Great forum!

Has anyone been successful using smaller compressor setups for blasting? I once tried a siphon system and it didn't work well, and now I am ready to do my trucks frame. I have a 20 gallon 5 hp compressor rated at 8.3 scfm @40 and 5.8 scfm @90 psig.

I'm considering purchasing two types, one is a blast tank that comes with hood and tank, and the other is a hand-held small gun with a media resevoir on top holds about a quart or less of material.

Can one soda blast with this? Friend says to stick with dry playsand.

 

No good news here. Pressure sb is best, five gallon tank is minimum. You will overheat that a/c and spend most of your time waiting for air. When SB, you are basically just opening the air hose wide open. It takes a bigger a/c and bigger tank for sb. 60 gallon tank works good, 80 better...


I would check with a SB shop. SB at home makes a MAJOR mess, and you will not get the job a pro SB shop could do. It may not cost that much, you will not have the mess, and you will still have your 20 gallon a/c working and not burned out. good luck. jmo

 

thanks, guess I could have it taken off to the shop. sure would like to have the cab off first though. anyone tell me what it takes to do that?

 

Sounds like you are getting in to the old either "frame up or frame off" restoration decision. A frame off means you remove cab/ pickup bed/ front fenders/ clip and everything attached to the frame. Then, the frame can be taken to a SB shop. Every part is SB and painted before it is bolted back on. A frame off is a LOT of work and a LOT of money. Usually done for show trucks and /or very picky truck owners...



Frame up is when the cab and fenders, bed, is left on and the owner just works around them. A LOT of work too, but will not end up with as good of a restoration job as a frame off, but the method suits some people, like me and my truck, because a frame up is a LOT less costly. Remember, only you will ever love that truck enough to invest the amount of cash you are getting ready to put in it. Restorations are a labor of love, not good investments , unless its a Rolls Silver Shadow of course jmo

 

The decision seems to be made for me as I progress with this. The engine and the transmission was shot so, as well as gas tank, master cylinder, brake lines, and fuel lines. Now, I'm trying to get the engine back in with tranny bolted to it, but it was hard to do them as a pair and someone here suggested to take off the front clip to make access easier. Did that. The bed was just a little more work from there, and I could really see the brake and fuel paths, plus get in gas tank. It's a short stretch for the rest, but looks like cab would maybe be a much bigger pain because of the wiring. Unclipped much of it though to get front off. I barely could lift the bed off with the help I had, but I guess I could build a tall hoist frame.

 

I sand blasted a truck and srewed up a lot of the gauges and it got into everthing. It seemed no matter how I taped and tried to protect stuff the sand got every where. I rented one of the compressors that they use for jack hammers to break up the roads. It worked well but what a mess. Also you can warp panels with the heat generated from the blasting. You have to be carefull. It is silca sand so you have to protect your lungs.

 

Hey, thanks for the reply. Didn't even think about renting a big compressor, but that's a don't know why i didn't think of it alternative.

My first attempt was a siphon rig from Sears and the sand got everywhere even with those low pressures. It was a mess too. Anyone have any experience with the handgun made with the resevoir on top? Holds about a quart at a time? Would that take me all day long to make headway?

I'm in contact with a soda blast compound manufacturer who is supposed to steer me toward a distributor since I am not buying one pallet full of 50 lb boxes of this stuff.

This is supposed to be much more inert and no silicosis issues. Apparently it's blown wet or or dry.

 

I've only pulled a pickup cab once. It was easy. I used a couple of those 3" tow straps through the window openings. Jacked the truck up onto tall stands. Attached the tow straps to a couple of 2x12's laid on my ceiling joists. Got it unbolted then lowered the frame. It was still on the axels so I could roll it out.

 

Wow. Neat idea. I'd have to build a frame though, my work is being done in a shelter tent and doesn't have the frame to handle additional weight. It couldn't be any more difficult than the front clip in terms of wiring? I guess I got most of that? The advantage in removing it is what? Get to rest of frame and can blast/paint the cab bottom? Did you replace the bushings?

