Prepping A Car For Blasting
#225224
02/14/09 11:50 PM
02/14/09 11:50 PM
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RangerDan440
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Im starting the biggest resto project Ive ever done-I have a 69 Charger R/T SE that needs a rotissery(sp) resto. The car has been sitting since 1976 and is pretty scaly underneath and I'm going to start with sandblasting. So far I have all of the major components off the car. For sheetmetal replacement, it needs quarters, floors and the rear valance. Ive never done a project this large before so forgive me if Im asking dopey questions. 1. Is sandblasting the way to go, as opposed to mediablasting or a chemical dip? 2. How far should I strip the car? Can I leave the steering column in? 3. I need all the suspension parts cleaned as well-should they be seperated and blasted seperately? 4. How long can the car sit after being blasted before I need to coat it and what should I coat it with? I probably wont be doing the sheetmetal work immediately after. 5. Should I cut the old quarters and floors out before blasting and brace the body or leave them on? 6. What about all the bolts and fasteners? Feel free to offer anything else up ![](/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif)
68 Valiant 408 69 Charger 318 69 Cougar 351W 70 Torino GT 351C 71 Country Squire 351W 71 Road Runner 440+6 71 Satellite sedan 318 73 Duster 318 73 Challenger 383 77 Grand Prix 455 83 Malibu 9C1 383 84 Delta 88 403 87 Grand National 96 Ram 360 09 Crown Vic 10 Challenger R/T M6 15 Challenger Hellcat M6
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Re: Prepping A Car For Blasting
[Re: Ts road runner]
#225227
02/15/09 08:48 AM
02/15/09 08:48 AM
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RangerDan440
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I would like to be able to roll the car to and from the shop thats doing the sandblasting, thats why I asked about the steering column and suspension parts, plus they need to be done too.
Should I pull the fenders or leave them on for blasting?
Why media blasting over sandblasting?
68 Valiant 408 69 Charger 318 69 Cougar 351W 70 Torino GT 351C 71 Country Squire 351W 71 Road Runner 440+6 71 Satellite sedan 318 73 Duster 318 73 Challenger 383 77 Grand Prix 455 83 Malibu 9C1 383 84 Delta 88 403 87 Grand National 96 Ram 360 09 Crown Vic 10 Challenger R/T M6 15 Challenger Hellcat M6
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Re: Prepping A Car For Blasting
[Re: Challenger 1]
#225230
02/15/09 11:53 AM
02/15/09 11:53 AM
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RodStRace
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I haven't gone this far, but reading the retso posts covers all the questions. You may want to sand blast the bottom for the scale, but you want media for the body. Talk to you blaster with the body there for his take on the bottom. Pull everything out. If you blast the suspension in place, you will have to dismantle anyway, get all the abrasive out and clean the nooks and crannys the blasting missed while it was assembled. More work.... Pull the column for the same reason. The blaster will be happier and do a better job if it's on the rotissorie when he's doing the work. Trailer it over mounted that way, and you won't need the suspension and steering. Get the priming set up and ready before getting it blasted. Also expect lots of stuff in the clean body to blow out. As mentioned prior planning...use the whole system from one paint manufacturer and know what they suggest for bare metal. I'd remove at least the main parts of the quarters so you can get behind the areas. This depends on how solid the car is without the sections, and how good the replacements are. If you can brace the body and remove all the bad stuff, that would be best. It will reduce grinding and prep when fixing the body. You will have fewer surprizes when it's blasted. If you have to do the trunk floor, you will have clean frame rails to attach to, without all the junk in the middle. It will also make the blaster's job easier to get to the underside of the dutchman panel if the trunk floor is gone. Access is key, and if you make it easier, you will get a more complete job. Check the replacement panels to make sure they match up with what you are removing before cutting. I've seen some where they left the old marker light areas because the new ones weren't right. ![](/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/Twocents.gif)
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Re: Prepping A Car For Blasting
[Re: RangerDan440]
#225232
02/15/09 12:26 PM
02/15/09 12:26 PM
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Clair_Davis
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I think the reason for soda (or other media) over sand is that sand can warp sheetmetal pretty easily if the person blasting the car isn't careful. I had my Barracuda blasted back in 2000 by a shop that had a lot of experience blasting cars, planning on using soda on the upper surfaces and sand on the rockers, etc. Their big compressor went down the day of the job, so they had to finish with sand only, but I can't tell that it made any difference.
I left my car as a roller as well, no rotisserie here and I needed to transport the car by trailer where ever it went. I left the suspension intact for that reason, and because about 90% of the parts would be replaced anyway. I am banking on rebuilding the column as well. I think I removed close to 50# of sand from the car when I got it home... recycled that stuff and used it for a long time blasting other small projects.
