opinions on sandblasting

[1968_Charger]

well i just checked on getting my car soda blasted as i planned. (130.00 an hour)and its going to be way out of my budget. i was thinking of just renting a sandblaster and sandblasting the stuff myself. what i need to do is the front fenders, hood, trunk lid, and doors. the car is completely together, ill be taking all the trim, bumpers etc. off, but leaving the windows in. im planning on taking the hood and trunk lid and laying them out in the grass to blast. i dont plan on spraying close to the windows or jams of the car, just the main areas of the panels. my questuiion is do you guys think ill be safe going that route? i figure ill put a thick blanket around the windows while im blasting to protect them. looking for advice or imput, ive never sandblasted before.
thanks
ray

[The70RT]

well i just checked on getting my car soda blasted as i planned. (130.00 an hour)and its going to be way out of my budget. i was thinking of just renting a sandblaster and sandblasting the stuff myself. what i need to do is the front fenders, hood, trunk lid, and doors. the car is completely together, ill be taking all the trim, bumpers etc. off, but leaving the windows in. im planning on taking the hood and trunk lid and laying them out in the grass to blast. i dont plan on spraying close to the windows or jams of the car, just the main areas of the panels. my questuiion is do you guys think ill be safe going that route? i figure ill put a thick blanket around the windows while im blasting to protect them. looking for advice or imput, ive never sandblasted before.
thanks
ray

If you never did any of this before, be careful. A professional shop (supposedly) did mine and I had some warpage. I will let others chime in on this.

[69*F5*SE]

Don't do it. Especially since you've never done it before.  Sandblasting isn't for exterior panels.  You'll be better off sodablasting or plastic media blasting professionally.  These will remove paint but not rust. But, you'll cause yourself way more problems than you have now by trying do do it yourself with sand. That's the truth.  Once your down to bare metal you're going to want the metal epoxy primed fast anyway.  Save up some money and get it done by the pro shop. 

[restoman]

NO
After fixing quite a few cars and panels that the owners blasted themselves, I can tell you "leave it to the experienced Pros".

[1968_Charger]

well, i guess that answers my question about sandblasting. why is it so harmfull to body panels? ive heard it can warp panels but i figured if i didnt stay in one spot too long it wouldnt hurt it.
as far as getting the cars old paint stripped off, on little to no budget what do you guys suggest?
     it took several hours today just to do the front fender with one of those sanding discs on an air tool. ive got one week to work on my car and get it painted. i dont have a garage and the primer i put on it last year isnt holding up anymore.
ive read about using aircraft remover, whats the concensus on using that stuff?
also can i use a sandblaster to media blast? if so how harmful would that be?

[Silver R/T]

I had to fix Fairlane hood (took lots of filler) cause owner blasted it.

[1968_Charger]

what do you guys think about renting this soda blaster and doing the soda blasting myself

http://www.sunbeltrentals.com/equipment/equipment.aspx?itemid=0190050&catid=91833564426

id have to check on the price of the soda itself but this is definately cheaper

[71green go]

As stated already...DO NOT BLAST SHEET METAL PANELS, they will warp......you can blast frame rails, floors, and engine compartment....use chemical stripper on panels........or if the paint is old use a razor blade scraper tool and angle it at about 45 degrees and the paint will scrape off like crazy, I stripped my whole trunk lid in less then a half hour..it works amazingly on old paint......Good luck!

[1968_Charger]

so are you saying not to use the soda blaster either? why not? i understand not to use a sand blaster, but as i understand soda will not hurt the panels.
as far as scraping the paint off. ill have to try it, but i dont think its just going to scrape off. how easy is it to use aircraft stripper on half a car? and how much do you guys think it would take?
i really appreciate all you guys input!

[71green go]

Sure you can soda blast , but you wont believe how much mess it makes, and you will go thru lots of media material.......I paid a guy $100 an hour to do mine and $400 later it was all done all the mess was left at his place.its a dirty hot sweaty job and ya better have the right resperator set up for blasting also...

Try the scraper method, once ya get it going you wont believe how old paint flies off.......

