Sand blast or wire brush a rear?
- Thread starter Bonnewagon
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Dry Ice?? Okay, That is a definite new one on me. Explanation or You Tube video link maybe? Thx.
Nick
Nick
I was looking at a caged roller whose cage had never been painted and dry ice blasting was suggested. To that point I also didn't know it was a thing. Here's the first thing YouTube spit out.
Edit: just watched that vid and it's BORING. This is much more satisfying.
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I used a ton of wire wheels to clean then paint a whole 5th gen El Camino frame including the rear end assembly. In addition to being time consuming and a damn dirty job, dust masks AND safety glasses are a definite MUST--most especially, the safety glasses! Every night, I would find an errant wire embedded/stuck in my arms and legs.
Yes, I have been down that road too. The damn wires stick me in the most inopportune places. Worse, they fly all over and get me again at a later date. I have used wire wheels, sandblast, power washers, everything at some point. This time I will be trying the Evapo-Rust. I will strip all the brakes and lines, wrap up the seals and vent, and give it a thick coat. Then I will wrap it with Saran Wrap and let it just cook. Then a power washer to blast it all off. If this stuff is as good as people say I have some floorboards and other rusty things to use it on. Could be a game changer for me. I remember using Naval Jelly on small parts and it worked great. This is just a large scale operation and should be a real time saver.
BonneW, over my lifetime of wrenching, I've used EvapoRust as well as Naval Jelly. At SEMA, I've seen the EvapoRust vendors but hadn't tried it until after another resto-guy shared some with me. I have since become a believer/user and will look around for the gel version. As for Naval Jelly, I haven't seen that product for many years in Hawaii. One of the responders refers to sandblasting getting into hard to reach areas, yes, that is always a problem using wire wheels and brushes. However, a way around those hard to reach areas is to dab and use paint stripper which is sort of like Naval Jelly.
Best paint stripper I have ever encountered was the stuff that the airlines use for their planes. Due to short turn around and lots of skin to prep it is brutally quick and highly caustic. Gets the job done right quick and the plane ready for repaint and return to service. The small amount of leftovers from the gallon I scored managed to eat its way out of the metal paint can that I had it in from the inside!! Fortunately I had it stored outside in a shed made with hardwood pallets for floors. The wood soaked up the liquid and absorbed it; end of story. That floor is still out in that shed, taking care of business. Just don't touch the goo, even if it is supposedly dead?
I hear you about the porky-pine drill. Those wires go everywhere and get into the strangest places. I use my welding leathers as protection and a full face shield and breather mask and have still found them embedded in my jackets and pants. Thinking about going with the 3M XLT purple abrasive wheels on an air motor. When just about used up they have a diameter small enough to get into tight areas. That is, however, an open door exercise to get fresh air into the bay but a nuisance because the squirrels can get to believing that is an invitation for them to invade and nest. Can't shoot 'em, city gets picky about even air weapons now, and they know what traps are and how to avoid them.
I may still get around all this by setting the frame on stands and pulling the rear shocks and dropping the rear end down as far it will droop and using blocks for rests. The brake lines are already empty so no need to drain them. I can bag the drums and tape the bags closed to protect them.. I do have a small top reservoir pistol style blasting gun and the abrasive for it but that stuff flies. Still vacuuming it out of the cabin from doing the front clip when I had the old floor pans cut out. It is up under the dash and rains down when you use a hammer anywhere on the car. May leave the carpet out and go find a bumpy road and do some laps, see if I can shake it all down and out. Drooping the rear end would give me enough working room to snatch the old upper rubber bushings for the upper control arms and plugging in the new poly-U ones that I have in the chiller. Could maybe score an old box fan to create a breeze to blow the stuff away from me; Just thinking aloud here.
Nick
I hear you about the porky-pine drill. Those wires go everywhere and get into the strangest places. I use my welding leathers as protection and a full face shield and breather mask and have still found them embedded in my jackets and pants. Thinking about going with the 3M XLT purple abrasive wheels on an air motor. When just about used up they have a diameter small enough to get into tight areas. That is, however, an open door exercise to get fresh air into the bay but a nuisance because the squirrels can get to believing that is an invitation for them to invade and nest. Can't shoot 'em, city gets picky about even air weapons now, and they know what traps are and how to avoid them.
I may still get around all this by setting the frame on stands and pulling the rear shocks and dropping the rear end down as far it will droop and using blocks for rests. The brake lines are already empty so no need to drain them. I can bag the drums and tape the bags closed to protect them.. I do have a small top reservoir pistol style blasting gun and the abrasive for it but that stuff flies. Still vacuuming it out of the cabin from doing the front clip when I had the old floor pans cut out. It is up under the dash and rains down when you use a hammer anywhere on the car. May leave the carpet out and go find a bumpy road and do some laps, see if I can shake it all down and out. Drooping the rear end would give me enough working room to snatch the old upper rubber bushings for the upper control arms and plugging in the new poly-U ones that I have in the chiller. Could maybe score an old box fan to create a breeze to blow the stuff away from me; Just thinking aloud here.
Nick
Just watched one of the dry ice videos and the system looks both slick and euro based. It did do the job and would not violate the million or so eco laws that infest our daily living. Catches I did note are that dry ice is expensive to acquire and the delivery system looks to be exclusive to the process plus the need for dedicated safety gear to avoid being burnt. Dry Ice is so cold that it burns skin not just freezes it. Lots of video of nice things being frozen using dry ice and then shattered; don't want me to be one of them!
Nick
Nick
Nick, you are correct...aircraft paint stripper is great stuff! Unfortunately, any OTC paint stripping products for theses kind of tasks are NOT as strong as they used to be due to consumer protection rules. The federal government decided we aren't responsible enough so THEY need to protect us from ourselves! Back in the 70's, I completely stripped my 57 station wagon using gallons of paint stripper. Because living in Hawaii translates into working in shorts and T-shirts regardless of the task, I was constantly hopping around like a rabbit every time a drop/speck of paint stripper hit my bare skin. The things we hobbyists do for our classics!
As for other mechanical stripping processes go, the slickest one available is the Dustless Blaster brand. It really is amazing how much heat is generated from the sandblasting of parts. Because the dustless blaster system applies evaporative cooling effect, heat generation is minimized/eliminated and produces clean, straight metal.
As for other mechanical stripping processes go, the slickest one available is the Dustless Blaster brand. It really is amazing how much heat is generated from the sandblasting of parts. Because the dustless blaster system applies evaporative cooling effect, heat generation is minimized/eliminated and produces clean, straight metal.
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All this reminds me of a buddy that wanted to sand blast the underside of his Firebird convertible. He knew I had a huge industrial grade tarp approved by the Mine Safety Board. They used to hang it across a tunnel opening to divert ventilation air. So he wraps this huge tarp around and under his car and starts blasting. It caught all the sand and he was able to keep re-using it. The bottom came out clean and shiny. So did he. He did this in August in shorts and T-shirt. He was scratching his butt for weeks.
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