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

Ideally putting the car on a rotisserie and then blasting it is would be the best route. You would be able to get to everything a lot easier that way. Being able to rotate the car over will help in getting all the media out before you have it primed.

I would plan on pulling every last part off the car before blasting. If your going this far an extra 1/2 hour to remove the steering column should not matter.

I would pull the suspension parts off and dissassemble them and then have them blasted or cleaned up. You're sure to miss something if you do it when everything is bolted together.

If you know what brand of paint your using buy the proper primer for covering bare metal. I used ppg dp epoxy primer on my dart (although I didn't have it sandblasted).

Bag and tag every last part and take lots of pictures or sketches as you go.

Media Blast Don't use sand.

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?

When i had the Cuda blasted ,i did not pull the column.They wraped it in a bag of some sort,and tightened it and bent the turn signal lever.Also a good thing i took the column apart after,as it was full of sand.

It needs to be really bare to get a good job done. Like what was said above, anything you leave on there is gonna get loaded with abrasive, not good.

You'd be smart to remove all the rusty metal first and quarters if your gonna replace em. I'd have the front fenders off the car for sure before blasting. Be sure your blaster has automoble experience before letting him do it.
All suspenision parts would need to be off the car to be blasted/cleaned up anyway.

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.

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.

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

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.

Grab the latest issue of Car Craft. They go through the different types of media for blasting and when to use what. I believe they say that with soda blasting, it doesn't hurt glass or stainless trim. The down side is that it is not as effective on body filler or rust. They go in depth on how to paint the car and even break down the price of everything the used. Worth a read.

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?

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! 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 over filler over vs under primer...LOL. Good luck

What about ultra-high pressure washing (just water)?

Hans

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! 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.

Dan, what is your timeframe to restore the car? I would start by not disassembling the whole car yet. Pull the drivetrain first. Then I would take off parts from under the hood one at a time and restore that part including fasteners, package it and store it. Some items that may need to be sent out send them. Go to the next piece etc. Make a list of repop parts to buy and once the under hood stuff is off get the grille and fenders. Then start with interior and doors. Lots of pics and baggies, but restore as you go. When you get down to body and suspension make the casters and pull the rear and front ends. Send the body for blasting sealing, body work and paint. While thats going on restore drivetrain and suspension. When you get the body back with doors and fenders on start the assembly as resto rick outlines. Minimum 1 year in a two car garage. Finances may dictate some things but order repop parts first as they always take their time getting to you. My

Oh and on blasting, sand is probably ok for underside and floor pans, but media for outside metal. Talk to the painter before using soda. I'd cut off anything to be replaced before blasting, but I would have the replacement part before I cut and probably have the metal repair guy do the cutting.

hey there Mike

I dont have a timeline, I just do my own thing 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.

Mine took 5 years. I used sand and had everything that could be removed from the car off. It was a bare shell. I blasted in my garage, doing it over again I would have it media striped professionally. With a combination of sand for the rust and soda for everything else. The sand gets everywhere. I made a dolly to move it around without suspension. It should be coated in initial primer almost immediately after stripping or it will flash rust. I think soda gives you more time,but I'm not sure. I use ppg dplf40 epoxy primer. Then filler, then highbuild primer,sealcoat of dplf then base clear. I did a section at a time until it was all in dplf40.

I took everything off of mine except the rear axle, the kframe, and the steering column so I could roll it around. I brought the hood, trunk lid, fenders and doors along to be blasted as well. It was the best money I spent. THe car was put on a rottiserie and blasted. The car was blasted down bare metal and then metal locked with a sealer. My car needed metal going in but when it is blasted you see the reality. But it gives you a fresh start. It cost me 1300 two years ago. I will be driving this spring. I have blasted every part from the car myself. But the shell was easier to have done.

Good Luck