The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Dipping or Sandblasting

Looking to get my chassis blasted or dipped. I like both options but am wondering about cost. The places I have called are pretty unclear about what the actual charge will be until they see it. I'm sure several have done this, what kind of prices am I looking at?

Just called a local guy about blasting the frame and bottom only of a monte carlo. He gave me 5 or 6 hundred dollars as a price if all was disassembled and clean, not greasy. I have a 46 suburban and he told me $50 to $100 to blast the rear clamshell doors. Just the edges and inside. Not a good idea to blast larger areas prone to warping.
Jim (Northeast Pa)

I had my local guy do my frame from the '63 K20 4X4 done for a $100.00. Sounds like I got a good deal,
Scott

A guy at the Back to the 50's quoted me $1000 to $1,500 for media blasting the frame and painting it.....Ouch..is what I was thinkin.....

$100 for the frame sounds like a steal....an I'm only an hour from IA.

Let me know if you want to check into it. It's a little hole-in-the-wall type place run by an older guy and mostly his family. The $100.00 was just for the blasting as I had some modifications and welding to do before painting. He does custom coating ( black oxide?) for the government for his main business but swears he can also blast sheet metal panels without damage. He showed me some of his work and from his age and experience, I think he could. I'm going to have him blast my cab after I get the suspension reassembled to see how well he does.
Scott

Had a local do my bed sides, fenders and front panel for $80. Wish i'd found him sooner. I would of had him do the whole truck. Had another
( http://www.ksdrystripping.com/ )do both front fenders for $90.

I say blast it urself--not that hard if u got a compressor and a cheap sand blast rig--pick up some skoal and u can dip and blast at the same time.

My sinus' will never allow me to do that stuff again, and I can't say that I would want to. I have a blast cabinet for the smaller stuff and it even bothers me some. I used to do all of my own work, but that's how I got the bad nose. I also used to "dip" too, finally gave that up after 20+ years. I find it's usually cheaper to let someone who is set-up to do that kind of work blast off the Iowa rust. Especially when it costs me a doctor and a pharmacy visit on top of the material costs.
Each to thier own,
Scott

To do or not to do......

I blasted my own frame.... my supplies and tool cost exceeded 350 dollars.. not counting my time.

Had another frame done for $250 while I waited....shopped around in rural areas where they do farm equipment. I would NOT do another frame again...health risk is too high even with proper masks and hood..... the back yard looks like a Xmas scene from all the white sand leftover and the darn sand gets into everything even yards away including your underwear.......

..... before sandblasting you should have your frame steamed cleaned to remove any and all oil and grease or you will have painting problems.

Dipping can have its own pitfalls..... any chemical residue left being rivets... welded seems... inside/between multi layer frame re-enforcements or frame crossmembers.... will later bleed out and give you real headaches when you finish/paint the frame.

Do you ever wonder why we are spending so much time and effort restoring a frame/body to last the next 100 years when the darn thing has already survived, quite well, for fifty or sixty years with no special preparation from Detroit????

Is there a medical treatment for that condition??? my wife would like to know!!

Bob C.

Here in Paducah, I found a guy that does sand blasting on the weekends and in the evenings at his home. Took my frame to him and he blasted it clean for $100.

i fi were to media blast my own stuff, what should i use, and where do i get it. i have heard that sand can warp body panels, so they use other media.

Ton,
In the Houston area you have several choices. First is to rent a compressor and blasting pot from a tool rental place. There is one on the west side and another on old katy road that have a rig I have used. You can use sand on anything but your flat sheet metal sections. I would recommend using a DA to sand the panels instead of blasting. The frame can be blasted using sand which is available from Sears Harware stores or some building supplies like MCCauleys in Tomball.

There are also two shops in the area that do this type of work. Houston Metal Strippers up north in the Woodlands area can blast or dip your whole rig or if you are down south there is a sand blasting outfit in Pearland that some have used. I can get you the contact there if that is your area.

You can also do it yourself with a simple siphon blaster and a bucket of sand if your compressor is up to the task. I clean many a part and some panels that way. The pressure does not get high enough to damage even the flatest panel.