# Sandblasting: DIY or pay a pro??



## Orion88 (Apr 24, 2012)

I'm about to pull my body off the frame on my 70 and I still can't decide if I should sandblast my frame myself or pay someone to do it. I plan on blasting the frame, all of the suspension components, and the rear diff (am I missing anything?). My dad owns a tool rental so I could get the pot blaster and the big jackhammer style air compressor for free, and would only spend money on median and diesel fuel. But then I have tons of sand in my driveway, and I know it's a dirty, nasty, dusty, PITA job. I can also get free access to a trailer from my dads shop, so would it be worth it to haul it off to get blasted as opposed to doing the dirty work myself? 

Also, I want to blast the underside of my body, along with the firewall and underneath the dashboard, maybe the trunk too (but since I'm replacing my quarters cleaning up the trunk will be easier after I remove the old panels). I know sandblasting can be too rough for thinner metal, so what's the best approach here? I don't want to soda blast because it's more expensive and requires a lot of cleanup, so I'm not really sure what my best option is here.


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## dan woodland (Jul 24, 2013)

I say if you are mechanically inclined do the blasting yourself and save the dough for another part of the project you can't do - or spend it on a serious system or part upgrade on the car. Also, if you've never done it before I'd do it myself just for the experience and to say I did it all myself (as I plan to do to my ride one day).

For media blasting I thought bead blasting was good/best for stripping cars and frames. I think you'll have a real mess no matter what media you use. I believe soda blasting you can just wash away.

Here are some other types... Dry Ice blasting sounds interesting aside from trying to get that much dry ice. Abrasive blasting - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## Orion88 (Apr 24, 2012)

True. I found a place just up the road from me who charge $100/hr. sounded a bit high. I expected around $50-$75/hr. he said for a frame it should be 2 hours or less as long as I get all the grease and undercoat off before I take it to them. That plus suspension and rear diff would be around $300. By the time I drive up to Indy, get the pot blaster and compressor, drive back down, buy media, blast everything, drive back to Indy, drop the compressor and blaster off at my dads shop, and drive back home, I might spend close to half that on fuel, media, etc.


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## crustysack (Oct 5, 2008)

hire a pro- unless you have easy access to the set up and media- its not worth it -plus you will be digging that stuff out of you ears for weeks, and remember you DO NOT have an industrial sand blaster that can do the job in 2 hours- the small pot blaster will take MUCH longer. I did my frame and rear end and it was $275 and I did not remove any grease or undercoating.


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## nineteen 65 (Jul 8, 2013)

In the past few restorations I have done this both ways; I sandblasted the large parts parts myself and also hired a Pro. Looking back having the work done by someone with proper equipment and expertise actually was more economical in the long run. Although it sounds like you have access to some of the equipment it still gets down to having the expertise and taking on the extra hassle. I would rather spend the money and invest in a cabinet blaster to handle all your smaller parts, as this would pay back quickly. I found an over the Highway Truck repair shop that handled body work and painting. The shop sandblasted my frame and the 'hard parts' on the body. They also were able to prep and paint with two part epoxy. Cost was about $500.00 and done in less than a week. I made sure that I talked to the person doing the work and went over what I wanted blasted as you do not want to have issues with warped body panels. Leave the trunk lid and hood at home. I agree with Crusty and stay away from commercial blasters, typically most of these companies are not kind to vehicles.


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## Orion88 (Apr 24, 2012)

I think I will send out my frame, suspension components, and rear diff out for a pro to blast. Not sure how to tackle my firewall or the underside of my floor though. Stripping it in my garage would be difficult. How would I access the underside of my floor?? What kind of media is good for such a project? Dry Ice and soda blasting are both pretty expensive. What about walnut shells or corn cobs? Any other suggestions? Or do I just need to break out the grinder and spend all weekend on it getting it prepped for paint?


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## Instg8ter (Sep 28, 2010)

Grinding/wire wheels are actually the cleanest. if you have undercoating a sand blaster, unless industrial wont touch it. All media makes a mess except dry ice, that why we use it in the home restoration industry to blast wood and re-mediate mold. Even soda can leave residue under the fresh paint and come back to haunt you. Fact is alot of time is spent removing 40 year paint that has the best adhesion you will get, i did a body on and just blasted the areas that showed rust around the original undercoating. Primed immediately with epoxy the sprayed epoxy finish coat. After dry i applied undercoat neatly over the old and new. The undercoat has kept my frame pristine for 40 years, why remove it?


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## dan woodland (Jul 24, 2013)

Orion88 said:


> I think I will send out my frame, suspension components, and rear diff out for a pro to blast. Not sure how to tackle my firewall or the underside of my floor though. Stripping it in my garage would be difficult. How would I access the underside of my floor?? What kind of media is good for such a project? Dry Ice and soda blasting are both pretty expensive. What about walnut shells or corn cobs? Any other suggestions? Or do I just need to break out the grinder and spend all weekend on it getting it prepped for paint?


After seeing the other replies I would send it out too. Although, look at FlambeauHo's 68 HO restoration thread. http://www.gtoforum.com/f83/68-gto-ho-convertible-restoration-35528/

He took the painstaking approach of doing it himself. Look around page 20.


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## Orion88 (Apr 24, 2012)

Yeah I just spent 2 hours reading that build thread from start to finish. 3 months cleaning the undercarriage?!?!?! DEFINITELY gonna sandblast now! HAHA! I actually finally managed to remove the last body bolt, drop the tank, and jack the body up a bit to see what I could see today. The frame is in great shape and it's not covered in undercoat, so it should be a real breeze to clean. Same goes for the undercarriage. The only place with heavy undercoating is the inner fenders, wheel wells, and around the base of the quarter panels. Shouldn't take too long for a pro to blast through surface rust and original chassis paint. Here's a couple pics from today. Got the garage ready to go for the body to come off.


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## Josh.AZ.GTO (Jul 11, 2009)

I used an angel grinder with a wire wheel after knocking heavy areas of undercoating off with a needle air gun. It took about 4 - 6 hrs and was pretty clean when done. I used KBS coatings to seal everything up afterwards. I had initially bought a sandblaster but sold it once I made a huge mess with media on blasting a few small things. Off you do blast any media I'd say its worth it to send it out. 


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## voltaire (Aug 23, 2013)

I had a highly recommended place sandblast my GTO frame with everything on it except for engine and transmission. Also gave them the hood hinges, core support, fender wells and bumper mounts all for $300.00. They also had several other cars that were being body blasted which you need some level of skill to keep from damaging the sheet metal. For the price I would always have a professional do the sand blasting for me. I've tried using wire wheels and sanding but it never is as good as blasting.


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