i have a 71 chevelle/malibu wagon pretty much the whole car has to be stripped of all the paint and rust im on a budget, but think sandblasing is the way to go. is this correct? if so does anyone have a rough estimate on the cost of a project like this. if not what what is the best way and how much might it cost. i live in a pretty small area so not everthing is available to me off hand. thanks

I wouldnt do it all at once especially if you dont have the time or the money to get it done asap. Plus a whole car completely stripped showing all it's flaws will really dissappoint you.

What I would do is focus on one panel at a time, you can afford it easier and it won't be nearly as overwhelming. Also, don't sandblast it, you will have damaged sheetmetal like crazy, I'd chemically do it with aircraft stripper, and then finish it up with some 80 grit.

should i use air grinder with a sander attachment, electric grinder with a sander attachment, orbital sander or by hand with 80 grit

DA sander with 80 grit.Going to need a good compressor to keep it running too.

Sandblasting is to aggressive on your body panels and could warp them. You can sand it off or you can chemically strip the car and then DA it with 80 grit.

Won't the sanding with 80 grit also distort the metal and cut the contours down? Will that also get rid of the rust.

I'm in the same boat. I have a wagon with a bad rattle can primer job on it and it has rust starting under the primer. I have thought about the media blasting not sandblasting and then have it epoxy primed after then work on each panel as I can.

Would this work?

I just finished the process of removing all of the paint and also the rust under the paint from my chevelle.

Don't sandblast. Go to home depot's paint department, get a gallon of this stuff called kleen strip...its like 15 or 20 bucks. Get some 80 grit for your DA. Spray that stuff, or brush it on one section at a time. It will pretty much liquify the paint.

Let the stripper do its job. Apply it a couple times if needed. Then just hit it with the 80 to get anything left behind. I hit it with 180 after that.

It is a lot of work, but you'll have a better result and you'll feel better doing it yourself anyway.

As for the rust underneath. Buy some POR 15 metal ready. Wash the car with that stuff. It works well. Then you can pick your primer.

media blasting(plastic bead is one) is another option. It will not harm your sheet metal and it will remove all the paint and light rust. The draw back is that it will not remove heavy rust like sandblasting will. I am going to have the whole underside of my body and some of the inside done for around $200.

My 66 has some damage from to much DA sander work on the top body line on the front fenders. The guy who shot it didn't pay enough attention to the. It had rust there and I think he went too long and blunted the edge of the body line.

What all has to come off for media blasting? Does the glass have to come out? I know all the chrome and stuff.

Hey,

Personally, Id suggest using an air grinder / wire wheel. It does an awesome and quick job! I used this combo to do my frame and body, bare metal.

One thing though, you'll need a large air tank to keep feeding that wheel though, I was burning through a 60gallon pretty quicky, at 20k, those wheels move..

Can see the work on the car at:
http://www.chevelles.com/forums/showthread.php?t=99112
The whole underbody was done in about 2 hours with air grinder.

What all has to come off for media blasting? Does the glass have to come out? I know all the chrome and stuff.

According to what I have read and speaking with the guys that will be doing the work, the media blasting is completely harmless to glass. I am going to tape up/cover up everything I do not want them to hurt to be on the safe side.