Media Blasting?

[JRoss22]

Ok so I have been planning on finally gettting started on the body work for my challenger and first on the list is media blating. I was wondering what kind of prep work should I do before I send my car to a company? What kind of price range should it run me to get all the blasting done. Also what should I look for in a shop before I choose the place im going to take my car to because I dont want to go to some no name place and have the totally screw up. I want this done right to last.

[fishn4cuda]

Make sure you scrape off all the undercoating. most blasters won't try to remove because it comes off hard. Power wash off any grease or oil.
I have found the usual cost to media strip body and all components inside and out, then sand blast only the under chassis, engine comp, and all floor pans will cost around $700.

[hotrod98]

Just be sure and check the guy out. Blasters can destroy a car in a hurry. I myself never blast the sheet metal. I usually just use a d.a. sander and 80 grit, then I blast the jambs and anything that is made of heavier metal than the skins.
You need to think about getting a bare metal primer on the bare metal as soon as posssible. Rust will start to form microscopically almost immediately unless you live in a desert area. Don't worry about the rust repair or body work until after the primer has been applied and don't use anything other than a bare metal primer. PPG has their epoxy DP series of primers in various colors and Sherwin-Williams has an acid etch primer called GBP that's only vailable in a greenish gray. Both work excellent.

[HemiDog]

Get all the parts you can off the car.  Give them the doors, hood, deck lid, valence panels all separately.  Make sure the are using plastic media or soda powder and NOT SAND.  Sand will definitely pit and warp body panels.   Like was already said, thick tar or under coating will not come off easily with media blasting and they generally won't take any effort to get that stuff off for you.  To do a complete car, expect around $1200.  Also, don't expect to get your car back in a week.  The place that did mine also does a lot of comercial work like truck trailers, large tanks, etc... and they did everything on a first come first serve basis.  In my case, I got the car back in about three weeks.  Like hotrod98 said, get it primed immediately.  Some places will also do that for you.  The place that blast my car offered it for $600.  I, personally thought that was high, so I did it myself.

Here is the website for the place in KC.  There is some good info on there to better understand some of the options.

http://www.eagleautostripping.com/

[FY1 RT SE]

Whatever type of media you use make sure it is non absorbant.  The correct plastic media will remove undercoating easily.  Before any primer is applied the metal must be scuffed and cleaned.

[Chryco Psycho]

  I have had bodys plasti blasted with no damage