Sandblast DIY? or no

[macsdaddy]

I am wondering if sandblasting is a task I can take on myself.  I can have the car in an area where the sand will not get into everything.  Some reading I have done leads me to believe you can warp metal w/o too much effort.  I ask b/c someone is selling a homeowners unit near me and I wasnt sure if I should pull the trigger.  Opinions?

[Moparal]

A sand blaster comes in real handy for blasting parts and bolts. If the price is good. It would be worth your while to pick it up. As far as doing a car, I myself have no experience with that. But a blaster is ALWAYS handy to have around

[72hemi]

For doing a car body I would reccommend soda blasting to avoid warping the body, Sand is very aggressive and can cause you a lot of body work later. I do agree that a sand blaster is great to have and is great on small parts and things like that.

[matt63]

I would leave it to a professional.  They also use large volumes of sand and large compressors.  I had one car damaged by blasting.  The guys said he knew what he was doing
Sand is still coming out of my Cuda 2 years after the restoration was completed (PO had it blasted).  I would only blast areas with rust and use other methods for the rest of the car including soda, plastic bead, chemical, sanding, etc.

[stinger]

if you have a powerfull enough compressor I say pick it up.I use my H.F. cheapie alot and it works well with my Ingersol 2 stage.I don't blast sheet metal that would warp but for areas of rust repair where your going to do body work it a lifesaver.for parts I would use a blast cabinet,only way to blast parts and bolts.make sure you have a good hood that you can fit a respirator under it.

[macsdaddy]

Thanks so much, last thing I want to do is more damage than good.

[73Chally]

I would have the body professionally done.  There is too much risk of damaging the sheet metal, especially the hood and deck lid.  Besides, you will pay more for a powerful enough compressor alone than you should for the job ($750-$850).

[72hemi]

I know in Redding to have a car completely soda blasted runs about $1300 and that includes the underside of the car.

[dutch]

I would never blast the entire car myself.  You can ruin it in an instand.  And...Never ( ! )  use sand for blasting. The  quartzchrystals will crack up into very fine dust which is causing cancer.  Don`t use it    there are all kinds of different materials to blast with.

[72bluNblu]

Depends on what your intent is. If your goal is a completely blasted car, bodywork and all, take it to a professional; you'll get a much better result and it will likely cost less than doing it yourself.

If you just want to clean up the framerails and support structures (ie, no bodywork), you can do it yourself without too much worry of damaging anything. But, a few things to keep in mind- A sandblaster to handle even that volume of work will cost a couple hundred dollars, and the air compressor to run it will also cost at least several hundred dollars, if not more (I'm assuming you don't want to spend an entire week doing this with a harbor freight blaster) You'll also need a blasting hood and lung protection (respirator) as the dust created by sandblasting is not good to breathe, no matter what material you use to blast. You'll also need a lot of material, which also isn't all that cheap for the quantity you'll need. Sandblasting also makes an incredible mess, so be prepared.

Unless you really want to do this, or don't plan on doing very much, a professional would be the way to go.

[Kapteenikosmos]

I blasted the whole undercarriage with suction type 20$ sand blaster (I have a 5 hp compressor so the air wasn't a problem). The whole process took something between 20-30 hours. It wasn't really bad but I wouldn't do it again if I had a choice. For the parts like fenders etc the diy sandblasting works pretty well because it won't take insane amounts of time to complete one piece. For the panel warping, I don't think that it can happen very easily with home equipment. Atleast my gun won't stretch the metal if applied with care and for example I did sand blast the insides of the roof without problems.

For the health issues you really should have pressurised respirator system. I have a scotch autoflow with half mask and it is great for sandblasting or stripping out the old paint etc.

[MoparCar]

I just got done doing mine myself. I have a 5HP high CFM compressor and a 100lb pressure blaster. I used about $150.00 of Black Beauty coal slag which does not have silica dust dangers. (still use a good respirator) I built a PVC/plastic tent in my garage to do this. Don't blast your flat sheetmetal like the roof, hood or other panels that can warp. Use a slow speed buffer with 80 grit on those areas or stripper. The blasting worked great for all the other areas. Would I do it again? Probably not. It was a hot, nasty job. The "window" on the blasting hood constantly "etches" up from the blast back and it gets hard to see what you're doing. I ended up using a disposable painter's goggle available from Home Depot that have a rolling plastic strip to view thru sort of like racing helmets.

This is how I looked at it. I was quoted about $900 to do the complete car with plastic media (the best way). Plus my car's on a rotisserie so I'd have to build a dolly to get it to the blasters. I don't have a car trailer/truck so I'd have to have a roll off deliver and pick up which would cost me another couple of hundred dollars. So by the time I would do that I would have had $1,300-$1,500 into the blasting. The way I did it I spent 300 on the pressure blaster, a 100 on the PVC/plastic, etc. and 150 on the media. I already had the compressor and the buffer so I saved money in the long run, but it is some real "sweat equity". The advantage is you can do it at your own pace and own a blaster in the end. Don't attempt this with a small compressor....my 19 CFM compressor had a hard time keeping up. Keep in mind that if you live in a high humidity area, you'll want to get the bare metal in epoxy primer ASAP after blasting. I happen to live in Colorado which has very low humidity so it gives you a little more working time to get it blasted and then primed.

If you live in the country and can pull it outside that would be easier, but it would be hard to recycle the blast media doing that way. It's gets everywhere.

Wes

[black71]

I balsted the whole car myself with #50 silica sand  i did make sure to use a good respirator...took me quite a while cause my 2stage crapsman 60 gal couldn't keep up

[72hemi]

FOr my 70 Challenger project I am planning on purchasing a blaster from Eastwood that can be converted between soda and media blasting. I will media blast the underside and interior and soda blast the exterior sheetmetal to avoid warpage. I also have an 80 gallon 2 stage Ingersoll Rand Compressor. Below is the blaster

http://www.eastwoodco.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=21449&itemType=PRODUCT&iMainCat=1310&iSubCat=1626&iProductID=21449

[ntstlgl1970]

I know in Redding to have a car completely soda blasted runs about $1300 and that includes the underside of the car.

That is a great deal, does it include primer/epoxy too or would that be extra. Even if extra that is still a great deal. In Sacramento, the going price is around 2500 for that work. Totally depends on how much material (previous paint jobs) is on the car. The newer, i.e. plastic blasting process, takes a lot more time maybe that's why it is so much. There is a place north of San Francisco that dips cars but I have no idea what the costs are. Conv340 could find out (if the state hasn't shut them down yet that is)