The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop What type grit?

I recently bought a new ingersorand air compressor and i bought a Daul action sander. I am going to remove the cab on my 1949 3600 and i am trying to figure out if i should sand blast it or DA it. i heard that sandblasting sheetmetal warps it so i want to double check with the pros. If i do sand the hood and fenders to get all the paint off to bare metal, what grit should i use medium or fine? please let me know. i really appreciate all your feedback since i am such a newbie at this.

I did mine with 80grit pads before I got my sandblaster.

Kenny B.

I would ask myself how much time and effort do I want to put into this cab vs. money. Media (not sand) blasting is a quick and effective way to get the job done, but it cost $$$. There are other media products one may use instead of sand and these will not warp body panels in the right hands. If you are doing a frame or prepared axle then sand or aluminum oxide (the product we really use) will do the work. Soda ash is not a good option if you have seams as it is caustic and may/will cause problems down the road. Like 551st3800 I will use a hand held sander on small parts as it's faster than driving to the shop.

80 grit is good-rough enough to do the job but not rough enough to get a novice in trouble. Wear a dust mask or respirator. Brian

I use what is known as a "Hog" a 9 inch
pad that uses self sticking disc, made by the same people that make the DA sander...Each disc is close
to $2, but 2 disc in 40 grit will strip an entire
hood...Its a low rpm machine that takes more air than a small compressor can put out...and it grinds,
does not occellate..You are going to be using a ton
of 80 grit paper...it would be My suggestion to drop
to 40 grit and save Yourself some money...40 grit
on a occelating DA sander will not leave grind marks
as some want You to believe....Bill B

Sand and a few other medias will warp sheetmetal.
Personally the best media would be plastic. Plastic will not harm the metal, but it does NOT remove rust.
Most media blasters first use plastic to remove the paint then come back with glass beads and remove the rust.

I would NOT use soda.

I would have the truck media blasted, I think the cost greatly outweighs the time and effort thats involved in sanding. Also I would not send the entire truck to the blaster at once. Give him pieces,when you get them back you are not sitting on a complete truck thats in bare metal...Eric

thanks alot for all your input. mike

Paper is cheap, go with the 80 grit.

If need be, give it a light sand blasting later (emphasize light).

I usually use 80 grit, but you will find you go through a LOT of it. Let the paper do the work, when you notice it's not cutting very well, change paper. Don't torture yourself by trying to get every last little bit out of your paper. It's a waste of time, effort, and wear and tear on your sander/compressor. Do save some of the used disks for fine detail and hand sanding, used disks work good for that.

two 40's make 80... Bill B

thanks alot for all the input. As soon as i get the cab off i am going to start sanding. thans alot ,mike

If I'm not too late to add my $.02, I like to use 3M Scotch Brite paint stripper pads. They go on an arbor with velcro. Mount it in a drill and go to town! Strips very fast and will remove the rust too. I get mine from Menard's, but any hardware store will have them. This is what the pads look like. http://multimedia.mmm.com/mws/mediawebserver.dyn?6666660Zjcf6lVs6EVs6667L4c7rrrrQ-

sevt_chevelle,

Why would you not use soda? Are you referring to soda ash or sodium bicarbonate?

One example of cleaning/blasting with sodium bicarbonate.

Tim