Sandblasting & Painting

[Marvin]

I took a look at some of the painting threads to see around what an average price would be for a pro paint job, but couldn't find any. I was just wondering if anyone had recent prices from shops and what it all included. I'll swing by a few places around town and see what they say and post on here for your knowledge.

In regards to the blasting; I was originally going to manually sand the bus by myself with a block, orbital, or DA, but as of yesterday, that changed to sandblasting the whole thing (except the hood unfortunately) and then will primer and paint right after.

The bumpers, side foot step pieces, mirror bars, rims, and exhaust will be removed and get powder coated white to match.

I have read about sandblasting warping sheet metal, but I think with all the rivets we have and smaller panel sizes versus what a car would have, I think I should be okay. Has anyone blasted theirs yet and have experience with it?

Does anyone know a good shop on the west coast of Florida that could handle the primer & paint side once it's bare? I plan on doing a solid white as shown in the attached picture.

Thanks

[Njsurf73]

Depending on what media you use, you may need to use a high build primer, like sand and fill. Or you may have pitting from the blast.

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[EastCoastCB]

IDK, I've never been a fan of blasting unless its something with heavy rust.

[miltruckman]

It does warp metal as it causes it to stretch. Sand will also get into every crevice imaginable. And will also haze over any window left exposed. My brother did his 51 ford pickup, and we then had to deal with the damage done later in the restoration.

I would not recommend it.

Bill

[Njsurf73]

Originally Posted by miltruckman

It does warp metal as it causes it to stretch. Sand will also get into every crevice imaginable. And will also haze over any window left exposed. My brother did his 51 ford pickup, and we then had to deal with the damage done later in the restoration.

I would not recommend it.

Bill

It's really in the media and technique. If you concentrate on one area too much (like welding) you get heat build up. Certain media and even wet blasting are better for heat build up, but take more time. Fine silica is ok if you don't need a mirror finish, but make sure you have a respirator. Don't stay in one place too long. Use big sweeping arcs starting away and getting closer.
Glass bead works well but is expensive.
Soda blasting takes a long time and needs high cfm. The nozzle needs to be sized for the media... Too big and it doesn't accelerate it enough, too small and it clogs constantly. You need a decent sized blaster (150lb/3 bag clemco is a good choice for this small stuff) and at least 90cfm compressor to push the media.

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[Tango]

Soda blasting is much easier on the metal but must be absolutely removed from every nook & cranny (not really possible without dipping). Lots of hot rodders horror stories online tracking the failure of mega-buck paint jobs to soda blasting.

[Stu & Filo. T]

Dry Ice blasting is the best way to go, doesn't warp the metal & very little cleanup

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by miltruckman

It does warp metal as it causes it to stretch. Sand will also get into every crevice imaginable. And will also haze over any window left exposed. My brother did his 51 ford pickup, and we then had to deal with the damage done later in the restoration.

I would not recommend it.

Bill

I had a one owner 63 beetle in college. The original owner had it painted, and the painter stripped it with a sandblaster.
EVERY crevice and hard-to-get spot was rusted out. We drove the wheels off it and doubled our money at a VW show years later.
I've had several offers from friends to "help" with my bus and bring over their sandblasting stuff, but I'd rather grunt it out with a wire wheel and some ospho.

[family wagon]

I'm doing a significant amount of body work on mine (replacing 100% of the sheet metal on the sides and also building basement storage, including doors and jambs). I expect to media blast the welds in the basement framework and at the corners of the doors and jambs -- places where the steel is too irregular or it's otherwise difficult to get sandpaper in. The rest will be sanded with paper on a block, DA, orbital, etc, though granted clean new electro-galvanized steel isn't going to require much sanding anyway.

[Tango]

Galvanized will, however, require thorough etching or paint will not adhere.