Blasting

[tomkidd]

Now then chaps. Im on with building a sprint and hillclimb mini and have totally stripped the shell down. Recently I've doen 12 hours scraping off underseal and want to tackle the surface rust underneath. Ive been quoted £220 to blast the car (underside, boot, engine bay, interior and seams).
Just wondering on your thoughts on cost and whether its a good idea or not?

Here are some shots of the work in progress

[DanGT]

We have a lot of blasting done (not cars)and 220 dose not seem to bad. Check that thay have done cars befor. There are a lot of diffrent types of blasting, to strong and you will have no car. Hope this helps.

[tomkidd]

Cheers Dan. They have done cars before and he seems to know what he is doing.

This is the place

http://www.interblast.co.uk

[race pickup]

I think its the best way if you are looking at doing the job 100% right and not that expensive, if you take into the account how much hard labour it would take at home.

But just be prepared for the worst you could end up taking it home in carrier bags!!!!

Good luck

[tomkidd]

I have actually had my shell blasted now at interblast.

I had the shell blasted at http://www.interblast.co.uk  on Friday. Very nice chap who is interested in doing more car bodyshells as now he has the facility to blast less clean objects (i.e. the underside of a mini). It turned out that my shell was actually clean but it was still done the "dirty blast bay" to get rid of any underseal left on it.

Then it was taken into the clean bay to have the seams and interior done etc. Managed to borrow a trailer from Myerscough college motorsport dept, which was a major help.



4 hours later and the shell was done. Very pleased with it.



It did however reveal that the car had a small bump at some point around the passenger rear light...

Since then I have been painting it to stop it rusting. The underside was painted with POR-15 which is VERY hard, so hopefully will help protect against further rust. Got it on my hands though and it wont come off so be warned... Apparently it will come off in a few days...



Few more coats on a few more places, then I start the body restoration course so I can learn to weld etc.

[mooncat]

What was the cost of the blasting....???

cheers

[tomkidd]

To have the underbody, boot, and engine bay blasted the cost is £230 - This is done with the greatest of care as you can see from my journal photos and took 3 hours. After having this done I am so glad I didn't tackle it by hand as I wouldn't have done as good a job, and it would have taken weeks. So it really is more economical in the long run.

To then have the rest of the seams and exterior "rust" issues sorted, it will be £60 this was done in roughly an extra hour.

If you just want the exterior of the car done, i.e. along the seams, sill edges and gutters etc, it will be roughly £100. They are very careful not to go near the middle of the panels.

Obviously each mini/job is different and some may arrive in a worse state. All this is best if the car is fully stripped and the doors, boot and bonnet are removed. Primer can be applied at additional costs.

If you want to talk through a job with him, give him a ring, he is a very nice chap and is more than willing to discuss costs and individual needs. he actually has a porsche on the way, being sent by a restorer in the USA! As he has now done a mini he is more than happy to take on more.

Here is the website http://www.interblast.co.uk

Telephone number is 01995 670737