 

Not only can you do a more complete job on the chassis, but if you have to do any sheet metal work on the bottom of the cab, or cab corners you can do it with the cab hanging which gives complete access so you can do good rust prevention on the areas that would normally be hidden by the chassis.

 

Hmmm... gonna consider that then... have to find some good lumber for making a frame of sufficient size.

 

Call me "very picky"
I’m in the middle of doing a frame off and I would never consider blasting with a frame up. As has been said the blast media goes every. Also when you leave any part hidden and untouched you’re asking for a problem down the road. I work alone with no special gantry frame to lift the parts off I just applied a fulcrum and leaver approach with some lumber. A pair of 4x4s and like 4 - 2x4s once I got bed up and far enough off the frame I put a Large Sawhorse under it. I lifted the front off the frame using a small scissor jack at that point and lifted it high enough so that I could place two stock stands like you would use with a table or chop saw, to the outside the rear wheels with a 4x4 set from one to the other. Then I removed the jack and rolled the frame out.
I next removed the doors from the cab and made two A shaped brackets between the door hinge mounting points and the striker bolt. I welded a pair of rings cut from 2 3/4" pipe at the center of the A. Next I lifted the cab up the same way as I did with the bed with the boards to the rear of the frame. I used 4x4s to build a dolly, 300lb casters from Harbor Freight and boards from Dome Depot about another 40 bucks total with lag bolts.
<O</OI welded two support triangles with an 8" piece of 2 3/4" pipe on both once I got it all together I rolled it to the back of the frame and around the cab I then removed the trucks tires to adjust the cab height so I could line up the rings and supports on the dollies. Finally I passed a length of 2 1/2" gas pipe $20 at home depot, from A bracket to A bracket. Now the frame is on a rotisserie and I can weld inside or outside without having to weld in an uncomfortable or difficult position.<O</O
Now eastwood sells a Body/frame stand for 1000 bucks plus. I built mine for less then 100 between Home depot and scrap steel I got from the scrap yard. Ok I wasn't specific on all the measuring but if you’re mechanical enough to try the full job I'd hope you can weld and fit stuff. This week I am finishing up the reworked frame, suspension, brakes now disc, air ride 5000 kit, new diff gears 2.91, ext. I hope to be starting the cab work next week. I have to replace the entire floor and some of the rockers and channels. It’s bad but here in Jersey, the pickins have gotten really slim and I have to replace sheet metal with few doners availible. Biggest thing that helped me was using electrolysis for all the smalls. Made the rust removal much easier with no worries about what chemicals I was flushing into my yard. Baking soda, a battery charger and a big plastic barrel. I just built a Jacuzzi sized tank that will allow me to do the hood in one shot and latter both doors at the same time. The benefit is it lifts the rust out of the pores of the metal which sandblasting does not.
John
Ok I hope I didnt put anybody to sleep man I get wordy at 3 am.

 

The sandblaster with the resorvoir on to is good for quarter sized rust spots.It depletes itself in about a minute. It would take forever for a large job.

 

thanks missisauga. thought I'd asked, met a guy buying one said they worked pretty good, but that's relative to what is trying to be achieved.

Johnnydmetal, your obviously tackling this from a serious angle with your rotisserie setup. Dolly and casters would do me no good as I'm working in my backyard under a temporary shelter building (tent) with thin plywood floors over plastic. It keeps my tools from getting wet and suffices in the absence of a garage, which is another future project. As to level of skill, let's just say the first and last time I welded was in high school a few decades ago and the shop class barely allowed a few hours at most. I believe I'll make my way, I have so far, though I've thought about giving up more than a few times.

I'm intrigued by the electrolysis tank. Your dipping into a plastic barrel filled with water and (how much soda?) and positive and negative terminals attached to what? How much residence time? Also, how do you dry it all thoroughly and time before primed? Interior of door get primed too? poor it in valley?

thanks

 

missisaugua, would you recommend not blasting? Would you consider blasting if it was soda instead of silica? I was thinking air blast the soda out or even water, since it's soluble but that doesn't seem like a good idea around gages and electrical connections. The link someone sent me to research soda blasting [ was it you?] show them blasting wet or dry and cite both as viable methods.