poortecher Posted May 19, 2006 Share Posted May 19, 2006 Hello everyone, been lurking around here for quite a while, while i started the teardown of my '73. Anyway, during the disassembly of my new money-pit, i found a few surprises (like any car that's had x-number of owners and is 30+ years old doesn't have stuff to hide). First, I found rusted floor pans, which should be an easy fix, and i found a pin-hole rust hole on the a-pillar (leaking windshield seal), which will probably became a major pain in the butt. Then, i found a half inch, that's right i said a HALF INCH!!!!, of bondo on the drivers door where it had been caved in the middle. The guy who did this must have had a long history of hack jobs because this was not evident to the naked eye, the paint wasn't even cracking. Talk about a bondo artist, jeez... But I digress, my question is does anyone know of a good shop in southern california to blast my Z body. I'd prefer a shop that uses, or can use, walnut shells because i've heard that won't warp the panels. I figure the only way to find out the whole truth and nothing but the truth about the condition of the body is to have it blasted. Sooooooo, anyone have some recomendations??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z0wner Posted May 19, 2006 Share Posted May 19, 2006 I would blast it myself personally... especially if you have a decent aircompressor... It is so much cheaper! I used black magnum blast media and its really nice. Check my worklog for some pictures of a quick spraying. what you need -aircompressor 500$ -blast media approx 6$ a bag -blastmedia pressure tank 100$ -respirators 10$ And this would keep you going for a while. Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zhadman Posted May 19, 2006 Share Posted May 19, 2006 personally I would blast it myself personally... Yeah, but then you have to clean up the mess! That stuff gets EVERYWHERE! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DavyZ Posted May 19, 2006 Share Posted May 19, 2006 I'd prefer a shop that uses, or can use, walnut shells because i've heard that won't warp the panels. I figure the only way to find out the whole truth and nothing but the truth about the condition of the body is to have it blasted. Sooooooo, anyone have some recomendations??? Also, baking soda is supposed to be a medium that does not warp metal, but I don't know how much up to the task it would be considering the description of your car. The yellow pages is probably a good place to start under 'media blasting,' or 'sand blasting.' Just a thought. Davy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted May 19, 2006 Share Posted May 19, 2006 Orange County Sandblasting 415 W. Walnut Ave Orange, CA 92687 USA phone: 714-532-4633 fax: 714-538-0938 They just did a 1973 for me. Probably cost about $1,000 and the more you strip the car beforehand the better job they can do. Also, put the car on a rotissiere or a tall cradle so they can get underneath. OC Sanblasting did a number of the 240Zs Nissan restored in its Heritage program. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poortecher Posted May 19, 2006 Author Share Posted May 19, 2006 Just like Zhadman says, that would make a HUGE mess for me to clean, and something tells me I would be at it for a long time, as opposed to a shop getting done in a day or so. Plus, if i'm going to spend 600-700 dollars to do it myself, i'd rather spend an extra few hendred dollars and save myself the hassle. DavyZ- Actually, other than those areas described above, i think i got away with a solid car. The rockers don't seem to have any rust, the battery box is solid, frame-rails are good, etc...Also, I've already begun looking in the yellow pages, I was trying to ask if anyone has had experience with a shop and could give me impressions first hand. Sorry if I didn't make that clear earlier. Johnc- $1000!!!!! Jeez, I was hoping it would be less than that. But you say you had your car done there? How good of a job did they do? I guess if Nissan used them they can't be total hacks haha. I am going to strip the car down to the uni-body and put it on a rotisserie first, as well as taking off any bondo and trying to get most of the factory undercoating off of the underside as well as the floor boards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted May 19, 2006 Share Posted May 19, 2006 I had a customer's car done there. I was quoted $800 to $1,000 and the price came out to $850 because the car was COMPLETELY stripped and doors, hood, hatch, fender, etc. were off the car. Don't worry about removing the bondo or undercoating, they will get that stuff off quickly. They do get grumpy about leftover fuzz from the carpet padding, grease, and water. OC used their own stripping media first then finished the car using walnut shells. After its stripped, spray the whole car with a light mist of WD40. You will also have small piles of the blasting media periodically fall out of the car for the rest of its life. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted May 19, 2006 Share Posted May 19, 2006 BTW... they did a great job and it took them 3 days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poortecher Posted May 19, 2006 Author Share Posted May 19, 2006 Johnc- So i don't really need to remove that tar-mat junk on the floorboards under the carpet? Well, I'll talk to them and find out exactly how they want the car prepped. Also, I was planning on spraying the car with a few good coats of epoxy sealer/primer as soon as I got the car back, because it's going to be sitting on the rotisserie for a while while I do the rust repair, subframe connectors, and whatever other metal work I need to do. Would that be better/worse than the WD40 method? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted May 19, 2006 Share Posted May 19, 2006 So i don't really need to remove that tar-mat junk on the floorboards under the carpet? That's not undercoating. They can't blast that stuff off, you'll need to remove it as you planned. Regarding the WD40: I've talked with a number of car painters and they prefer something like that as opposed to a customer spraying primer on the car. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z0wner Posted May 20, 2006 Share Posted May 20, 2006 When I called for soda blasting they said approximately 1700$ Thats when I decided to blast the car myself... Actually clean up is not that bad... pull the car into the driveway sweep it up with a shop broom, then use the shop vac. Filter and reuse Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SSflyer Posted May 21, 2006 Share Posted May 21, 2006 It really doesn't cost that much to do it in the garage at home. I rented a big gas drive compressor (the kind they use for jackhammers), and a 40lb sandblaster from a local rental place, bought my own sand, and got it done for less than $200. I didn't do any of the external sheetmetal (did that with sandpaper and a block), but it took off all the undercoat residue and engine bay schmutz like using a garden hose on a sidewalk. My shell was on a rotisserrie and you probably couldn't do it without one. The down side was the sand in every single crevise and cupboard in the garage and in every single enclosed place on the car. It's been two years since I sandblasted and little piles of sand still magically appear out of the car from time to time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poortecher Posted May 21, 2006 Author Share Posted May 21, 2006 ssflyer, that's exactly why i don't want to do it at home. the blast media will get EVERYWHERE and i'll have to spend forever and a day cleaning it up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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