You SHOULD get the bare metal sealed/primed/whatever as soon as you can... that said, my Barracuda has been in bare metal since I got it blasted. The only real surface rust on the car is where we touched it getting it back on the trailer. Sweat will generate a rusty patch pretty quickly, but the car being in my cruddy detached garage for nearly 9 years now has suffered very little. I'll still be sanding the whole car again before I treat it with Ospho, but that should go pretty quickly. At least I'm not having to remove 3 coats of paint this time, and it WILL get some epoxy primer after that's done.
Clair
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Re: Prepping A Car For Blasting
[Re: Clair_Davis]
#225235
02/15/09 01:04 PM
02/15/09 01:04 PM
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RangerDan440
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let me drop a gratuitous picture on yall, you can see how scaly it is on the sway bar. Theres no filler on the car anywhere Im not replacing sheetmetal so Im not so much worried about that, and Im mainly concerned about blasting the underside and no so much the body panels. Do you all agree a rotisserie is the way to go?
68 Valiant 408 69 Charger 318 69 Cougar 351W 70 Torino GT 351C 71 Country Squire 351W 71 Road Runner 440+6 71 Satellite sedan 318 73 Duster 318 73 Challenger 383 77 Grand Prix 455 83 Malibu 9C1 383 84 Delta 88 403 87 Grand National 96 Ram 360 09 Crown Vic 10 Challenger R/T M6 15 Challenger Hellcat M6
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Re: Prepping A Car For Blasting
[Re: RangerDan440]
#225236
02/15/09 01:38 PM
02/15/09 01:38 PM
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Posts: 8,510 Candler,NC / Myrtle Beach, SC
JDMopar
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Dan, as far as taking the column out...I would. When I had to take the column out of my 71 Challenger a few years ago, and still needed to be able to steer it....I made a rig to do it with. I took the column and steering box out, and made a bracket to mount an old idler arm where the steering box was. I used an old A-body idler arm, and welded up a bracket to bolt onto the two inner steering box bolt holes. It worked like a charm, but you do have to push the wheels back and forth by hand to steer it. A little feller your size may have trouble with that! ![](/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/stirthepot.gif) I would only cut enough of the 1/4's off to be able to get the wheelhouses and lower areas clean. Leave the top and front/rear parts attached. I'd leave 3 or 4 inches front(around door jambs), and same to the rear around the tail panel areas. That way, it stays stable, and the doors can be rehung to line up original body lines before new 1/4's are installed. The little bit of area that missed getting blasted can easily be cleaned by hand when the remaining metal is removed in prep for the new 1/4's. When I did my Challenger that the tree fell on, I took it to bare metal,cleaned it with metal prep and lacquer thinner and put PPG DP90LF epoxy primer on it. What little filler it needed was put over top of the epoxy after it sat for a few weeks and the primer scuffed where the filler was needed on small dings.I'm sure that will start a ![](/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/catfight.gif) over filler over vs under primer...LOL. Good luck ![](/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbs.gif)
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Re: Prepping A Car For Blasting
[Re: RangerDan440]
#225239
02/15/09 10:40 PM
02/15/09 10:40 PM
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JDMopar
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I would take it to bare metal. It's 40 years old, so it's probably been painted 3 or 2 times! If your gonna put new 1/4's on it, the doors,fenders,hood and decklid wouldn't be too bad to do. I stripped mine with 3M stripper pads I bought at Lowes. They are the softer, but crusty kind that fit a 4" grinder. I could get one panel done with a pad, and good God at the mess! ![](/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eeek.gif) They won't warp the metal though, because they are soft and won't build enough heat. The bottom, engine compartment and inside the trunk and passenger area should be fine to get blasted. Just don't let them get carried away on the bottom side of the roof.Same goes for the bottom of the hood. Best I remember, the bottom side of a decklid has a seperate skin, so it should be fine to get blasted too.
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Re: Prepping A Car For Blasting
[Re: HUSTLESTUFF]
#225241
02/16/09 09:27 AM
02/16/09 09:27 AM
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RangerDan440
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hey there Mike I dont have a timeline, I just do my own thing ![](/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif) I already have the car apart but I have everything bagged and tagged. My plan is to start with getting it to a rolling body in primer, paint the engine bay and trunk, install the drivetrain and components, paint the rest of the car (and it will be black, oh my!) and finish with the interior. My real world time line is about 5 years to get it done.
