The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk I'm so TICKED

Well, as many of you know, I've been restoring my 52... Wellllll, I took the cab and the frame to a place (that's been around for a long time) and the guy said it would take 3 days to sandblast it and spray both of them with epoxy primer... Well, I took it up there... I've called week after week after week and he gives me nothing but excuses as to why it's not done. Well, I went up there about a week ago (note: he's had it for 2 months at this point) and he has only sandblasted half of the frame.. the cab of the truck is still hanging from a hoist in his boatyard... Isn't that some crap?? He was going to charge me $400 at the most to do it all. There was this other place up the road that was going to charge like $300 more but atleast I would have gotten it back a few days later. IM SOOO MAD! I'm taking a trailer up there tomorrow and picking it all up. I'm not paying him anymore than what he did was worth.. If he tries to play games, I'll take him to court.. his word vs. mine.. and trust me, I can make it sound reallly, realllllly good! Wish me luck, geez!

Blake, go to Northern Tool and buy one of those small presuurized blaster pots for about $135(on sale) and blast it yourself. If no air compressor take all that money you would have spent and buy one of those. The last chassis I blasted about a month ago cost $30 for the blasting sand from the local concrete place. It took 5 bags at about $6 a bag. Think about it. Plus, I spread a BIG tarp that I had under the chassis and recouped over 100 lbs that I can re-use. Think about it...plus "most" folks to NOT do as good a job as you would on your own!! Just my .02 worth.

Yeah, I've thought about doing that for a while now. I have a small compressor, but nothing that would sandblast worth a crap. I've thought about just going and buying a nice $1200 compressor with a 16-17 CFM output @ 90 PSI or something.. I mean, I'll always be able to use it when working on the truck and I can use it when I take on other restorations... But yea, I see your point.. The other place down the road would cost about $850 to sandblast/epoxy the entire thing. I might as well just spend a few hundred extra and buy a nice compressor and get the job right the first time! I think I'll do that. Thanks

Doesn't a sandblaster need to have a compressor with atleast about 15 CFM output @ 90 PSI to get the job done? Or would a smaller, less expensive compressor do the job?

Several years ago, I took a pair of fenders to machine shop to be vatted.(sort of the poor man's chemical stripping)I asked them what it would run and they quoted me something like 20 bucks. Said to come back next day. I went back and they pulled the fenders and said to leave them another day. Go back the next day and thay told me they still were not completely clean and give another couple of days... anyway, you get the idea. Finally, the declare them good and bill me $180. They said it cost $20 every time they pulled them from the vat. I felt like I got hosed! I was just following their instructions as to when I should come by and see if they were done.

Go to rental place and rent the thing. Big? Yea. Powerfull? Yea. Don't stand close.Nice job and quick. One day will do it. And I do mean all.Get you parts lined up.

I wouldn't hesitate to add my voice to the idea of renting a blaster or buying some sort of hobby-grade blaster and doing it yourself IF YOU'RE BLASTING THE FRAME! Otherwise you can very easily destroy your vintage tin. I've read so many stories of so-called "professional" blasters burning through on pieces, dimpling parts, and stretching panels until they are beyond repair.

Take care with your project.

~rocker~

I also would suggest prepping parts and then renting a commercial air compressor. I priced the smaller sizes and you can rent one for about $250 bucks for the week.

And there shouldn't be any worry about blasting trough the frame if a regulator and patience is used. Only reason I even used a commercial air compressor was to save mine from running continously.

Make a list of the big parts that need blasting...prep them....and then set goals for the time that you have the compressor. Organize what has the most priority to you and then go after it. I got my frame and all the tins done in three days and left me plenty of time to work on the little stuff. Tarp helped recoup some of the sand costs.

One thing to remember about the pressurized pots is that they don't use as much air as the older siphon style pots.

Harbor Freight keeps several different sizes - and by having your own blaster you can control what happens to your precious tin. I too have heard many horror stories about "Professional" sandblasters that have destroyed perfectly good sheet metal...

Practice on the frame first, and by the time you get that done you will have a good feel for what you can and cannot do.

Good Luck!

Guy

They charge way too much to "professionally" blast anything. Half of the fun and satisfaction is doing it yourself. Buy your own equipment or rent, what ever works best at the time. Patience is the key, take the crap off in light, multiple passes. Don't try to cut it all off in one swipe and don't hold the nozzle in one spot for any length of time. It will turn out great.

