Media blast cost

[Challenger in NC]

I got a quote from a blaster and it came back as $930. This seems high to blast a 70 E-body if the following panels have been removed and will NOT be blasted.

Roof skin
Front fenders
Both doors
Trunk floor
Front floor section
Rear deck lid
Deck filler panel
Hood

The car will be on a rotisserie and the underbody will be stripped. There will be some frame members exposed for blasting, but in all, seems like much less area to blast with all these components removed. This outfit blasts with Aluminum Oxide. It will also cost me over$100 to transport the car there. I dont really want to strip it myself but seems like a lot of money. Thoughts?

Chris

[OUTLAW]

That is ridiculous ! I would keep checking around or go buy a sand blaster and do it myself and save $600

[burdar]

If all the exterior sheet metal has been removed, you should be able to have the body sand blasted.  Obviously, you don't want to sand blast the outer panels but the underside, interior, inner roof structure, engine comp exc... can be sand blasted easily. 

[Challenger in NC]

That is ridiculous ! I would keep checking around or go buy a sand blaster and do it myself and save $600

I could almost buy a bigger air compressor (my current one is only about a 3 hp, 7-9 cfm unit) and blasting unit by the time I paid someone that money. I know blasting is a pain in the butt though, especially doing it in a driveway and trying to keep the air dry and the media flowing well.  I'm really torn.

[anlauto]

That's about what we pay around here

[burdar]

It cost me $200 to have the car sand blasted.  This was at a body shop where they sand blast on the side.  If you take it to a "media" blasting place, you'll pay a lot more.  Look into "sand" blasting. 

[Challenger in NC]

It cost me $200 to have the car sand blasted.  This was at a body shop where they sand blast on the side.  If you take it to a "media" blasting place, you'll pay a lot more.  Look into "sand" blasting. 

This quote was from a guy who does blasting and powder coating. Unfortunately around the Raleigh area, I can't find much in the way of reasonably priced media/sandblasting.

[twalker]

That price is inline with what I paid.  Media blasting is one thing I'm very happy to pay someone else to do, and necessary for a ground up resto

[mud man]

We do sand blasting  and that does not seem out of line to me. Hard to say without seeing it, but we would charge in the $800 range.  Takes time as you will see if you do it yourself. You should have no problems if yo are not doing large body panels. If you are, pay the money and take it to someone that can do it without warpage. We do bodies all the time with aluminum oxide with no problems.

[twalker]

We do sand blasting  and that does not seem out of line to me. Hard to say without seeing it, but we would charge in the $800 range.  Takes time as you will see if you do it yourself. You should have no problems if yo are not doing large body panels. If you are, pay the money and take it to someone that can do it without warpage. We do bodies all the time with aluminum oxide with no problems.

What he said!

[plumcrazzy]

Just my thoughts here. If your blaster is using Aluminum Oxide then a lot of your cost is in the media--Aluminum Oxide isn't as cheap as most other blasting media. Sand can be rough on sheet metal panels by creating heat and possibly warping the flat panels unless the blaster knows what he is doing. Sand can also leave behind imbedded remnants of silica that can effect top coats. Have you looked into soda blasting? I saw a video on you tube (sic) that showed a car body being blasted with a soda/water combo. No dust and a biodegradable media. Worked pretty good as well. I stripped my '70 Challenger with aircraft grade paint stripper with plastic sheets on the floor. Just did one panel at a time when it was convenient for me. Worked OK for me.

[Topcat]

I sand blasted the whole underside of my car and the engine compartment.
I used Aluminum Oxide. It cuts the fastest and doesn't break down as fast as sand does into dust.

Good respiration/filtration is very important.

By far the dirtiest, filthiest job I ever did in my life.

edit:
Crawling into the bottom of an M-60 tank and getting soaked in Hyd. Oil might've actually been the filthiest job I ever did.

[4 speed fish]

Ask what  the hourly rate is.That is about a 4 to 5 hour job.At that rate you are paying  about 200 dollars an hour.I had mine done for 500.

[Challenger in NC]

 

Ask what  the hourly rate is.That is about a 4 to 5 hour job.At that rate you are paying  about 200 dollars an hour.I had mine done for 500.

I believe he said it would take about 8 hrs

[Challenger in NC]

I sand blasted the whole underside of my car and the engine compartment.
I used Aluminum Oxide. It cuts the fastest and doesn't break down as fast as sand does into dust.

Good respiration/filtration is very important.

By far the dirtiest, filthiest job I ever did in my life.

edit:
Crawling into the bottom of an M-60 tank and getting soaked in Hyd. Oil might've actually been the filthiest job I ever did.

What kind of setup did you use? Compressor size, blaster etc?