68 Valiant 408 69 Charger 318 69 Cougar 351W 70 Torino GT 351C 71 Country Squire 351W 71 Road Runner 440+6 71 Satellite sedan 318 73 Duster 318 73 Challenger 383 77 Grand Prix 455 83 Malibu 9C1 383 84 Delta 88 403 87 Grand National 96 Ram 360 09 Crown Vic 10 Challenger R/T M6 15 Challenger Hellcat M6
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Re: Prepping A Car For Blasting
[Re: RangerDan440]
#225244
02/17/09 12:02 PM
02/17/09 12:02 PM
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klunick
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Dan, just got done having my barracuda blasted. As others have said, media blast, do not use sand. Sand will create too much heat and warp your panels. The shop I used used Aluminum oxide, although I use glass bead for the smaller stuff. Strip the car completely of everything. That means doors, hood, hinges, suspension, etc. I used OSPHO on the car after blasting and it seems to work. 4 guys can pick up my A-body and carry it with everything stripped off it. I didn't believe it until we did it. Call John at US Car Tool and buy a roto. It will make yours and the blasters life much easier. I paid about $1100 to get the car blasted.
67 Barracuda FB
69 Superbee
"Southern Maryland: If you want a good looking woman, you had better bring her with you"
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Re: Prepping A Car For Blasting
[Re: RangerDan440]
#225245
02/17/09 12:37 PM
02/17/09 12:37 PM
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RoadRunner
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And believe the folks when they say sand gets everywhere. I pulled 30lbs of black beauty from a parts car I cut up. When I blasted the trunk in my 69 I made up some tools for my shop vac and air gun. I picked up a length of 1/2" flexible copper and used a rubber stopper to stick it into the vacuum hose. It allwed me to get down into crevises to get the sand out. A long extension of 1/4" copper on the air gun allowed me to use pressurized air to dislodge some of the sand. Its also nice on a rotiserrie as you can flip the car around several times to get material out of areas. I spend a whole evening removing sand out of my 69 RR shell. And I just blasted the trunk floor!
68 Road Runner (383/4speed, post car w/decor pkg) - Major Project 69 Road Runner w/472 Hemi & 4 speed. 70 Challenger R/T SE EF8 w/ V9J, U - A32 - Major Project 2023 Ford Mach 1
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Re: Prepping A Car For Blasting
[Re: RoadRunner]
#225246
02/17/09 01:00 PM
02/17/09 01:00 PM
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Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 28,312 Cincinnati, Ohio
Challenger 1
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Quote:
And believe the folks when they say sand gets everywhere. I pulled 30lbs of black beauty from a parts car I cut up. When I blasted the trunk in my 69 I made up some tools for my shop vac and air gun. I picked up a length of 1/2" flexible copper and used a rubber stopper to stick it into the vacuum hose. It allwed me to get down into crevises to get the sand out. A long extension of 1/4" copper on the air gun allowed me to use pressurized air to dislodge some of the sand. Its also nice on a rotiserrie as you can flip the car around several times to get material out of areas. I spend a whole evening removing sand out of my 69 RR shell. And I just blasted the trunk floor!
with everything you said. I'd like to add this.
I like to use my big compressor that I use to blast with and use it to blow out the car. Mine is 100CFM and will remove the sand pretty easy without alot of trouble. There again having the car on a rottisserie is almost a must and definety helps get the old media out. Using a compressor with enough air is paramount and alows you to use way less media and makes the cleanup easier. I've been blasting since the early eighties and have blasted many tons.
Maybe ask your blaster to blow out your car when he's done, whatever he charges should be worth it because a little wimppy 5 HP 2 stage shop comprssor will wear you out using it to blow out sand.
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Re: Prepping A Car For Blasting
[Re: Neil]
#225247
02/17/09 01:03 PM
02/17/09 01:03 PM
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Quote:
I should also add that if the car has undercoating on it you'll want to remove it first. I don't think it comes off very well during the blasting process.
Very true.
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Re: Prepping A Car For Blasting
[Re: RangerDan440]
#225248
02/17/09 01:09 PM
02/17/09 01:09 PM
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Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 28,312 Cincinnati, Ohio
Challenger 1
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Quote:
Quote:
What about ultra-high pressure washing (just water)?
Hans
Hans, believe me thats not an option on this car It needs the big guns, but its complete and worth saving (RT/SE Track Pack car with lots of options)
thanks JD, thats good info Im too lazy (and welder-less) to fab my own caster frame and thats one of the reasons Ive been trying to avoid that route but it sounds like I need to bribe a very good welding friend of mine. Think I need to take the whole car to bare metal?
