Sand Blasting fan housing

[David 84 911]

Anyone ever have sand blasted a fan housing witout damaging it? I know the fan itself is too fragile but not sure about the housing. I prefer not to go the route of glass beads as I have no one close to me that does it.

Thanks

[GotaT]

I've sand blasted them before painting them and had no problems. You may find some pitting in the aluminum due to age.

[David 84 911]

Thanks. Glad to be reasurred.

[jonbot]

I sandblasted mine, then applied a coat of clear:

[jpnovak]

YOu only want to clean the surface. Just drop the outlet pressure to about 55-60 psi. works great.

I had mine done with walnut shells then tumbled. The tumbling smooths out the pores a bit. You may want to coat with some silicon or something to keep from oxidizing. Hope that helps.

[Zef]

Dave....is this 911 will be ready in time for the F1 Grand Prix gather....?

[David 84 911]

Finally found a second to post a pic of the finished product. Thanks all.

[rusnak]

As a note, I am in the process of trying to weld/ grind/ weld/ grind mine. I have found that the cast magnesium is very porous. I'm filling in the voids with magnesium welding rod, and it's really tough going. If you remove too much surface metal, then you are down into the air bubbles, and your fan housing will start to look like swiss cheese. I'd say you have to be very careful with any type of medial blasting.

I'd recommend using the least aggressive techniques available.