sand blasting

[NOTRIGHT]

hi all
i have a 75 with rust that i dont want to fix
so im going to try to find a shell and have it sand blasted and then im going to fix any rust that is on it repaint and under coat it im woundering if this is a good idea is do this?

thinks notright

[mejulihn]

Sounds like a lot of work (and money). You are always better starting with the most rust-free car you can find. I realize that the east coast may not be the best place to start. Cars that have lived much of their lives in California or the desert southwest are less prone to iron oxide. Its your $$'s but I would rather put my 914 "sweat equity" and upgrade dollars into something other than rust-mending.

[jabb]

I know a couple of months ago the guys at
Pelican had a rust free roller they were
selling. Do not know if the still have it
but I think it was under 1000 they were asking.

Joe A

[NOTRIGHT]

well im not crazy about putting a lot of money in to a car that is rusting out but i dont have a lot of options it fix what i have
of find a shell and go that way
1 fix floor pans front and rear
2 fix rear trunk
3 fix front trunk not to bad
4 fix rear fire wall
5 fix battery box and engine shelf
in the time it would take to fix mine
i could sand blast and repaint a shell then i could take my car off the road and switch all the part over
i have use of the sand blaster and a paint booth i just dont want to put thousnds of dollars out in parts then have problems latter

notright

[TFI]

NOTRIGHT...

i think your idea sounds good, if you have access to all the stuff, go for it.
here is how i understand it from what you have written:
you have your car that you are drving (the 75)
it has all the parts to be whole car except for the rust spots
you want to get good chassis to sandblast... (you have access to place for this) then paint (you have the paint booth)
then you want to take the parts off of the one you are driving... and have a rust free driver.
if you get a good deal on good chassis, go for it.
my $.02
-jim-

[skunk]

I say go for it, I did the same thing about a year ago. I had a '73 1.7 that was rusted out so I transplanted almost everything (bumpers, interior, guages etc..) into a clean 76 roller. Just now finishin up, but I know I'm dollars ahead doing it this way than trying to repair the basket case '73.

[NOTRIGHT]

THANKS TO ALL THE REPLYS
I JUST GOT DONE PRICEING ALL THE PARTS THAT I NEED FLOOR PANS ECT FROM PELICAN AND RIGHT
NOW IM AT 600. PLUS NOT COUNTING SHIPPING
AND AS BAD AS I DONT WANT TO GIVE UP ON THIS CAR IM GOING TO BE LOOKING FOR A SHELL IN THE NEXT FEW MONTHS
I GOT THIS CAR WHEN MY BROTHER IN LAW PASSED AWAY SO IV BEEN WORKING ON IT FOR 3 YEARS
LAST YEAR JUST WHEN I WAS GOING TO GET IT PANTED A TREE FELL ON IT CRUSHING THE TOP IN ON IT AT THE WINDSHILD THAT WAS A REAL PAIN TO FIX BUT I DID IT NOW THE RUSTED FLOOR PANS AND FIRE WALL IS JUST TO MUCH

NEXT ANY ONE HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH TO SHIP A SHELL FROM THE MED WEST TO THE EAST COAST
COAST

THANKS TO ALL WHO REPLYED
NOTRIGHT

[Joe Bob]

I have shipped more than a couple rollers back east from LA. Before the gas prices went through the roof, it was about $800-1,000 coast to coast. If you need help finding a roller let me know. I see them in LA and in the www.recycler.com ads all the time.

[Dave at Pelican Parts]

I hear that it is copletely impossible to get all the sand out of the chassis after you sand-blast. Larger media, like walnut shells, are evidently a lot easier to clean up.

Just two more cents for ya...

--DD

[neilca]

I have a race car shell, which I need to have stripped. I was going to have it chemically dipped, but others talked me out of it because they say you cannot clean out the chemicals at the body joints. This causes the paint to peel later. They suggested soda blasting. This is baking soda and high pressure water that blasts away stuff. They say it is so controllable they can blast off just the top coat and leave the primer. Anybody else have an opinion or better idea on how to strip a car?

Thanks,
neil

[Germain]

If you sandblast with the correct equipment and do it right, I cannot see how some sand will get left over on the car... Just blow it off, sand doesn't stick. I've done alot of sandblasting, shouldn't be a problem.

I'd be leary of the soda-blasting info, I don't see how anything could be controling enough to remove just the top coat of paint and not the primer. I could be wrong, I'm just offering a warning.

