Outer Limits 4x4 Board

hey all.

i'm going back to bare metal on the cab of my 75 and i'm trying to save myself a little time. I have been toying with getting it media blasted while i am away so that when i come back i can prep it and get it done straight away.

so my q's are - what is the best media to use to have it done safely.

what sort of money should i expect to pay.

does any any one violently discourage the idea and why?

my main concern is getting the media out of all the double panels and inaccessable areas, is this really a drama?

the cab is an 01 troopcarrier and the paint looks ok so might still take a bit of effort to get off, should i just get a gun and a tarp and some garnet and do it myself?

MILO

I work in the blast industry.Im a service tech travel all over aus repairing blast gear.
I would avoid anywhere that uses steel grit as it removes to much metal and generates to much heat which will warp panels.
Garnet is better but it gets inside all the panels and causes rust
Plastic or biacarb soda are reall the only safe way to blast a car.
Biacarb soda would be the only thing i would use on my cars . You can leave the glass /chrome rubbers in it wont damage them and any resadue that is left behind acts like a protective coating.
You can actualy blast tint off widows and not damage the glass.
There is a company in qld called BLASTING UNLIMITED that does it.

As far as cost goes average car about $1000 (dont quote me have never had to pay )

chher craig

Anyone know of any companies in Vic who do the soda blast or the plastic
blast????

thanks for that mate.

how do you get the bicarb out of the nooks and crannies? just water? or should i use meths

Just normal paint prep on the outer surfaces . When they blast with soda they use a water driper in the blast hose that mixs with the soda to keep the dust down. It leaves a white powdery coating on the metal(which is high in alkelene) so any soda that gets inside panels will actualy help prevent rust plus its not abraisive so it does rub on the panels like grit or garnet would if it was wedged between 2 panels/skins.
Ive got an xy guard at work thats been soda blasted and left in the paddock and hosed down coulpa times a week 3 mths and still hasnt got any surface rust.

quick search on the net got me this ,any info would be good i,ve got to get a car blasted as well will never do another car by hand uses plastic blast
Mr John Marion
Carstrip Pty Ltd
1/40 Adrian Road
Campbellfield Victoria 3061
Ph: 61 3 93578936
Fax: 61 3 93579228

i have three decent sized compressors available to me at home. anyone know how to link them to provide more air for a blasting gun?

also if i use garnet, does anyone have any suggestions for making a full size booth? I was going to use a cheap kmart plastic gazebo tent with a tarp on the concrete so i can reuse the garnet. I would also use a full face mask and respirator.

anybody know if it's possible to get bulk bags of baking soda and how viable it is to use at home?

How successful are the home guns? if i have the three compressors i should be able to up the pressure and still have plenty of air, i'd scuff large panels with coarse sandpaper first, but i still want to do stuff like axle houseings and chassis rails etc.

the best way to hook up 3 comps is to hook them into a reciever (tank) then hook your blast set up into the reciever. For a backyard set up run 3 1/2" hoses with some tee pieces into a lenght a 1" hose and put a regulator on the end of the 1" hose. your only problem then will be moisture.

The kmart set would be cool and screen the garnet that u re use
And i would be using an air feed resperator if you can get hold of one.

You can get soda bulk (not cheap) but it wouldnt work in a suction gun set up.


A cheap eg supercheap gun will work ok but i seen a guy that started to do a whole car about 4 hrs and half a guard done the gun had worn out
So what ever you do buy ask if you can get noozles and air jets.

With blasting its not the pressure you need its the volume of air. EG a 3/8 noozle needs 80 cfm of air .

well i guess i'm half way there with 45cfm

if i went the way you suggest with an air feed mask i'd probably bodgy up a light flexi rubber tube suspended from the roof that is force fed from outside by a fan. that way the slight postiive pressure would also help keep my head from sweating my ring off.

i can get a gun that also has replacement nozzles as i need them. Like i said any large flattish areas would probably get a good scuffing with a scotch wheel or coarse sandpaper, the main reason i want to use a blaster is to get all those complex curves that are a pain to sand.

i was thinking to stop getting all the garnet inside the panels, using heavy gaffer tape to tape a plastic or cloth sheet over any internal gaps in panel work

This link might be helpful just depends how much you want to spend.
http://www.burwell.com.au/default.asp?id=32
Ive got a suction can type at home it works cool.

There is a blaster in Boronia that uses crushed apricot kernels as media.
I had the doors of my XR fairmont done and they came up great, clean metal without any warping or scratches.

i've been doing a bit of reading and it seems that it's not the heat that warps metal its the shotpeening effect.

so it looks like i will only blast the areas that have compound curves like engine bays, door jambs window edges and gutters etc. all the flat sections will have to be done by hand

I just got a quote to Soda blast the 4 doors and the front guards of my HK sedan. They quoted me $800 to do them, the local sand blaster quoted me $300. The quote i got for the soda blasting was from Sodablast QLD. Anyone else know who does soda blasting in QLD?

you could try this mob. they are based in sydney but i know they have sold franchises in qld
http://www.blastingunlimited.com/process.htm
crap website.
Blasting soda cost heaps and the machine you need to use cost about $20000 thats why they charge so much.

know of any good blasting places in hobart area? i like the sound of the soda blasting if you know of any...