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Media Blasting

A new company came by and blasted the engine compartment of my dart, as it was in dire need. He used powdered glass and water, that blaster took everything, but did not warp anything. He even did under the hood, and the hood looked like new. The glass powder is biodegradable, and he came out to my place and did it on site.
 
Donnie, that was a cool video. As one who's done more than her own fair share of blasting over the years, I'll attest that your work is nothing short of top notch and highly professional. You're a credit to the industry and to the hot rod hobby at large! Keep up the fine work. :D
 
Not at all my friend -- I know all the work that took, and how hot that suit is. I'll bet the owner's going to be tickled pink by the results too not only in terms of your blasting skills but by how clean the sheet metal is. It looks like a great shell.
 
It was a different procedure on this car. I've been suggesting to musclerodshop.com for many months to cut out and remove the obvious crap metal to include Qtr Panels and Floors, just leave enough structure to support itself and withstand Rotisserie operations. My thinking was it would definitely be cheaper to do this way, au contraire! It took more time to get it clean whereas there's less metal; weird! But, I was able to get clean areas never before able to clean, even areas the customer never will see-which is a net gain IMHO, makes for a better job later! You never know, some bloke like Mark Worman will investigate a car like this, and find NO rot, and paint in places MOPAR never put.

Here's some current goings on with my latest patient in for surgery. She has some damages that will need Post Operative care! But, this is a very rare, and valuable piece of American Car History; a 57 Corvette!

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What is a reasonable price to blast a car if it was already stripped and on a rotisserie? Say a 1970 Roadrunner lol
 
Folks, I've done a lot of cars with my Media Blasting apparatus. Today, I was finishing up a 54 Chevy truck. It had been painted sometime since leaving the factory with a nice Blue color, which actually looked pretty good! However, when I started peeling off the paint with my 20 PSI / 200 CFM Plastic Media Blasting system there was NO factory paint, nor primer. Some bozo years ago sanded it off, and put this Blue stuff on. What is problematic is the metal had flash rust on it, under the paint! My soft media does not cut into that too well, I added a bit of Alum Oxide to cut into it a bit to take it down to bare metal, it came out really good.

My point is, folks you HAVE to have your cars Media Blasted, only this way can you uncover the ills of previous 'expert' painters, body men, etc.

After tending to this Chevy, I went to my Satellite to blast the inner front fenders (see my pics in "What's Everyone Working On" thread). Here is where I show my ***; years ago, I bought into that hype of using POR-15. What utter **** this stuff is. I lathered it on thinking I could 'preserve', and encapsulate the metal in a preserved form. There is nothing further from the truth. I have only a little bit of this horrid **** to Media Blast off my Satellite then it's just paint(s). POR-15 is only good for ocean going vessels that are fighting rust all the time, not our nice MOPARS!

One word of advice; don't sandblast! It has too high a pressure, and, often we want to be backyard experts (I used to be this way) and, it takes too long, I remember taking all day to sand blast the inside of a hood, that was junk, I wasted 8 hrs just on a hood, the inside! Today, I do a whole car in 8 hrs, with soft media, low pressure, and expert handling!

Oh yeah, don't be afraid to take it down to bare metal, this is the ONLY way you can see what you have to start your build-up on your (our) dream cars!

www.drblast.com

Donny is Por-15 Good or **** like you say? Credibility light is going off. if you don't like it then say it and stick to your guns. Don't suck up!
 
Are you talking about the above paragraph respective of Por15? If so, I indicate earlier on in my days I bought into the hype of this material to 'preserve' our cars. Now, I don't suggest applying it so liberally as previous actions on my part, or, perhaps even people today putting it on everything. I don't think I was ambiguous, if I was, and it's in print, please, correct me. Thanks.
 
Donny is Por-15 Good or **** like you say? Credibility light is going off. if you don't like it then say it and stick to your guns. Don't suck up!

I would think the sentence "What utter **** this stuff is." would probably be his testimony. I have heard others say similar things about POR15. I have also heard others swear by it, but nobody doing a professional restoration. Usually just Jeep frames and trailers.
 
I would think the sentence "What utter **** this stuff is." would probably be his testimony. I have heard others say similar things about POR15. I have also heard others swear by it, but nobody doing a professional restoration. Usually just Jeep frames and trailers.

You know....to me...and "Just my opinion"......
Why the HELL would someone want to "COVER" or "Encapsulate" RUST?

Just go the extra mile and strip it and eliminate it.

Kind of like a Doctor telling you....
"Well, we can do one of 2 things to you...."
1. Cut the Cancer out
OR....
2. Install a shield whereby the Cancer will not escape the security bubble we secure it in.

I dont get it...
Sure POR 15 is perhaps okay for certain uses...but for a cherished automobile of value?

Again, I dont get it.
 
It's like the water swirl when flushing, tub draining, water fountain, water spins then it's sucked down. Now, apply that notion to our development in this Hobby or even Profession! We dive in, and are swirling around encountering many ideas, procedures, tactics and opinions all to influence us in our decisions we make on how we proceed on our cars. First in the water spins several times, then, fast as it gets ready to exit. Perhaps my 'change' on POR15 to "What utter **** this stuff is" was borne out by being influenced in 1999 by the POR 15 folks which promised fantastic results at a modest amount and cutting out almost all the steps to do a proper 'Fix'.
 