It sounds like Hans has read some of my posts. A steam pressure washer will do wonders before media blasting on any car. ![](/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif)
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Re: Prepping A Car For Blasting
[Re: Challenger 1]
#225249
02/17/09 11:15 PM
02/17/09 11:15 PM
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RangerDan440
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great advice guys, thank you very much ![](/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/thumbs.gif) I spoke to my body guy at length today about several issues we brought up here...he also recommends media blasting since whatever is not solid (or what Im pretty sure is solid anyway, and there is no undercoating btw) is being replaced (which will amount to quarters, floors, and taillight panel and valance) He also said he can leave most of the suspension parts on but it will cost more in labor to get up in the crevices; he said I could bring it to him as a roller, he'll pull all the suspension parts, blast them, and then reinstall to get it home so I think I might do that. He said $1000 for everything (not including the extra for pulling the suspension) He also recommends seem sealing the floors in over welding, which Im seriously considering. ![](/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/1343795-scratchchin.gif)
68 Valiant 408 69 Charger 318 69 Cougar 351W 70 Torino GT 351C 71 Country Squire 351W 71 Road Runner 440+6 71 Satellite sedan 318 73 Duster 318 73 Challenger 383 77 Grand Prix 455 83 Malibu 9C1 383 84 Delta 88 403 87 Grand National 96 Ram 360 09 Crown Vic 10 Challenger R/T M6 15 Challenger Hellcat M6
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Re: Prepping A Car For Blasting
[Re: RangerDan440]
#225250
02/18/09 11:55 AM
02/18/09 11:55 AM
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klunick
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Dan, that last comment, do you mean bonding the floors using the epoxy? My bodyman swears by this stuff and says they use it on all the new cars. I don't really know anything about it, but my response to him was, "Well, that may work on my wifes car that we might keep for 10 years, but how do you know this stuff is going to last 25+ years." For all I know it may well last at least that long, but I know for a fact that welding will. Just a thought.
67 Barracuda FB
69 Superbee
"Southern Maryland: If you want a good looking woman, you had better bring her with you"
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Re: Prepping A Car For Blasting
[Re: Stanton]
#225251
02/18/09 02:04 PM
02/18/09 02:04 PM
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Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 28,633 Shopping @ HoBo Fright
340SIX
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Quote:
Strip the car completely - including all suspension parts. To keep it rolling, spend the few extra bucks and make up a set of stands with casters on the bottoms that bolt to the rear spring front mounts and the front bumper bracket holes. This will leave you with only minimal areas that won't be blasted. You can also make these long enough (about 18") to bring the car up to a decent working height.
I took everything off and duct taped card board over all the holes o the floor from the inside and the frame. It might not sound strong but 3-4 layers of good tape over the small card board worked fine to keep sand out and i just wire wheels the small spots thay were missed. I left the rear end in just to keep it a roller. I was swaping it anyway.And made a dolliy for the front. The guy used his lift truck to put it on some nice metal stand like saw horses.
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Re: Prepping A Car For Blasting
[Re: 340SIX]
#225252
02/18/09 04:45 PM
02/18/09 04:45 PM
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I've done a couple at home myself. I would remove any bolt on components. I would remove all seam sealer as there is probably rust behind it. My bet is the inner areas of the trunk,quaurters and various body seams are rusted. I spread the seam with a screwdiver,blast,epoxy prime,then tap them back together. If the seams "fat" its rusty. I have also dipped components. It does not clean out the seams either, if the seams are fat, spread and clean them. Areas that can not be acesssed can be cut thru with a hard wheel,spread apart, blasted ,primed with weld thru primer and rewelded. Such as the outer lower door skin. Ideally you would like to remove the rusted components being replaced before blasting. How ever with a lot of structure missing the body could move during transport. good luck. Its a lot of work,but a lot of fun. Doug
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Re: Prepping A Car For Blasting
[Re: klunick]
#225253
02/18/09 10:23 PM
02/18/09 10:23 PM
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RangerDan440
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theres a lot of body guys using epoxy-based compounds to "glue" replacement panels in and it seems stronger to me than a weld bead. I would do it on floor boards and the trunk, I dont know about quaters and outside panels. Think about it, no spot welds, less susceptible to rust since its a cleaner, tighter seal so moisture is less likely to settle in in the seams. I think Im gonna try it.
68 Valiant 408 69 Charger 318 69 Cougar 351W 70 Torino GT 351C 71 Country Squire 351W 71 Road Runner 440+6 71 Satellite sedan 318 73 Duster 318 73 Challenger 383 77 Grand Prix 455 83 Malibu 9C1 383 84 Delta 88 403 87 Grand National 96 Ram 360 09 Crown Vic 10 Challenger R/T M6 15 Challenger Hellcat M6
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