[71307chevelle]

Am starting a resto on a 1966 SS and have the body off the frame and am stripping the paint off the frame with a grinder with a wire wheel. The previous owner had sandblasted some of it and primered and painted it, but it was peeling and rusting through. I can't seem to reach certain areas with the grinder and my question is: Inside the frame is alot of undercoating which I assume is original Should I let it go as is or should I sandblast everything and start from scratch.

I was thinking of buying a sandblaster. Does anyone have any recommendations? I was looking at the siphon fed ones in the eastwood co catalog. I plan on using it for a bunch of other small parts but didn't wan't to spend the money on a blasting cabinet. Nor do I want to send all the parts to someone else everytime I need it.

Thanks

Corey

pictures at http://users.snip.net/~chopperroxie

 

[jimmy]

I had both the siphon (spelling ?) and a pressure type. There is no comparison. Buy one that is pressurized. They work much better. Good Luck, Jim

 

[GaryR]

Corey,
I have the siphon type of sandblaster and it works fine. I have not used the pressure type so I couldn't tell you which is better. I used mine on a Camaro front sub-frame. It was a messy job, but it came out well.
Sandblasters do not work well on soft surfaces, so if your undercoating is not hard or if the frame has grease on it the sand will just bounce off or stick in the grease.
To remove the undercoating heat the back side of the metal with a propane tourch, which will soften the undercoating at the surface where it contacts the frame. Then it scrapes off easily with a putty knife. Wipe the resudue off with lacquer thinner.
GaryR

 

[Narti]

Since you have the body off the frame, why not take it somewhere and have it "dipped" instead of sanblasting. You'll never get into all the hidden part's of the frame by blasting. If your heart is set on blasting, get yourself a pressurised blaster and cover up everything you don't want blasting media in, because it get's in EVERYWHERE! Good luck!

 

[Havoc]

My dad and I bought one of those pressurized blasters from TiP in ohio and then rented one of those big ingersol rand compressors they use for jackhammering and stuff. We did my cutlass and his 32 ford flatbed in one weekend. Siphon sandblasters are great for small areas, like if you have a little rust at the bottom of the fender, but you'd wanna shoot yourself if you tried to do the whole car with one. Oh yeah, that stuff gets EVERYWHERE. There vacuummed and blew all the sand out of my cutlass, but there was always more.

Be careful of glass too!

------------------
Ian McDermott
1970 Chevelle SS 396
Columbia University
New York, NY.
E-mail: [email protected]
Web page: chevelle.dhs.org
ICQ UIN: 3923441

 

[rick]

Eastwood is a good source for many restoration items, but a sandblaster is not one of them. Harbor Freight had a pressurized 20 lb capacity blaster in a recent catalog for about $90.00 with free shipping. Look around for a better deal. A pressurized unit will do a better job than the syphon type and in about 1/3 the time.

------------------
Rick Schaefer
72 El Camino
ACES # 00140

 

[283v8]

When you start, DO NOT BREATHE THE SAND - USE A RESPIRATOR!

------------------

 

[Alan F]

I hesitate to bring this up, but industrial sand blast residue is a listed hazardous waste here in Texas. I don't know about other areas or exemptions for "do-it-yourselfers". You might consider what it might do to your property values if you do enough of this out in the open.

Sand/media blasting is easy work with the right equipment, but it's becoming so the laws are running us out of our hobby (paint regs, oil & tire disposal, sandblast, etc.).

I've made good friends with the local media blast company.

Good luck to you.

 

[71307chevelle]

Thanks everyone for your replys. You gave me alot to think about. I checked out the pressure blaster that Harbor Freight sells, (thanks rick) and after talking to the tech guy there, I decided to buy it. I figure I can also use it on all the suspension parts, manifolds etc, that I've got. I can also rig up a cabinet for myself to use it indoors too. Anybody ever do this?


Thanks Again

Corey

http://users.snip.net/~chopperroxie

 

[chev64]

Corey, My bro-in-law and I used a Plastic 55 gal drum for a sandblast cabinet. We cut a round hole in the top and glued a piece of plexiglas over it and hung a light over it,cut a smaller one in the front to look thru and a 8" by 12" hole about in the middle of the front to work thru. In the bottom, we glued a funnel to the large bung hole for a drain for the sand and drilled two holes in the side ( either side depending on which hand you use) for the air and sand hoses. We hung some inner tube strips on the inside of the work hole to help keep the sand in there. It isn't big enough for wheels but we did all the suspension parts and others in it.

 

[BILL TIRELLI]

Corry, no matter which blaster you buy, don`t do the blasting with sand. You can damage the metal, instead use plastic media pellets. The plastic will take off the paint and old body work if any and will not destroy the bare metal. Also make sure you prime with an expoxy sealer primer. Bill

------------------
BILL