I heard a yarn that walnut shells of all things were the best thing for blasting panels, dont damage the steel etc, was wondering if anyone had tried anthing similar, like barley! yes odd question I know, just putting it out there, sick of collecting walnuts.
gunhand,
May 24, 4:53pm
Had 2 cars soda blasted. Nice job but dosnt remove rust as such. Makes a huge mess and dust storm and has to be hosed off or better still waterblatsed. Every nook and cranny needs cleaned and cleared. Leaves a real smooth surface so u you still gave to ruff it up. Ive heard the walnuts are the go to. We also used to just use stripper on all flat panels and sand blast around all the door shuts window edges round the inner doors B pillers inside boot etc. Sandblasting is great as it removes rust and gets all the hard to get areas and is basicly ready to paint if you wanted to. Only prob is the sand which continues to fall out weeks after you have been working on the car. Gives a nice textur to the paint to &%#$&*$ It.
xacoon,
May 24, 6:32pm
so sand can be alright in small doses then! once again on about the engine bay, all stripped out except for steering box basically, just thinking there has to be an easier way to do the wee nooks and crannies, and remembered the walnut yarn, theought barley after a ride through a hammer mill might be similar consistency, little bit of give to it. soda may be a bit light as there is a little surface rust, but if its not going to be too much I might get away with sand by the sounds of it!
zephyrheaven,
May 24, 6:38pm
Sand is Ok but all these other (soda/walnuts etc) kinds need serious amounts of cleaning off (eg water blasting) before you can even start a prep - sand no good for panels
Im still fond of 3M wheels on a grinder & a flap disc on the hard stuff
Engine bays historically are very strong (lots of bends / strength in folds etc) so fine for sand blasting, that or get your hands (not literally) on some Tergostrip - that shit makes anything not steel melt off in minutes - note, strong rubber gloves & eye protection needed this stuff melts fingernails asap
grangies,
May 24, 6:45pm
Melts. Lungs, Throat, Eyes and Nostrils cavities too, in a hurry.
Dangerous stuff if you're not prepared for it.
But excellent at what it does.
xacoon,
May 24, 6:53pm
mess is not a problem, and the bonnet can wait. hitting most of it with a stripper wheel its just those bastard bits that like to chew them up and the hard to get bits. if sand is ok I might give that a crack, might experiment with alternatives next time I am bored. any grade of sand better or all just the same!
zephyrheaven,
May 24, 7:00pm
the parrot (I think!) stuff from Oz is good - NZtools should have one of those gravity guns - total loss system but point & shoot & practice is best, or Tergostrip & wash it off afterward - as grangies has said, super dangerous stuff so keep ya mitts covered & dont let the dogs lick up the water after ya wash it down
thejazzpianoma,
May 24, 7:01pm
"sand" in the usual sense is not generally whats done. Mostly when people refer to "sand" they are more likely meaning garnet (which looks like iron sand). Its not really worth while taking the risk of using silica sand as the risk of silicosis is very real. Garnet is cheap enough anyway, but still use protection even though its safer than sand.
The best approach IMO as said by others is to use the appropriate media for the task, and that means different media for different parts of the car.
Small strong panels like engine bays can be ripped into hard with garnet to sort out rust etc if need be. Just dont try the same on large panels like the roof, bonnet, bootlid etc. Thats where walnut, crushed glass, soda etc can be a good answer.
BTW, Garnet etc can be bought by the bag from The Toolshed and similar outlets for a good price.
xacoon,
May 24, 7:08pm
Yep realise that its not regular sand, just thought there might be different grades, mate used to own the local radiator shop and he used something a bit different, cant remember what it was but thats what the question was aimed at, might see what the engineering places have got, nearest toolshed is in timaru and I try to avoid that place like the plague
xacoon,
May 24, 7:12pm
bugger your chemicals. been bitten too many times even when rugged up. found a great weight loss system this way though, spill tempor on your overals, just enough to get a small bit of skin damp, run as fast as you can to the nearest, well anything resembling a toilet, remain there for the next 8 to 10 days.
thejazzpianoma,
May 24, 7:19pm
Sweet, just wanted to be sure you were on to it! You can order it online, in fact I often see it listed here. Some distributors will also happily throw a bag or two on the freight truck for you at a good price.
