoxy inside and out of your body.
It all adds up. the air comp we use is a desiel pull behind that puts out like 175cfms thur a 1" hose. i put a reg. on my blaster to keep the pressure down to about a 100psi. to keep from warping the metal.
Hope this helps give you an idea of what it takes to do a car. feel free to call me if you have any ?s.

[novanutcase]

I've owned several compressors out here in Cali since I used to have a factory that processed designer jeans. We would use it to get that worn out look on the thighs and whatever other areas needed to get that look. IMO you would be better served to let a pro handle it since, as duesy says, they won't warp your metal and you might since you don't have the experience. I use to run 50 hp screw type ingersoll rands with a line dryer(basically a refrigerator that converts water vapor that forms in the line to actual water and drops it out of the line), inline water traps(for whatever is left), Oil separators(a small amount of oil from the screw gets vaproized and into the line and will clog up your pots), grade D filters(for the blasters to have breathable air since they need to wear protective helmets and the dust gets unbearable in the blast room) and ran it all at 100 psi thru 1000 pound blast pots, 1 inch hose and number 5 nozzles. Blast media is also an important consideration since any silica based media will heat the metal too fast and be hard to control. I would go with either plastic media, walnut shells, or baking soda so that you keep that heat down on the specific areas if you are still inclined to do this and have the funds. Oh by the way, I would estimate that for you to set up a proper blast booth and supply it with the abovementioned gear, ramped down to the appropriate size of course, you are looking in the neighborhood of $20,000 - $30,000. I say give it to a pro. Spend the money elsewhere.

[Stoned_Elvis]

you guys are very helpful. Thanks

I bought a sand blaster this weekend at harbor freight. I know they sell junk. but it worked for the first two hours before it broke.

I'll either sand by hand(machine) or use chemecal stripper on the body. then use the media blaster on the subframe and around the rust with walnut shells. i want to seal the car the best i can before i bring it home.