• Welcome to the new SAOCA website. Already a member? Simply click Log In/Sign Up up and to the right and use your same username and password from the old site. If you've forgotten your password, please send an email to membership@sunbeamalpine.org for assistance.

    If you're new here, click Log In/Sign Up and enter your information. We'll approve your account as quickly as possible, typically in about 24 hours. If it takes longer, you were probably caught in our spam/scam filter.

    Enjoy.

Wet Blasting efficacy?

M

mferris

Donation Time
Has anyone tried the wet pressure blaster kits for stripping a car?
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_8520_8520

I have started to strip the paint off my SV. Following Kelly (and other's leads), I've decided to do this myself. The Paint Removal Disks work wonders:

http://bit.ly/12jt6fO

So I can do most of the bulk by hand in a few hours, but I need a solution to get into the engine bay/trunk and other nooks without buying a full-blown media blasting kit since I don't have/need a capable air compressor.

However, I do have access to a powerful water pressure washer (more pressure than your typical Home-Depot models) and I can handle the wet mess where I work on the car.

The reviews are highly mixed - just don't know what the outcome might be.

-Mike
 
sd_pace

sd_pace

Donation Time
Mike have you looked at soda blasting... there was a guy around town here the came to you and didit in your drive way. to do the bottom of my car was about 150.00 when he quoted me... but I havent done it yet
Steve
 
M

mferris

Donation Time
Thanks Steve - I've tried to find someone half-heartedly. But haven't found anyone in Raleigh/Durham. I agree that would be a good way to go.

But *If* I can get a wet blaster for < $100 I might just try that. (and I can do it from 7-11am on Sunday mornings which seems to be my only free time).
 
M

markp

Donation Time
Corrosion is not our friend.

Water Blasting panels (trunk and engine compartment) may be inviting corrosion into places you don't want it to be. I saw something advertised on "My Classic Car" called Dustless Blasting (http://dustlessblasting.com/new2013/automotive/) which uses water pressure, fine sand and a rust inhibitor to remove paint. I don't know anything about it other than the web site info. Another method to remove paint would be the time honered method, industrial strength paint remover.
Good luck and hope this helps a little.
Mark P
 
alpine_64

alpine_64

Donation Time
Looks similar to a portable hydro-blaster. Hydroblasting uses glass beads in water and is very gentle. they use it in the aero industry to clean parts and turbine blades.

I have had many alloy parts hydro blasted as they are gentle and come up "as cast" with no removal of texture and a nice shiney even finish... that said.. i wouldn't use it ona body for the fact you are forcing water into cavities
 
P

pcmenten

Donation Time
Why remove the paint?

Why are you removing the paint?

Pat Ganahl, who has done a lot of DIY body/paint, would suggest that you are better off painting over the existing paint if it is adhering to the metal. I''d clean up any rusted spots with a soda blaster, grind it down to bare metal, rust treat, and prime. Then paint over the whole deal.

Existing paint in good condition is a fine base coat. Removing paint is an invitation to causing problems down the road. Just my 2 cents.
 
M

mferris

Donation Time
Thanks guys - this car has an unknown past (including missing VINs) - so I'm learning and want to do as much myself as makes sense.

I can take my fingernail or a piece of painters tape and strip off the outermost layer of paint. So I think it has to go.

In addition, I can count at least 2 primer and 2 paint coats (not including the undercoating they used to cover up imperfections in the rust repair patches around the entire lower 5" perimeter of the car).

Order of Paint(s):

White Top (flakey) Paint
Rust colored Primer (harder to remove)
Bondo (over most of the car, even coat)
White Paint (possibly original???)
Red Colored Primer (possibly original???)
Bondo where the most offensive dents were, including some pull-holes
Bare Metal

There is also quite a nice coat of undercoating in the engine bay and the trunk. I've found that oven cleaner works on that pretty well (paint stripper didn't work well enough).

Given this - I think I'd like to just take it all off, bondo the whole thing, then prime and paint (or should I prime under the bondo?). I have not been able to find a mobile soda blaster/other locally - so I'm looking for a cheap way of stripping. I've tried aircraft stripper and the strongest stripper I could find at Lowes, and while it didn't work well for the body, I might have to resort to those for the nooks. The 80 grit Northern Tool paint removal disks worked wonders so I'll use that for the bulk of the exterior.

Consider that this is *not* a show car (I've already done the V6 conversion), I just want it to look good enough to drive around and then when I need the room, sell/donate to someone who expects the same, nothing more. I'll keep in in a garage and not drive in rain (and there's limited salt/snow here in NC anyway).

Anyway - I might try the water blaster (with sand) on the less crevassed parts.

Some pictures of my increasing ugly, but increasingly functional beast:
http://bit.ly/14ZduBT
 
MikeH

MikeH

Diamond Level Sponsor
My brother-in-law blasts panels with a "sand" media he gets in Tennessee. He said it works very well and doesn't warp the panel. I'll see if I can get info about it from him.
 
S

SumBeans

Donation Time
moisture removal

For old skool sandblasting keep an eye open for moisture coming from the compressed air.
Draining the tank often helps, but a moisture separator can save some grief also.
Dry blasting is an experience :eek:, and cleaning up the sand afterwards can be an adventure!:mad:
 
M

mferris

Donation Time
For anyone following the thread:

The water-pressure sand blaster seems to work just fine. Slowish perhaps and it goes thorough 50lbs of sand in about 20 minutes - but i already had the 2500psi pressure-washer and needed to fill some holes in our land with something anyway.

http://youtu.be/vvDZq6ggnAY

I'm using this tool:
http://www.northerntool.com/shop/too...duct_8520_8520

and 30/70 (I think) Black Diamond media from Northern tool ($9/bag). I will bondo the entire car anyway given all the small dents, so not worried about scratching the metal too much. It's a driver.

Now if I could only find a way to coat it with something other than kerosene to keep the flash rust away for the 2-3 months that I'll be working on the bondo.
 
Warren

Warren

Bronze Level Sponsor
Phosphoric Acid = Ospho

Concrete does not like it, turns iron oxide to iron phosphate. It works but not for long. I grew up doing body work close to the ocean. Talk about flash rusting... You might just use diesel fuel or the kerosene but then you have the joy of fish eyes wherever you do not clean well enough.

Do not bite off more than you can complete in a reasonable time. Good taped down plastic sheets in a nice dry shop away from salt or moist air.

Get a good water/air filter separator for your air compressor.
 
M

mferris

Donation Time
Hi Ken - seems to work fine - repost of a video I took working on the boot lid taking off the thick tar paint, and at least one coat of white and the primer.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvDZq6ggnAY

There is no dust - but the tradeoff is lots of water and media. Maybe 20 minutes for a 50lb bag so I'm filling in some low spots in the yard with the 30/70 "black diamond" media from Northern Tool. But as I said a few posts down in this thread it flash rusts within minutes. I ordered a gallon (!) of ospho so will see how that works. I've used kerosene on the few spots and trunk I did so far and that stopped the rust - but I don't know how long it will last and I

But for the $200 I paid for the 10 bags of media and the blaster itself - this is pretty cheap. I'll likely just use this for all the spots I can't get to with a paint remover disk.

-M
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top