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Bugeye Body Blast

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erstearns

Jedi Trainee
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After looking at Jack Laird's project I am motivated to get mine back on track again. I had intended to have the body blasted but the few folks in my area that do it have concerns about the heat generated warping the body panels. There is no one around that media blasts, just good old sand (if OSHA is not around) and black beauty. I was going to hand strip but I don't think I can hold my breath that long. Any suggestions on what is "safe" regarding blasting for my beast. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif
 
even if you have to take it farther than you would like. get some one with right equipment to do the job right. Soda blaster, chemical dip what ever. A sand blaster in the wrong hands can do a lot of damage

Just food for thought. I have chemically striped 2 cars in my garage. But this need to be done in the summer with lotsa ventilation. Its a messy job and I would not do another one.

Carl
 
Sand blast is fine for Bugeyes, their metal is thick and tough.

That's what Miss Agatha got, twice.
 
try to find a place with a proven track record blasting car tubs. it also helps if they prime as well. one stop shop
 
If you have concerns using sand, just focus on edges, lap joints, seams, and anything that isnt blasting on the large outer(semi flat) skin areas. Then just DA the rest to clean metal making ready to work and prime. This also gives you a better idea of where minor imperfections in body are that will not be as obvious when you have a uniform finish when blasting. I use a long flat file shaped scraper with carbide tip brazed on. It removes all paint(1 or 10 layers) down to clean metal in one pass. Faster than blasting smaller areas and a good workout. Any areas including edges, jams, inner structure, frame, pans, etc, not clean will get hit with blaster. Another consideration with blasting is the mess you have to clean after. You would be suprised how long sand keeps falling out of empty cavities. No matter how many times it gets flipped over and vacuumed.
 
The above comment on the skills of the blaster is spot-on. I had several cars done by a guy who snadblasted his entire life, never warped a single thing. I've also did this work myself and never had a problem. I've also been involved with a car that was dipped, I'm not a big fan of this, it get into the box section of out space frame cars and then works it's way out post paint.
 
I, like Jack, had my car sand blasted. I called the few places within an hour away from me and spoke to them personally to get a feal for their experience. I wound up paying $400 to have my tub blasted inside and out, top and bottom and had no warping.

HTH
 
I am not a bodyman, nor do I have any skills with bodywork, but I am blessed with friends who have these skills that I exchange favors. Being around them I have learned that if you have this work done and they don't immediately paint, stay away from them because they don't know what they are doing. If you don't paint after, the problem starts again with surface rust.
 
I guess at the end of the day it is a matter of time, money and convenience. Not too many folks nearby that can do it and most want more than the car is worth. I have a 2100 sq ft garage I purchased for "tinkering" and have the space and tools, might as well give it a try. One of the bays is separate to keep thw wayward sand under control. Should be no problem assuming I don't blast a hole thru the beer fridge.
 
I picked up a pressure blaster new for $50 on sale at Northern Equipment several years ago. It works as good as any commercial equipment, once you figure the quirks and weaknesses. I have used it non-stop for hours and the result speaks for itself. Nothing like saving a ton of money and do it yourself. A lot of prep is required if you want a "finished product" when the blasting is done.
 
Has anyone used the "Gravity Feed Spot Blaster" on sale at Harbor Freight?
 
Go ahead and get it blasted. We had ours done at a truck painting shop. I even got to do some of it myself. (never again!) The power was tremendous! I had trouble holding onto the hose. The Bugeye metal is thick. If your guy is careful and moves fast he won't warp it.
 
At the end of the day I think I will blast it in my shop. I talked with a guy that has done quite a bit of painting and he recommended applying Penatrol before priming. Not likely to be recommended by Dupont or PPG but he claims it is a champ when it comes to preventing rust. As I understand it its primary use is in thinning oil base paints but it works well in preventing rust when you have bare metal that sits awhile before priming. Anyone heard of using this?
 
No, but heard of Phosphating tho. And Caterpillar used to market a bare metal treatment that resisted rust, and was applyed before priming. It had to set for quite a while before priming as I remember..
 
I think I would think twice before I put anything on before the primer. Shrug.
 
erstearns,
I have used and my fellow MG club members have used this place with good success. He uses baking soda and promptly neutralizes then epoxy primes. The shell comes back like right out of the factory. He is south of Greensburg, PA so not terribly far to haul.
Rocky Mountain Garage
Arona Rd.
New Stanton, PA 15672
724-834-5103.
He did my B including underneath, passenger compartment, in and out on fenders and hood and doors. $1100.00
A bargain versus the time and tremendous mess doing this yourself, Ask me how I know??
I noticed he has a website: rockymoutaingararge.com
 
tom, i am about 4.5 hours from greensburg. one question perhaps you can answer. is soda blasting strong enough to remove pitted rust areas? i am preparing to send my tub out to reading (about 1 hour away) to be spot blasted and then primed, but if soda blasting is better, perhaps i would consider that. the tub was initially media blasted but it has to be done again and there are some pitted areas that need to be spot blasted.
 
When a tub is blasted everything comes off, everything.
 
yeah, that's generally true unless the media bounces off old sealer/undercoating. the areas where there are pits, needs a more focus spot blast to remove the rust. anyway, i'm not sure whether soda blasting is abrasive enough for those tough areas.
 
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