Irony! Here in Texas, a guy called me with this same car, on his rotisserie, half chemically stripped! Thought it was you! Reasonable price? :eusa_clap: If you have a number that's what you want to spend, or have budgeted, so, triple that number and you're in the right ball park.
What is a reasonable price to blast a car if it was already stripped and on a rotisserie? Say a 1970 Roadrunner lol

- - - Updated - - -

Took in 70 RR N96 440 4spd original Hemi Orange, guy bought it off ebay, seller said "it's solid", buyer bought it -- as he should because who will refuse this car, right? But...his bodyman started to chem strip it, wanting to see what's going on, found a few rusty issue and fixed them, but, handed me all of it, and the Door inside lower seam was not touched! One drain plug/hole was filled with Bondo, and skimmed all along bottom seam hiding some rust and crust!

Deck lid; oofah! It was SO heavy, underside lip LOADED with Bondo packing into rust holes and the soft Bondo extending inside the Deck Lid, so, when I blasted it off, chunks broke off inside Lid, and they're 'floating' inside, Houston, we have a problem! The Chemically stripped sides (Top/Face) are slick metal, Media just slides off it just leaving some etch marks (which is not bad) but, the process works best when there's some paint to dig into, so...does this process really save the owner some money in time, etc? No. His time has to be valuable, right? I asked how many hours he has in it doing the chem stripper, he said a LOT, over 40, I told him for 14-17 hours I'd have the entire car, parts clean inside, underside, outside, no rust, no paint. He and the owner came around, and called me even before I could 'sell' this to them already done their homework, biting the bullet, and saying do it. It's unfortunate wheels are spun and money basically thrown away like this, but, it happens all the time. Too often, to the novice the service rendered by Blasting is money they don't need to spend because there is Chemicals and Sand Paper to handle those tasks.

Due to my Corvette guy and situation with him, I've really come to realize that most people just don't know what to expect from their Media Blaster and the outcome that will be reality on their car! So, I've drawn up some very sharp and hard-edged Legal Disclaimer and posted it, I wonder how many will run away from me and this new legal reality? Oh well, I don't need the practice, I need the time, so I can get back on my GTX and Satellite!
 
Also, to file away in your Free Advice category; If you're using Chemical strippers, then decide to get it all Media Blasted, well, the blasting media just rolls off the slick metal, not really 'biting' into anything. The 69RR car has this, and, please remember that engaging in this yourself like this may be rewarding at first by getting your hands dirty and becoming one with your car, it really doesn't help out your Blaster on the other end, in fact, it just creates some more headaches.
 
Multiple wrong choices adds up to a bad deal, and a frustrated customer! A guy brought me a 70 Roadrunner he bought off E-bay just from the pictures, mistake #1, it was a nice looking Orange painted Black center stripe N96 car. He hired his 'friend' who's a 'Paint and Body Guy' who insisted the customer needs to have him Chemically strip the panels on this car. This was mistake #2 as he ended up paying a lot of money to this guy to chemically strip this car. He and this Paint and Body Guy determined there's no way they can strip it effectively like this, so, they call me, I tell them I'm very busy, maybe in 3 weeks I can handle them. 3 weeks come, I did an 'oh yeah I remember' deal, took his car in, two days later he comes by asking why it's not done yet (mistake #3), in which I inform him I'm busy, if I don't take you in and get you 'in line' then someone else will come along and you'll never get serviced.

Well, this car has some shoddy craftsmanship under that undercoating and body filler, yes, body filler on the Floors, both sides! Hiding crappy welds, Rust holes, Dents, etc. His so-called Frame Connectors are 3/4 x2' and they are not tied into the Floor! Again, shoddy craftsmanship is on full display as I strip this car naked!

This customer is either going to give up b/c his dream car is a nightmare, or, he's going to pull his pants up and fix this car -- correctly! Sorry to say, I can't and won't take this in, not until I get the 49 Chevy and 69 Camaro done! What he need NOT do is return to the Chemical Body Man fella, the skill sets this car needs I don't think he possesses.

Folks, I'm all about doing the right thing for the car as my priority. Your budget and fiscal situation is not a concern of mine, if it was, I would not and could not render excellent results. Knowing what you're getting into is something I aim to help you understand, but, again, if you buy something that was NOT Media Blasted, and it's 40 yrs old, and it's showing nice paint, and you didn't measure the thickness of this paint then you're really setting yourself up for a nightmare!
 
I think the media blasting still is the best bet with Dupont Star Blast. Except i like the idea of using it with water and collect the water to avoid the lead poisoning your getting from blasting either way. The Por-15 idea I personally think is a a bad idea. Remove the rust and protect metal from rusting is the only way. Donny I imagine how hard it must be in the suit especially on a Texas Sunny Day.
 
Star Blast is aka Powerblast, good stuff, very very dense and heavy, but, cuts wonderfully. I mix it in to about max 15% per total media blast used for a project; ie 3 or 4 55 gal barrels full of media. Having it at this mixture allows as fast removal of paint as possible, and as I encounter rust I can dwell in the area for a few moments really taking the rust off, remember this is all trade offs and balancing fast removal/cheaper costs for customer and in some (albeit rare times) people who don't want any etching of the metal well, they won't get this in this mixture. But, most of us car guys love the surface, epoxy lays down super nicely! But, please note, on Corvettes I use pure 100% Plastic, no Starblast or Powerblast at all! Suit is ok, I'm inside, out of the sun, but, even with an air conditioned helmet I still break a sweat in there often.
 
The black EDP coating MUST come off these parts before you paint them. I blasted a Hood for the above RR, it's brand new, it was painted Hemi Orange over the EDP. As I was blasting, the orange just blew off, literally blew off. The EDP came off easily too. So, take that EDP off folks, paint won't stick good.
 
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