The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Cab Prep

What does a person need to do in order to prep the cab for blasting? How far does the cab need to be torn apart? Thanks in advance

every thing needs to come off. I do not recomend sand blasting the light sheet metal only the door jams and other 'hard parts' blasting will warp the heck out of sheet metal

But I am sure metal man is actually referring to "sand" sand blasting. Mine was done with plastic media, and no problems. I have heard that some places use soda bicarbonate with good results.

i sand blasted every inch of the cab i am working on and it turned out just fine

My cab is at Fast-Blast soda blasting shop. I will get pictures and get the BB moderators to post them. Before and after. I removed EVERYTHING - Doors, windows, glove box door, Everything.

Jake

Metalman, I sandblasted all of my truck, exterior and interior. I can't see where I have any warping. I didn't spend a lot of time at the same place and I blasted on an angle. Of course if you just keep blasing at the same spot the metal is going to get hot and do whatever. I will give you a few pics next week of my truck that has been sandlasted in and out and painted. Maybe you have had bad results with blasting, but I think it's the way to go if you can seal it right away, the
same with anyway if you go to bare metal.

When you sand blast sheet metal its not the heat that warps it it is the peening effect of the sand. The SM 'grows' but is locked in place by the bends and welds. Even if it looks ok you still may have a oil can or soft spot. The grit size,air presure and angle have alot to do with it.
Unless this is a work truck and you are not real fussy about the sheet metal work I still say it is not a good idea.

Metal Man - I have to disagree - to some degree. While what you describe can happen - it is not guaranteed to.

Why do all the street rodders up here ALWAYS take their cars down to bare metal? Why does the place I take my parts specialize in street rods?

I do know that they only use SAND to remove the rust. Switch to another material when doing just paint.

So - there may be a difference of definition going on - many people use "sand blasting" to cover all types of blasting (bead, soda, etc.).

- Ryan

In the new American Hot Rod show they had their body chemically dipped. Last night I saw a Rides show where they stripped chemically by hand and only sandblasted the jambs.

My truck was sandblasted. They did a good job but I could see how severe damage could be done. Ofcourse our trucks don't have very many flat surfaces. I think the inherant shape of a fender makes it pretty strong. I would be real careful on the doorskins and the hood and roof and stuff.

A heated debate in the body shop on a truck topic. Is this allowed?

how much to get it done? renting? pros/cons? Thanks again guys!

At autobodystore.com they recommend these sanding disc on your variable speed buffer at slow rpm. They say you can strip an entire car with numerous layers of paint in 8 hours.

Rolloc discs

[img]http://autobodystore.net/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/Ferro-Norton.jpg[/img]

I am not sure any sandblasting shop actually uses sand, as it can cause health problems (silicosis, I believe). So maybe the term "sandblasting" is becoming a generic term, call it sandblasting, but actually use some other media, be it plastic, soda, aluminum oxide, or something else. Tony M, are you sure they used sand?

On mine they used sand. I still find it everywhere, under the dash, on frame rails in the nooks and crannies etc.

Metalman, I will show you some pics next week of my cab, front and rear fenders, bed and all that were sandblasted by me and painted by others. I know if I was to sandblast a modern day auto with the very light metal it will probably do as you have described. Have you ever blasted a 47-54? I trust your judgement, I am only saying, I did it and had no problems.

That's cool I am glad things worked out for you. I have restored 2 advance design trucks and have made Thousands of patch panels for them. I am a full time fabricator and restore a vehicle as a filler (I am now doing Model A #2 a 31 Roadster) The problem in doing a car or truck that you are looking to do a high end resto on is super staight panels. I have personaly warped the back of a few trucks with even a light blast.
I can get it back by shrinking with heat IE shrink disc,or heat torch or weld and grind. But it takes a lot of skill and time rather than risk warped low crown metal. Sure if you are doing high crown parts be real carefull But if you have a cab with a lot of surface rust or paint sand blasting Will do harm.
Did you go over all the work and feel for soft spots and oil cans good work on panels should allways feel "tight"
I would much rather DA with the right grit on the outside and POR 15 the inside on some thing like a fragile pre war fender. Surface rust in pitted metal is removed with acid. I will sand blast around windshield openings door jams and the like. If you did sand blast your truck and things wooked out well that's great!

MetalMan, I was very lucky, my truck didn't have any rust holes (cancer). When I got the truck it had a metal (steel) camper on it that was made for that truck (53). As for as I can tell this truck had never had any hard use and it was very well taken care of. Yes, it had a lot of surface rust which came right off with the blasting. Please don't get me wrong, I understand what you are saying.

Good stuff here, I too have used "sand blasting" with success but there is also a long term problem with paint adhesion, metal man mentioned peening, this work hardens the surface and can cause problems with paint adhesion even after using self etching primer, i suggest you know full well what media your sand blast shop uses, i also know hotrod shops and paint shops have been doing it awhile but in aircraft we never paint something that has been sandblasted.

I had tried sandblasting the frame with a small unit just didn't like the way things were coming out. So finished another way.

For the cab, I used a chemical (saftey solivent by Share Corp.) to clean the bottom and a heavy scraper and blue million rags. Bottom came out beautiful. Straightening and patching a few spots now. The rest I will use a DA sander. Of course no money just plenty of time.

For the interior I am not sure what I plan on doing but pretty close on deciding a stripper that I can high pressure wash. Then finish by Da sanding. I keep reading what you pro's do and keep learning and that is COOL. popcorn The Truth is Out There (Another storm coming our way!!)

Metal Man - good points!

I guess I got lucky - only minor surface rust (except corners). The metal is still pretty strong compared to my Honda.

- Ryan

Kimo what you are reffering to is sand embedded in the metal. Standard practice is to DA sand after balasting to remove the sand. I do this on blasted exterior SM .I brush frames and the like with a stiff nylon brush and blow with clean air. The peening effect of the sand has no efect on the paint. (but it will 'grow' the metal. A sand blasted surface is great for paint as long as the sand is gone. Many of the parts I make get a great deal of hammering. It does not relate to paint adhearsion. Ray