Where to get media blasted in Texas??

[Thomask]

I almost have my unibody/other body panels ready for media blasting but dont really know of any place in or around Houston, TX that does it for a reasonable price.

I would think they would either dip the whole body in something to clean it or manually media blast it.

I was also thinking to buy the eastwood soda blaster and go to town, but this is a lot of metal to do, and it will cost a lot in media.

 

Any thoughts?

 

Thanks

[jamunm90]

I live in Austin and had no luck either. I found that most places that do cars are restoration type places and didn’t want to do it without also doing a lot of other work or were outrageously expensive. I decided to go to harbor freight and buy my own (read cheap) equipment since I already have an air compressor, and I found I could buy inexpensive media (sand) from auto paint stores.

 

Good thing was the rust wasn’t as bad as I thought…so I didn’t go through as much sand as I thought I would. I don’t recommend going down to bare metal unless you must.

[zstreet86]

what other stuff did they wan to do, what is outrageuosly expensive?

[Thomask]

I found a place in Conroe that will do media blasting (soda and sand) for $85 per hour PLUS the media.

Now i personally think its too high, but i guess its for the facility, etc. Since i am going to change the color of the car, the whole thing needs to be taken down, which is going to be a pain, time consuming, and expensive if i get someone else to do it.

 

I almost just want to buy a soda blaster that can do soda and sand and go to town on the thing and just pay for media. however i will have to upgrade my compressor.

[jamunm90]

Expensive was $600 - up to $5000+ Most places wanted to both strip and then also paint and restore the car. One would do it if they also did the rust repairs, etc. but most didn't want the bother. I did get info on one affordable place out in Elgin, but decided that was too far so I didn't pursue it. I have the contact info if anyone locally is interested. I went primairly to body shops, as I couldn't find a machine shop/weld shop that was interested. I also know of another place in Lockhart that a friend of mine had his 67 Mustang restored, but he paid over $14k for all of that work and they had it over a year. Looks incredible though.

[jamunm90]

You don't have to take it down to change the color. The trick to changing the color is painting ALL of the car. including all of the door jams, hatch jams, underside of the hood and engine bay, and anywhere else paint is visible, but you shouldn't strip it to the metal. Just spray a self etching primer and then a sealer over the old paint and you're ready to go. Only strip the old paint if you have underlying issues, such as rust or the current paint isn't adhearing to the body and could peel off. I learned this a long time ago, as I used to think removing all of the old paint was the "right" was to do it. Actually, it's better to leave it on.

[Thomask]

You don't have to take it down to change the color. The trick to changing the color is painting ALL of the car. including all of the door jams, hatch jams, underside of the hood and engine bay, and anywhere else paint is visible, but you shouldn't strip it to the metal. Just spray a self etching primer and then a sealer over the old paint and you're ready to go. Only strip the old paint if you have underlying issues, such as rust or the current paint isn't adhearing to the body and could peel off. I learned this a long time ago, as I used to think removing all of the old paint was the "right" was to do it. Actually, it's better to leave it on.

 

yea, im just worried about what is under the paint on a lot of areas. There are a lot of areas that have rust "spots" and dont know how far i need to take down the paint. I guess ill just have to play it by ear what i need to take off and what i need to just sand down. I dont know a whole lot about body work.

Ill also have to take off all the original undercoating and re-coat that as well. I guess i am at the stage where im here, i might as well do it kind of thing. And if i do it right the first time, i will enjoy it more in the end.