I cleaned these up today with a sand blaster. I was going to sand blast then get them powder coated but I am pretty shocked with the results and will keep them this way for a little while. I know powder coating is easier to clean but I will be tearing down my motor in november and will have all winter to work on it.

 

hey that looks great! Do you have a box or just some random blaster?

I've been meaning to blast some parts too, but I'm too lazy...

 

I used a 100 gallon (i think) sand blasting box. If they are small parts send them to me and I'll clean them up for a small fee.

 

you can buy a small box and everything at harbor freight.

 

I already have a bucket and gun I scored from a friend. It works OK for now, but I need to build a box for it.

 

From the pics its looks like you let the sand get dirty and it cause the metal to go white. I hate when that happens. Check your media and see if its a dark grey color or way off white.

 

here is a nice small one

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=38440

 

glass bead media causes a bright aluminum color, there is nothing wrong with it.

just be sure you clean the glass out of every internal passage, you dont want that crap going through the motor.

 

fcdrifter13 I'm not really sure what you are talking about (by looking at the pictures anyway) The pieces are completely cleaned and free of any dirt or depris. As far as the sand goes, I don't know if it's clean or not, I would assume it was clean by the look of it but I'm not an expert.

 

Thanks Karack, I will keep that in mind.

 

Not disagreeing with you I know its turns an aluminum color. But sometimes when I was blasting and the media was dirty it turned a whiter color than some of the earlier parts. Just staing from my personal experience. It may just be my screen so I was just saying.

 

you probably had water in the line or went over the pieces more thoroughly on the later items. as well not all aluminum is created equally.

 

I will keep that in mind. Thanks

 

amazing, LOL. I was going to create almost this exact post. I acquired a sandblaster and I've been doing the same thing for the past 2 weeks. As for a box, I use a cardboard box. I replaced 1 side with plexiglass and put a plexiglass top on it. I cut holes in the back of the box and back it up to a fan. The sandblaster is my new best friend. It makes everything look great.

 

For a full restore, I'm really sold on "blasting from a bucket" with glass or another soft media to protect the aluminum.

The real question, how many 50lb bags and how ridiculous will the price get. Unlike a blasting cabinet, I think you DON'T recycle the media when your car's on the rotisserie.

 

I blasted the under side of the FC with 7 100lb bags....

but we also had the blaster dialed right in, hardly using any sand....

if you use a different media (corn, walnut shells, soda) the consumption will change dramatically since the effective "grit" has changed

 

Yeay they rate the glass/plastic media just like sandpaper. So if it took 7 bags of sand (which is pretty dense) for just the underside, that sounds like 9-12 for glass.

From the TV shows I see "pallets" stacked next to the blasting booths, so I'm guessing 90% of the "professional blasting" costs is going into raw blasting media.

 

not sure...never did any glass beading in a cabinet here at the shop......

But Ill tell you tha my cost on a 100lb bag of silica sand is 8 dollars canadian......

so for actual sand blasting (excluding other types of media since I don't know their cost) I would imagine the cost is mostly labour....you ever sandblasted before? hehe, Id want a couple extra bucks just because its going to take me an extra 10 minutes to shower when I get home - hehehe

 

My father-in-law blasts all of my parts and they look great. Nice work

 

Yes, but not exclusilvey (all the time). Smallparts go in the tumbler. For spraypaint prep on parts I prefer a 3" wire-wheel brush and 1/2" dremmel wire wheel brush. For restoring greesy/rusty parts I don't dare put those in the blasting cabinet. I start with a pressure wash (larger parts only), then move to dish-soap and scotch pads, then move to the wire wheel brushes.

With Clearcoating aluminum I like the powder look, so using glass or plastic beads in the blasting cabinet is perfect.



Medium steel and cast iron parts I use a metal media like aluminum oxide or such, and the media can be re-used allot:



Most of the professiontal restoration shops won't use any sand on the carbodies, but for the hobbiest where do I "pickup a pallet of glass/plastic media" on the cheap??

 

You callin me unprofessional ???hehehe, on the FLOORS yes, a body would just be a big wrinkled mess if you shot it with sand.......

as far as where to pick up the other media - I dunno, any stuff I need corn or walnut blasted I sublet...can't help ya there