I'm back from getting my truck. My trucks home but darn, I went through hell getting it back. Here's the story...

They were going to sandblast/epoxy prime the cab & frame for $400 total. I went there this morning with a trailer and they said the frame was done but was demanding $400. They were saying stuff like "No, I priced you at $400 just for the frame.. blah blah blah" when I know good and well what he said. Well, we got into a big argument in his business, and I went outside to "cool off". I was going to call the Law, but there is only so much that the Law could do, if anything... so I waited and waited in my truck and finally the guy came out there and said "just take the thing and give us $250" - Well, at that point, I was furious because I thought they hadn't finished the frame, so after about 15 more minutes of arguing, he finally said that the frame was done and sitting in the boat yard... so I paid the $250 and left with my frame and the cab that they didn't even touch...

People cannot seem to keep their word anymore.. it's quite sad actually. But all is well. My baby is back home with me and away from that hell hole!

take pictures for court

yikes.. at least you got your vehicle back...

Always get a written quote before you leave anything to be worked on. My frame cost 400.00 to be media blasted, primered and painted with an epoxy.

I plan on having the same outfit blast (glass bead)the body parts (large parts). The small parts such as the window frames etc. I will rent a blaster and do myself.

Blake,

Don't feel bad -- my cab and sheet metal is at a neighbor's (sand blaster/body man) for it's 4th year. I haven't needed it back so I'm considering it free storage at this point.

Haven't been to check on it lately (since Tony P and Joy visited...) Guess I oughtta...

Glad it got resolved.

John

Blake, I still vote spending/using your money where it will reward you later maybe even make you a few dollars. I just happened to be in Tractor Supply today to get some plastic covers for my bead blasting cabinet and noticed a 20 gal pressurized pot on wheels for 130 bucks. It would probably hold 100 lb bag of sand. Comes with 8ft hose, funnel etc etc. As for air compressor there are many opinions. I can only tell you what I did. Mine is a 80gal professional tank, 175psi and 17.9 CFM. It really does a nice job and would "catch up" when I did a chassis recently. I got it from Sears 4 years ago for $805 Total. I do not know what one would cost today but it would be cost effective. I checked locally on the guy that is considered to be as good as you get and he charges $75 and hour for sandblasting and $150 and hour for soda blasting but told me he planned to go up some the first of the year. His prices did include the sand/soda so you can quickly see what it would cost to do what you want. If you can stand the outlay I say buy you a good compressor and blasting pot. You will pick up the "knack" of blasting pretty quick. AS an added thought for everyone I have a 2hp Ingersolrand 20 gal tank that I thought about "teeing" in to my blast pot to help the big one out if I needed to. A friend of mine has that set up but he says it rarely has to kick in as his big one,same as mine, handles it pretty good. The choice is yours and you know what you can stand and spend more than anyone but I promise you it is money well spent. I now have folks wanting ME to do blasting for them!!

Thanks for the advice. I've been looking through the Northern Tool magazine (man I love that place) and I found a really really nice compressor that I want to buy.. It's very powerful and would definitely blast the way I'd want it to. I also looked at sandblasters, and there is one on sale at Northern Tool for like $130.. I think I'm going to ride up there within the week and buy both. That way, I can sandblast EVERYTHING (cab, rear fenders, bed panels, tailgate and even all of my small parts. Getting all of that blasted somewhere would cost just as much as me doing it myself and buying my own equipment. It just makes more sense. I have plenty of Epoxy so as soon as I blast everything, I can spray it all with the Epoxy and start all of the body work. Besides, I have wayyyy too much fun doing all of this resto stuff. If you want something done right, you gotta do it yourself! I believe that quote more and more every day!

Blake,
Have you considered dipping your cab. I've seen a post about it and i was impressed (very clean and thorough). I sandblasted my gear. I was lucky, i have access to a professional sandblasting unit. Buying a compressor to suit blasting means you'll have a *****in' compressor to paint with.
Brendon

Try

http://www.eatoncompressor.com/page/page/504413.htm

for an air compressor. After dealing with them and getting my air compressor, my next one will be an Eaton too. Just read some of the stuff on the web site as a learning tool when shopping for a compressor.

They have a lot of stuff on sale. You deal directly with them and cut out the middleman. You can talk to Matt (the CEO) himself if you want. I have seen Eaton Compressors discussed on Clubhotrod.com also. It's worth the time to read about them. Eaton make sense.