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Media Blasting/Stripping Questions

2K views 17 replies 12 participants last post by  weikelrk 
#1 ·
Status:
Car is in rough shape. Will need body work from front to back and some frame work from floor pans to front end. Car has 3 separate coats of paint (that i know of) the most recent being an awful spray paint job. Car looks like it was hit on the rear because taillight panel is patched in an awkward place and the driver quarter panel is a '68 (car is a 67) full of filler and it looks like there's a good chunk of filler inside one of the doors too. Roof is substantially pitted. Doesn't look like there's filler there but no way of knowing without stripping. Quarter panels look to be rusted/filled in certain areas. Can see the ground through the bottom of the wheel wells looking from inside the trunk. Front frame rails rotted out, replaced, rotted out again in the front 1.5 feet. Radiator support looks to be full of rust. Just a wild guess the hood cowl is most likely rusted out too.

I feel I have no choice but to have the car totally stripped inside and out. I just want to get a real thorough diagnosis.

The question now is which method. Like most of you guys I'm on a budget so I'm trying not to go crazy with this.

If this were your car what method would you go with? I'm very much up for a DIY method, right now I'm thinking wire wheels and a small blaster for tight corners. I'd love to have it done professionally but I don't know that I trust anybody else to do as thorough a job as I would like without destroying what little of the car is left.

I live in the Texas Hill Country northwest of San Antonio about 45 minutes. Do you guys personally know or have experience with anybody in this area who KNOWS MUSTANGS and won't screw me? Leads/Opinions appreciated. Thanks!
 
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#2 ·
You aren't going to get the inside with it being blasted For much less than the cost of blasting, you can buy the equipment and media. That is, if you have the space and the desire. I strip the outside of cars with a rotary sander and Norton Blue discs, 50 grit. I can do the outside in 4-5 hours. But the inside is a different story if you want it all gone. A simple DIY blaster will strip the inside if you desire.
 
#3 · (Edited)
Honestly that doesn't sound bad at all. Thanks for the tip. As far as the inside goes I think I was too vague. When I said 'inside' I meant basically all the little gaps, cracks and corners on the exterior, as well as all the open space between body panels and the interior. I want every surface as rust free as possible and sealed up super tight and clean so rust won't be an issue in this car for another 50 years. The actual inside of the car is great except for underneath the dash, which I have no clue how to get at. I was thinking maybe spray up in there with a small blaster and use a shop vac to get it out and apply por-15? Either that or maybe cut out the fire wall since I'm going to have to replace the hood cowls anyways?
 
#4 ·
Car Craft usually has Harbor Freight coupon for their 110 blaster @ $90, cheaper than the store flyer coupon,....... Big compressor required.
 
#5 ·
Stripping options

Blasting is certainly an option, but beware of material getting into nooks that are almost impossible to get out. I had a car walnut shell blasted and it dumped grains for weeks after the job was done. If you blast, look out for warpage depending on the media you use.

I've also used aircraft stripper. This will melt paint off layer by layer, and it works. I also used the paint remover wheels which are a made from some kind of poly, and wear down as you use them. They do a good job of cleaning paint and rust. When I was really on a tight budget, I picked up a few gallons of stripper, some paint thinner to wipe down the areas I stripped, and the paint remover wheels and worked on one panel at a time one winter. Low budget, but time consuming.

With the amount of rot you have, you'll likely be cutting pieces out and replacing metal anyway.
 
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#6 ·
Well if you want to tackle sanding the exterior, buy Norton Blue 50 grit. Don't substitute. I use a velcro pad on a 7" sander/buffer and buy velcro Norton Blue discs. That 50 grit eats away and lasts a long time. That's why I like the Norton so much. Then you can go over the entire body lightly with some 80 grit to clean up. I did a Cougar for a customer that had 9 layers of paint !! nine! and the Norton tore it up :) It lasts much better than similar 3m discs, although I use a lot of 3m discs in other situations.
 