You are also bang on about the different grades. Best to figure out who you are going to buy from and then talk to them about grades to suit IMO, obviously you use different media as well to get the range you need.
Also, tts not so much that the big panels get blown apart with garnet, its the heat it produces that warps them.
Best of luck with it all!
xacoon,
May 24, 7:22pm
havent tried them, how are they at getting into pokey corners!
xacoon,
May 24, 7:24pm
its only the engine bay I am going to use it for really, all other panel work will have a disk run over it, pretty rust free and original paint so should come off fairly good
xacoon,
May 24, 7:30pm
so similar thing to the 3m ones then!
gunhand,
May 24, 7:34pm
Having done to many restos there is no quick fix but a series of different ones. Ive spent days sanding engine bays, days sandbalsting with hand held media blaster, days useing stripper, days useing wire wheels and the likes. But buy far th best is to drag it to your media blaster and have him do it in 30 mins. Worth every dollar but you pass that cost on anyway. I once and once only used a hand held blaster on the inside of a bonnet. great for the supports etc but not the flat bits. yes a hand held one warps panels. anything that gets to hot seems to. Bout only thing we never tried was acid dipped, but we dont have one down here anyway. Had parts acid dippid tho When using stripper in an engine bay or bonnet I would let it do its thing then stand way back and waterblast it off. Worked well but you have to dry it real quick. And I have actually used beach sand for a laugh once. the biggest problem is getting it dry. It worked but prob not best lol. Ive used glass media as well. Not as good as proper sand. And you need a big arsed compressor to keep up otherwise it takes forever. Stripping 40 years of paint isnt for those who get bored easy lol. And Im talking about engine bays. Ahole things.
xacoon,
May 24, 7:36pm
yeh my grinders blown at the moment anyway, I quite often use the less coarse 3m ones in my drill for stripping wood, one with and one without backing plates, work a treat. might have to fork out for another fecking grinder before I have a crack at any big areas methinks.
xacoon,
May 24, 7:42pm
thats why I could never do it for a living. going to get this engine bay done, running sweet and run her through for a wof. rest can get done later.
grangies,
May 24, 7:43pm
Buy a second hand Rupes or Festool grinder off Trade Me.
A clean second hand one, will cost as much as a new cheaper brand, but last until your grandkids are grandparents.
lookoutas,
May 25, 3:39pm
I've seen a buckled bonnet from Soda Blasting. Wrong person on the end of the equipment is usually the problem.
lookoutas,
May 25, 3:48pm
Yeah - it was just because I could see it, but no-one else could. They very quickly took it out of their display. Everything else was good.
whqqsh,
May 25, 3:49pm
Im stripping some ali panels & Tergostrip wont even look lifting the paint. but then its sat 20+ years sun baked out the back of a northland farm. A mate reckons its had some shit-hot etch primer put on which doesnt help either. I used to work on the machines that made pads similar to the 3M ones & sold boxes of seconds, cant believe the prices they go for now, still have a few, might drag them out & have a go. Funny how you take shit for granted if its right under you nose
gunhand,
May 25, 4:00pm
Ive found most strippers only strip one coat at a time, even tergostrip. About all you can do is rough the surface with 36 grit and brush on stripper put plastic over it then leave to work for an hour. Still takes heaps of work tho. another trick if you keen is useing 36 grit discs on the grinder and carefully take off the first 30 layers leaving only 1 or 2 to strip with stripper.
xacoon,
May 25, 5:18pm
always iffy about buying second hand. there has to be a reason theyre getting rid of it! shame you cant get stripping discs to fit to the end of a chainsaw. then I would be in business.
gunhand,
May 25, 5:25pm
I got a 2nd hand one off TM. they said it wwent well blah de blah. I specifically askd if it was in good going order. Got it here turned it on put hand pressure on pad and it died. It went back with no hassles mind you. So i got the next best thing new for 1/4 the price and its proving excellent.
whqqsh,
May 25, 6:14pm
Ive done the 'scuffing' thing & makes very little difference, the tergo just isnt bubbling it up at all (not sure about a stanley knife with soft ali panels underneath either). Looks like it will be out with the stripping wheels
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