Do it myself or farm it out?
I plan to completely dis-assemble the two trucks I'm working on to get all the rusty spots cleaned up. Should I buy a Harbor Freight blaster and do this one panel at a time over a large tarp or would it be cheaper in the long run to let the pros handle it? What media should I use?
Anybody have home-made blasting booth (not cabinets) pics/tips?

If you do plan on doing this yourself, DO NOT go to H.F. to purchase a blaster!. One from there might be fine for very intermitent use but certainly not if you plan on doing as much as it sounds like you need to do. Hire it done, it will be much cheaper and less agravating in the long run. The only way I would take on doing a whole car myself is with good equipment, no neighbors that lived close and... NO, FORGET IT!, JUST HIRE IT DONE!!!.

doing media blasting myself i would say to farm it out. those small blasters are ok for small jobs, big jobs arent as much fun. you will there days and use a ton of media.
so in the long run it wont be cheaper doing it yourself.

I agree with the others have it done.

ditto,, farm it out

never used media,,,but helped a friend sand blast a 55 truck frame,in a drive way in a neighborhood full of houses,,,small comperssor,,5 horse single stange pump,,canister type sand tank,,,

made a booth out of the blue tarps you buy at the home stores,,,when the tank was empty,we swept up the sane,,sifted it thru a fine screen in to a bucket,,,then re-used it,, was a little messy,,but not bad,,,but that was a frame not sheet metal,,,if you dont know what your doing,,and your body is sorta straight,,you can really mess things up,,,,but to say you done it your self,says a lot also,,,

"done it myself" is good brag!

I too was wanting to blast my 57 project. I think i will blast the frame first and see how that go's.Since i am doing this at the farm, nieghbors are not an issue. (1/8 mile in either direction)

If your going to use sand, be sure to wear a good resperator, that sand dust will tear up your lungs, really.
Gene

Nothing wrong with a Harbor Freight blaster. You'll wear out a couple of hoses and valves in the process. Use Black Beauty (coal slag - look it up) instead of sand. Don't reuse whatever blasting media you use. It cuts better when fresh. Old dull media will heat and warp the metal panels.

If you don't have a professional grade compressor that will put out lots of air, DON'T BOTHER. You'll spend most of your time waiting for the compressor to pump back up.

I can agree on the compressor. I have a 30 gallon and it barely hangs in there for my blasting cabinet. I'm using aluminum oxide, works great for cutting rust off the thick metal brackets and the intake I've blasted, although very dusty, I am working on a venting system using an old computer power supply and a couple of fans.