[JP Noonan]

The cars I've seen sand blasted had sand creep out YEARS later, but none of them were completely striped. If that were the case I agree that sand doen't stick and should all come out.

The only media I've seen that is accurate enough to remove layers of paint (actually I've seen it strip the paint and primer but leave Bondo alone) are the reusable man-made media. Walnut shells should work too, never seen it used to just pull layers of paint. The reason to stay away from sand (other than the mess I've experienced) is it can distort the metal.

IMHO stripping, welding, then undercoting could only be justified on a car with an original 914-6 VIN. Even if you don't put a 6 in it, later one could be put in, and the car will be worth more than a converted 914-4.

[Zeitraffer914]

I seem to remember seeing a 914-6 shell a guy had for $500...I believe it was on Pelican Parts BBS ...
one thing you might look into is having the entire car..yes the entire car powder coated...a local powdercoater did a 914 for a guy here..in all light gray then the body areas with yellow..looked sharp. He charged him $1000 ..but later said it would be more like 1500 for another..might be something to look into

------------------
The more I learn, the more I realize I don't know $#!%

[rich]

Soda blasting is a very messy affair. I painted a couple of Eagle Talon race chassis's for a local race team. In my oppinion, messier than sand or walnut shells. The stuff was like a continual dust storm. I sand blasted my inside floor pans. I still have sand falling out from under my dash 5 years later.

[JTB]

I had my 914 bead blasted to bare metal over a year ago. Primarily they used plastic beads. They are a little more agressive than walnut but won't distort the metal like sand. They did need to use sand on the rust spot around the clutch tube. I am still getting the plastic media out of everywhere, particularly the tunnel, the longitudinals, and the support chanel in the rear trunk. Every now and then I find sand. My car is a track car now so the multi-color media and sand shows up real nice against the painted interior. Still I would not have done it any other way.

The guys who stripped my car were real pros - they strip several CART and NASCAR race teams transporters every time the sponsors change. Talk about a sand blasting cabinet - they can fit an entire 18 wheeler in theirs! The trailers are thin wall aluminum, so I was not too worried about distorting my car.

[NOTRIGHT]

well i have decided to go ahead and sand blast the car
i have a friend the has a body shop and i was talking to him about painting the car when i had it ready
i asked him about sandblasting and he told me that it would work out fine with the primers that are on the market today he was telling me that there are some high dollar ones that you can sand the car with 80 grit and then use this primer on it and it will fill in all the scratches
well im not going to use 80 grit on it but im going to blast a old hood i have then paint it and see how it comes out
ill have my sandblaster in a week and a new compressor in 2 weeks and then im going to start on it as for dipping it i was think this would get in to everything and come back
to hant my later it well keep posting as it goes along

thanks to all that replyed
carl

[neilca]

I called my local dipping company and asked them about the leaching of the caustics from the seams. They tell me that it is possible if you don't wash the body properly. They suggested pressure washing before paint. Another friend of mine suggested cutting holes in trapped areas (like the rockers)to make it easier to clean and drain. Has anyone had dipping experience, the ones I am familiar with really came clean.
neil

[NOTRIGHT]

well i started to sand blasting my car last week and it going good alot better than i thought it would i have done the front wheel wells and reundercoated them
i was able to remove the old undecoating with out takeing off the paint this week im going to start on the rear wells
as it turns out i need the rear half of the floor pan on the right and the front half on the left

notright

[JTB]

Neil -

You asked about experience with dipping. The shop that was going to do the body work on my car talked me out of it. They had pictures of cars they had dipped, and they did come out real clean. Then they showed me actual cars that were dipped a couple of years ago and the paint was starting to bubble. Primarily the bubbles were around tight folds in the metal - for instance where the door skin folds around the door frame. I don't know if a pressure washer would ever be able to get all of the caustic out or not. Seems like it would only push the caustic in deeper.

Anyway, the body man I went to does a lot of work on high dollar cars - Porsche, Rolls, Ferrari, old Vettes, AC Cobras, etc. I figured he knew what he was talking about.

[neilca]

JTB
Thats what I had heard about. I think I am going to dip anyway because I am building a race car and I will cut holes in the rockers for drainage and I am not going to use a steel door,trunk or front hood. I probably wouldn't dip for a concourse car or restoration. The dipping will also give me the lightest weight body because it will strip everything everywhere. I also will be doing a lot of welding on this chassis so it will be nice to have nothing but metal.

Thanks for the heads up,
neil