I'm looking to have my entire truck body stripped down, probably having it blasted with walnut shell media. I've got quotes from local shops to the tune of $900. While that doesn't sound unreasonable to me, I was wondering if this was something I might try doing myself.

Eastwood has a good looking blaster setup for about $160. Figure in quite a bit for media... so maybe $300 total? Thinking of setting out a big tarp in the (large) yard to prevent a huge mess in the garage.

What are your experiences with trying your hand at blasting? Am I out of line with the price estimate? Anything else I need to be thinking about?

 

Yep! A big air compressor that will handle a sand blaster, or you will be there for a long time.

 

ya... thanks, but i think i've got that one covered. dad's got a 60 gal. i forget the HP & PSI/CFM, but it should be enough to get the job done

 

Better have at least 5 honest horsepower compressor not 5 peak horsepower. I did my frame at home and it went well. Although I am still digging sand out of my britches, wallet, tool box, every crack in my body and everytime I use one of my credit cards I have to wipe the sand off of it. Man that stuff gets everywhere. I did have a hood but next time I think I'm going with the full body suit. I was happy with the results though.

 

i did my frame at home also tryed 00 and 000 sand went through about 1200 pounds. you might want to increase your air storage by double [ie old propane tanks. well bladers etc] never did much of the cab just rust holes. dont use sand on body. has any one tryed soda blasting

 

It's a very slow process, if I could have found a knowledgeable person to do mine I would have gladly payed the guy $900. I've got a very good size compressor and 120 gallon storage but the most important thing is a top quality dust mask or better yet an air supplied mask.

 

I have done a 56 fairlaine frame ,wheels and some body areas. I would never do it again . Even with a mask that had replaceble charcoal filters and a hood ,I still got dust in me,silica sand. I had some wheels done last month, $10.00 each , took him just a few minutes to do them, less time than it would have taken me to get things covered to do it. He gave me an estimate on a frame for $150.00 to $200.00. I would pay to have it done it's not worth the risk to my health not having the proper equipment

 

I agree... I did a frame, a couple doors, a grill, and some smaller parts..
my 80gal compressor with a good Dayton triple pump dual stage can hardly keep up.

the hardest part is having material ready and cleanup.. (in addition to the health and safety factors mentioned).. I used 160lbs of sand, and had to screen it myself, and rescreen along the way. the 40lb pressure tank blaster takes about a tankload before you get the settings right..

hood & mask are required, and even tho I used a very open, outside location, sand gets everywhere.. I vacuumed it off the driveway and rescreened about every hour.. so you get it in fits and starts...

I had someone do the 54 truck, complete for $900.. done in a day, and primed.. I've got better things to do with my time than stand there..
now.. a blast cabinet for small things would be nice.. no shop space to stand it in..

sam

 

I have a 15 CFM compressor on a 80 gallon tank and an extra 80 gallon tank for storage and it won't keep up when blasting. I am with most others, if your wallet can handle the price, let someone else do the dirty work.

 

I have done my own blasting for 30 years. I used silica sand early on but changed to Black Beauty years ago. I origianally blasted with a Model B 4 cylinder that I built up with a special head such that the engine runs on 2 and compresses on 2. That worked well but about 4 years ago I needed to get a good shop compressor. I bought an IR 7 1/2 hp 2 stage. That stays right with my portable or my in the shop sandblast cabinet. I also bought a really good portable used sandblaster probably 20 years ago. It has the same unique mixing valve at the bottom of the tank that you see on the best machines like you see crews using sandblasting bridge structures. Mine is a Lindsey however they sold out the company a number of years ago and it is sold under a new name. 6 or 8 years ago a sandblaster like mine sold for $1300. I paid $125 for mine used years ago at Hershey. The commonly sold style tend to plug up a lot.

 

I am used to sand blasting motorcycle parts and yes, I do not plan on blasting my frame or truck...small parts ok, but I will let someone else have that kind of fun on the whole truck. The mess alone is not worth cleaning up. (I still have sand in my ear) I would rather have gone to the beach to get that kind of sand everywhere on me. If you enjoy the hard labor, and the clean up, go for it. Just remember to have enough air, and go in on a full body suit. It is worth it. And bring a beach ball.