#7 · (Edited)
I would strongly suggest you have the car blasted or blast it yourself. Blasting can be tedious, but compared to trying to strip a car of all paint, primer, rust and filler with sanding discs, wire wheels and stripper, blasting is a walk in the park.

You mentioned it's a budget build. Find it in your budget to have the car blasted or blast it yourself. Obviously, it will be cheaper to blast it yourself. Yes, blasting requires a beefy compressor, but if you're going to rebuild a Mustang, you'll need a beefy compressor for the entire process. If a beefy compressor isn't in your budget, than building a Mustang isn't in your budget. Sorry, but thems the facts. :)
 
#9 ·
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#11 ·
Well rust in a nook or crannie, you are correct. A simple suction sand blaster will take care of that though. For the DIYer . . you better have some serious work room to blast. Blasting is a mess. Its second to spraying bedliner as nasty jobs that end up everywhere. Sanding the exterior body makes a lot of dust, but you can handle it easily. Blasting gets rid of the same paint, so same left over, but the media is everywhere too. And I'm not talking about taking an 80 grit disc with a DA and going to it. That will take you a weekend and a case of brew. But 4-5 hours of work with the right materials and the outside will be bare. If you don't own a sander/buffer, figure $75 for a DIY version that works well. The discs are $50-$70 a box. You won't use a box, you could strip some other cars. But for probably less than $150 the outside is bare. Then a suction blaster for . . $50??? and a bag of media $10 and you can do whatever you feel the sanding missed. For the guy that wants to save some money and DIY, you are looking at about a $1000 savings.
 
#12 ·
IF you MUST blast it..............do it yourself.
I had a "jerk" in Charleston blast a "virgin" 66 hood and warped the crap out of it! He used that "fancy-smancy" dustless blasting system. Wrecked the hood and charged me $60.00 bucks. When I confronted him he.....disappeared for over 6 months.
Saw him at a local carshow and he "promises" to re-emburse me for hood.
Disappeared again!! Jerk.
Anywho.......if you have a bunch of bondo and cancer....cut out damaged area and patch with new metal. The rest use aircraft stripper. Take your time and capture the melted paint junk on sheet of poly.
One method is just as messy as the other.
Great "learning experience".
 
#13 ·
IMO the exterior panels are the "easy" part. The hard part is cleaning up the corners and seams on the interior and underside that don't need to be replaced, but have minor rust spots that need to be removed before painting. You just can't reach these areas mechanically. Blasting is the best way to take care of minor pits, I don't think chemical options are as effective, and you don't want to just encapsulate them and paint over it. I wouldn't blast any exterior panel, inside or out (bottom of the hood,roof, etc.) , to avoid warping. Use Pete's suggestions for those areas.
 
#15 ·
The dustless blasting system works, but the myth is that the water keeps the heat down. That's not true, what warps the panels is using too large of media and too high pressure. The only thing the water does is keep the dust cloud down so it doesn't get all over everything and irritate your neighbors.

If you are going to have your vehicle blasted, be sure to find someone that knows what they are doing, ask around, ask them for references, etc. No matter what equipment someone has, or how fancy it is, if they don't know what they are doing, they can mess it up real quick.
 
#17 ·
As other mentioned be careful with blasting. Last project I hired out balasting panels to someone recommended to me. Ruined 1 fender, hood, and trunk lid. Was an expensive lesson. Those pieces are to thin and not enough backing. Jam, trunk, engine bay, are ok. Doors if you careful. I actually like paint stripper actually less messy than sanding. Have not tried the Norton 50 suggested. May give that a try in future.
 
#18 ·
I know this is an old post, but I just ran across it while searching for something else. If you haven't found someone to strip your car I highly recommend Joe Abernathy in Hye, Tx (outside Johnson City). He has done several cars for me. I do all my own work except for media blasting and Joe is the guy. Incredibly talented, take a look at his page:

https://www.facebook.com/Abernathy-Restoration-Services-243745459152704/
 
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