Shot Blasting/Paint Stripping

[esmyth]

What started out as a quick tidy up is developing into a full rebiuld. Anyway - I've removed the bonnet,radiator and am cleaning up the chassis using wire brushes, angle grinder, blunt screw driver. However there are lots of awkward littles to reach and I want to be sure cleaning off alll the old powder coating.

I have seen a spot blasting gun (looks a bit like a spray gun) from Machine Mart along with aluminium oxidse grit that connects to a compressor. Has anyone used this, how effective ? Will paint stripper attack the old plastic coating ? Any other ideas welcome !

Thanks

[WildfireS3]

Nitromorse. It'll take anything off. Skin included. Wear gloves.

[Ralph S3]

Any particular flavour of Nitromorse?

I went to B&Q and there are at least 3

Standard Nitromorse (in a green bottle)
Mastercraftsman Nitromorse (yellow bottle)
Door stripper (can't remember the colour)

Ta

Ralph

[nicbowman]

Hi, I have just done the same, bl@@dy fiddly in there! Nitromors will not touch the powder coating, but for all other paints it is fab.

If the old powder coat is very firm, you can leave it and paint over. I would personally avoid any brittle paints such as Hammerite, they just fall off with the first stone chip. I also tried some expensive cure all American stuff, which was similarly cr@p. In the end I used underseal (which contains Waxoyl). It sprays on black and dries to a matt 'touch dry' matt, covers all sorts of crap and will not chip. It would be nice to remove all the paint and rust and re-powder coat, but that is a chassis off job, later maybe. As for the grit gun, I bought one, forget it. You need an enormous compressor, and all you get is grit in your hair!

Have fun

Nic

[esmyth]

thanks guys - Nic I have a 1.5hp compressor with a 25litre tank and about 7cfm is this any good ?

Thanks for the advice.

[z_chromozone]

I found that a wire brush attached to my grinder did the trick, the cutting disks are useless. It removed all of the loose stuff and left the solid coating (if you don't go too mad). It is possible to guage the condition of the coating using this method and only remove the bad bits. You need a powerful grinder though.

I don't know how long you will be there shot blasting, I did hear it takes some time to get the plastic off as it can be very flexible. Stripper is ok if you can clean the surface prroperly after application, you will probably need to go over it anyway to remove the rust.

Z

[NickP_S2]

5-stage treatment offered by some companies involves:

1. Remove all oil and grease from the underside of the vehicle

2. Remove all loose paint, rust and dirt with a scraper/wire brush.

3. Apply a rust prevention product solution to all rust and bare metal areas.

4. Paint all accessible chassis, wishbone and suspension components (use hamerite or other tough paint at this stage)

5. Cover the entire chassis and suspension in at least one coat of rust inhibiting underguard. Best applied with a highly pressured spray gun in a hot environment (i.e. a spray booth).

[clive f]

don`t even think about shot blasting, to start with the little diy type unit you are describing would`nt blow the skin off a rice pudding. a full industrial shot blast unit would do the job, but you would have to strip the car right down, so that nothing would be damaged by the blast beads,so best left to a professional.

[esmyth]

Thanks guys - am still pondering exactly what to do - but think the body needs to come as a minimum to get access to all the areas.

Anyway thanks for info - at least I saved some money by not buying the spot blast gun. Cheers