Media Blasting

[BlueRidge1]

Sending my doors to be Olivine Blasted, I striped them with aircraft paint stripper but they have this back spiderweb looking mess all over some areas. Guess its better to clean now than have it come back to haunt me later. I made the mistake of blasting my air cleaners ,they look absoulutely wonderful painted but... I rinsed and blowed and vacuumed and still crap falls out of them every time I lay them on the table. Can I pull all that copper looking filler out and replace it with new or should I up grade to a new and better filter system? I really like the look of the old but don't want to destroy the engine. Any suggestions? Anyone ever heard of blasting with dry ice? That would have been the ticket for the breathers, I heard they can do a car with it and it leaves no mess behind,never seen it done but if it worked that would be cool.

 

[vette]

Re: "Blasting "

Hi BlueRidge, There are alot of mediums used to blast. In the restoration processes, many have gone away from sand because it is used with too much air pressure and can damage the surfaces. But the result of material removal is going to be the same, you will still have stuff left over which has to be removed for proper operaton of any part. I'm not sure I know which air cleaners you are talking about. Mine are thin, about 1 or 1-1/4" thick, coloured like a gavanized gray. They are not made to come apart to change the element. But, you certainly don't what loose stuff, with the potential of being sucked into the engine.
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[BlueRidge1]

Re: "Blasting "

Sounds like we have the same air breathers.I painted them with a hammered silver. They look real nice. Last 3 cars I have done were blasted with the olivine, it does a good job and doesn't cut or pit like sand ,also cleans out of the nooks better. It's some type of round fine rock. I may try to pull that wire stuff out of the breather and replace...maybe I can sneak em in the dishwasher when Sandra's not home........

 

[Skip & Lynne]

Re: "Blasting "

I would never blast an air cleaner with anything I didn`t want in my engine. Just use a small wire wheel on a high speed grinder and they will look like a dime when you are finished. I had a friend who used baking soda to blast an aircraft engine crankcase and washed and washed. He thought it was spotless and the bearings lasted about 10 hours and the crankcase was a total loss the baking soda was imbedded in the aluminum crankcase. I blasted my entire car after it was dismantled with fine blasting sand; chassis and body panels with no pitting or scratching of the metal. I wouldn`t hesitate to use the fine sand all over again in fact I plan to when I do my other Healey. Skip

 

[Keoke]

Re: "Blasting "

[ QUOTE ]
It's some type of round fine rock. ........

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"Olivine" is a Silicate of Iron and Magnesium--Keoke /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/yesnod.gif

 

[BlueRidge1]

Re: "Blasting "

Thanks for the info,good to know about the aluminum and baking soda combination, judging from you posts seems like you are into alot of cool stuff... Bob