 

Blasting is hot & sweaty work. However if you do your own blasting you can get the pieces as clean as you'd like.
I've a small TIP "model 99" sandblast "pot" and a large sized media abrasive cabinet. I think that the cabinet is the best as the grit is contained inside the cabinet. Unfortunately many pieces are too large for the cabinet.
I've found that with the "pot" the blast nozzles wear quickly; a few hours and it's time for a replacement. Carbide nozzles last longer than ceramic, but they cost more to purchase.
Blasting requires a lot of air. You'll probably want a rotary or screw compressor. Grit will get everywhere. Wear a good hood and ear protection.

 

I am speaking from very recent experience and from long time experience.

$900 is dirt cheap for this type of job. I worked in a truck body shop for about 5 years and did my share of blasting. It always seemed like we blasted in the middle of summer and pressure washed in the middle of winter. I hated both jobs but blasting was the worst.

My most recent experience has been the last week.



Thanks to the great economic times I have more time than money or I would have had someone do it. I got estimates around $1000 for both the frame and body.

My neighbor lent me his blasting pot and I blasted the body and frame of my '37 Buick. I also used sand, I know, not a good thing but again, it was all I had. We recently tore down the sand play set we built for our kids 15 years ago and have a big pile of sand left over. I brought my shop 7hp, with 80 gallon tank, compressor home and connecting it with the 5hp unit we have on the farm. The 7hp worked pretty good, kept up with the pot. The 5hp never kicked on but having the addition 80 gallon tank might have helped.

It was as bad of a job as I remember from my days in the truck shop. I decent weather, sunny and in the '70s with a breeze, until the last day when it went past 90°. Even at 70° it's a hot sweaty job. Add to it the mess. I had sand in my shoes and socks after five minutes. I live on a farm and my son is going to have some major construction going on to the barn in a few days so I blasted out by the barn because the area is going to be a mess in a few days and a thick layer of sand on the ground isn't going to make a difference, otherwise, I would have had to set up a blast area somewhere less convenient where the sand wouldn't cause a problem. I had a tarp under the parts I blasted to try to recoup some of the sand. I was able to reclaim about 50% of the sand but the biggest pain is you have to sift the sand through a screen so the larger pieces won't clog the blaster. This was the longest part of the job. I even bought a few bags of "Pre Screened" sand that had particles that clogged the blaster.

Sand will get all over. I blasted 75+ feet from my house with the wind blowing most of the time in the opposite direction and some still got in the house, my wife left me know about it. I also tracked some in even though I blew clothes off and stripped my clothes off before going into the house (we live out in the country with no close neighbors and trees lining the yard or else this would have been a major problem both with the sand and my disrobing outside ). I am still picking sand out of my eyes. I also didn't do the complete body although the paint was coming off in sheets. I did only what I needed because it is such a hellacious job. I got as much rust off as possible and will be coating what is left with a epoxy mastic paint made to seal rust, a rust encapsulator type paint.

I have a 6'x6'x6' blast cabinet in my shop that works great for smaller items but I would strongly encourage anyone doing larger items to have a pro do it. I had a panel truck completely blasted and epoxy primed about 6 years for $600 and a Ford 8N tractor, the main part not sheet metal, blasted and epoxy primed for $300 about 4 years ago. I've found if you shop around you will find a wide range of prices, it depends on how busy the shops are. I will have gone this route with my Buick in a second if I could have afforded it. More important than price is quality, get references from people who have had sheet metal blasted. Sheet metal takes special care. Both places I went to came highly recommended and both did a great job. The got all the rust off and blasted through all the weak metal so I knew exactly what I have left to work with.

Summation: Have some one else do it!

 

I bought a pressure blaster to do a couple of frames and misc parts. After messing around with it doing some smaller items, I wish I would have saved the $200 I payed for the unit. Not going to like the job at all.

 

and recheck the references.. I used the preferred blaster here by me, and he destroyed the doors, hood, and warped the cab roof pretty badly. Unfortunately the contract left me holding the bag.. so my $700 savings cost me 900 (hood & reblast) and 300 (doors), and bodywork time on the roof..

Sam