Sand Blasting

[BSD]

So, I have been stripping some paint off the Z, and I must say.. using a grinder gets pretty old. I am thinking about towing my car to a shop where they can sand blast it all for me, or whatev..But my question is, I read someone saying you can get them sand blasted, but our cars metal seems so thin for that, correct me if I am wrong...Or is there any good method I can do to remove paint besides a grinder and air plane stripper?Thanks guys!( Yes, I did search! )

[Challenger]

Sand or media blasting is kind of expensive. I just used the airplane stripper. It might take some time but it is alot cheaper. Just do it for an hour or so a day and you be done in no time.

[AK-Z]

Its not that the metal is thin, it what you might find under all that. Rust, gobs of bondo, ect. Sand blasting can insure that you get most of the easily accessible rust off.

 

make sure that they use media that can be easily removed like soda blasting media or walnut shell media. Having silica or slag media floating around when you're painting isn't a good thing.

[MJLamberson]

what kind of wheel is on your grinder/ Ive found maxi discs cut throught the paint real fast

[cencalz]

Sand Blasting can if not done carefully warp the metal. If blasting is done it is best to use baking soda or plastic media. The added benefit is clean up before painting. After blasting it will need to be primed within a few hours (mostly depending on where you live) or rust can start forming. A dryer climate vs higher humiditiy area.

[BSD]

Great info guys, thank you very much.Hmmm, you know... I'll just suck it up and use the air plane stripper once a day like challenger said, who said everything had to be easy right?I'm using a paint remover/stripper pad, I have quite a few.. they work great.. but the air plane stripper is easier.I have two more questions! What would you guys advise when it comes to removing paint and rust from smalls cracks or areas? Annnnd.. I tried removing that rubber coating inside the car with a grinder, but it smeared it everywhere.. I was thinking of using something like brake cleaner, but I am unsure, lol. Thanks again.

[Challenger]

Ive heard of using dry ice to make it brittle than you can chip it off.

[rturbo 930]

Ive heard of using dry ice to make it brittle than you can chip it off.

Yep. I think I've heard of spraying it with a fire extinguisher too, and then chipping it off. I just did mine in the winter months, and it chipped off fairly easily for the most part.

[Challenger]

I dont know about that.. that would be kind of spendy. Especially becuase youd be using the expensive ones that arent just compressed baking soda.

 

If I remember correctly mine was pretty brittle during the winter. I chiped off a few piece that seemed loose and put my sound deadening over the rest. It should hold fine.

[Guest 77zphoopher]

I used a cordless drill with a wire wheel on it, it stripped it off pretty fast even in the warm weather.

[m4xwellmurd3r]

co2 extinguisher's should be cheaper shouldn't they? I've never looked at the cost, but Co2 is pretty cheap. 20oz only costs a few bucks to fill at a paintball shop

[BSD]

Hmm, never thought of using the cold.. haha.

I think i'm going to focus on just getting all the easy paint and rust out of the way and go from there. =]

 

If all else fails, i'll just use por15 on the rust.

[AK-Z]

canned air? Flip it upside down and you get liquid nitrogen:D.

[aziza z]

Something to consider.

 

Ive noticed that when cars are sandblasted, it takes away they;re subtle lines and edges. Although its not noticeable at first. When you have two cars side by side you can tell the edges and lines of the sand blasted car are.....flatish (i guess thats the word for it). It does make things easier, but maybe acid dipping the car would be another thing to consider. It does the same thing but without the abrasive changes.

 

Oh and if you do either method be ready to find some things you didn't know were there. Heres what i mean.

 

 

My little surprise. Anyway, look above all that crap on the actual line of the car.The lines above the damage is the dullness of the lines i speak of.

 

 

 

 

(BTW that white car is aziza, the z in my signature, believe it or not)

 

[aziza z]

Sorry the pics are huge. It helps see what im talking about a little better anyway.

[palosfv3]

It is interesting to note the many different ways to remove paint and rust from an automobile body. If your going to do it correctly , timely and cost effectively knowing what process to use for which situation is important.

Sandblasting should be defined as a process but sand should not be used to remove paint or rust . There are many different types of media that can be utilized in the process, plastic media, walnut shells, black beauty. glass beads, baking soda, ect. Sand is very problematic health wise and also leaves a powdery film on the bare steel that can lead to paint and material adhesion problems. Sandblasting is usually done with high pressure air and a very concentrated stream of material and is best used for suspension arms, axle housings, brackets and substantial types of pieces. The prefered materials for this application is usually, Black Beauty, aluminum oxide or glass bead. Once this is completed an application of a zinc rich primer is necessary, preferably within a couple of hours. This process is not the prefered method for sheetmetal .

Light guage sheetmetal can be done a couple of different ways. Paint stripper is one but it is messy , time consuming , costly and not the most efficient . If you have access to a variable speed buffer , grinder or similar air powered equipment get a 3M backing pad ( #051131-05779) or equivalent and some 8' diameter sand paper discs in #40 or #80 grit and buff the paint off. This system works quickly on flat exterior surfaces and you can do the entire exterior of a Z type car in quarter of the time and cost of paint stripper. For door jambs and tight corners get a mandrel wheel (3M #048011-07491) and some "clean and strip "discs" (3M #051131-07460). The csd are a little pricey but well worth the money. they also come in round 1" to 4" diameter sizes that use a smaller arbor that mounts in a standard drill. 3M is not the only manufacturer of these types of products. Norton , Mirka and other produce competitive products. Check your local PBE for additional product information.

Media blasting usually uses a high volume low air pressure system with a couple of different types medium to abrade the paint from sheetmetal . This is also a good choice to remove paint from sheetmetal but it wont remove rust or filler from the panels.

Hope this helps.

 

Larry

http://www.wgmauto.com

[BSD]

Well, I believe that answered everything for me, haha, Thanks Larry.

 

I contacted red-strip a few months back about acid dipping, and they said our cars arent able to be dipped because it would warp them. I heard that was very common among foreign cars... nissan/vw/honda/ etc...

 

I've only seen old domestics get dipped. ( aka tank cars. )

 

I do have a question for you Azi, With those small rust out holes, did you just weld in a pew panel/patch? I don't have a welder and was considering keeping the fiberglass patches I did.

[SSflyer]

I sandblasted the shell on my car and it came out fine. The other panels, hood, doors, hatch, I used a cheapo 4" x 9" jitterbug sander with 60 grit paper and it didn't take all that long. The bad news is that I did the sandblasting in my garage and I'm still finding sand after 3 years! The effort was worth it though because you'll never ever be able to get the paint and crap out of places like the door jambs, air box, hatch channels etc. if you try to sand them by hand.

[redneck1545]

any one know what size media blasting grit to use???

30/60 or 20/40??? pm if you know!!!! thanks