[Mike DC]

Another vote to pay a pro blaster for it.  Make sure the shop has a real rep for not screwing up panels, and pay them what it costs to get it done right. 

[Finn]

I used a sand blaster on thick metal when I was doing metal work on the car. Worked like a charm. I experimented with media other than sand but the blaster couldn't take (harbor freight thing so I guess I had my hopes up). Paid a pro to do the rest of the blasting and it came out great.

[1968_Charger]

well i found another guy thats more in my price range. i think ill go with him.
thanks for all the input.

[1968_Charger]

well, the cheaper guy never called me back to set up a time. so now im looking at going with the aircraft stripper. this will be done in the driveway. any experience and suggestions with this stuff?

[The70RT]

I have heard you never get it out of your seams and it can latter bleed out and mess up the new paint.

[OneofNoneRT]

I didnt want anyone using a commercial blaster on mine either so here is what I recommend to you:
Use the stripper..Follow the instructions..Give it plenty of time,Let it do its job, well ventilated etc.. Use a Scraper and keep fresh blades in it.. Be sure scraper remains FLAT at all times or you will create more work later with scratches..Never use coarser than 80 Grit Paper.. Sandblast only in rusted areas to remove the rust in the pits if you try to grind this out your metal will be paper thin.. I use alot of naval jelly in these locations.. I have a Harbor freght blaster for the big areas (Underside) But I prefer a Spot Blaster its cheaper and the one I have has a variety of rubber cups for differing angles and recycles some of the Media.. Let me assure you your going to find ALOT more rust than you thought once you get going.. Slow down and try to do it right or it will be back.. I am setting up a old tent outside for the blasting so I can recover the media.. Keep in mind On your car when blasting SAND will get EVERYWHERE! I have spent HOURS Vacuuming and Blowing to get the sand out of frame rails, rockers, trunk areas etc.. These areas can hold Hundreds of pounds of sand..  You can do this just don't rush it and realize it is going to take longer than you think..Good Luck

[The70RT]

My car was on a rotisserie so the all the sand was pretty easy to get out

[OneofNoneRT]

yep..But still alot of work/time..

[The70RT]

Yeah but all the rust is gone.....stripper wont do that so you will be grinding, wire wheels or what ever. If mine wasn't sentimental or an RT I probably wouldn't have went as far as I did.

[hemi-hampton]

Alot of times I'll just start off striping with 36 grit on 8'' hog (relax, I can hear the moaning allready) Then finish stripping with 80. On this Coronet hood Pic for example, you can see every red spot of paint left is a low spot in the first pic. Yes, This hood is very wavy. 2nd pic shows half the hood stripped in 80. Fast & easy in my opinion. LEON.

[1968_Charger]

i dont have any rust issues, i just want to get all the old paint off the car due to it cracking

[OneofNoneRT]

Great..do not sandblast then no need..Either Soda blast or use the stripper.. Soda will give you some time before Flash rust(surface) shows back up..   

[chargergirl]

The sandblasting guy at our friends shop wears a suit to keep his lungs safe. I don't know if you need that with soda blast but can't imagine that it would be good for your breathing either. I like the paint strip as long as you have a fan going and keep the doors and windows open.

[The70RT]

If you have only a week then forget it 

[Projekts]

I don't want to pee in the pool, but most non-commercial blasters run best at about 60psi and have a hose that is roughly the size of a garden-hose. Commercial versions are about the size of a fire hose and run at a much higher pressure. Panel warpage during blasting is caused by pressure and heat, the heat is generated by more media than you are going to get out of a 5 gallon blaster. Also media is sold by shape, round beads and soda peen the metal they don't remove it. By media selection and pressure/volume control I could do less damage to a panel with my blaster than my orbital with 80 grit on it. Of course it would take about 3 times as long, cost 5 times as much, cleanup would take longer and it would need to be sanded anyway before paint. Which is why I only blast areas that you can't get into with the sander. Additionally you should always wear a respirator when sanding with an orbital or media blaster, old paint has lead in it.