Does anyone know a good san blaster capable of blasting a splitty without buckling panels etc in Brisbane area (experienced in car work not structural steel)
And can anyone advise expected costs for this work
Thanks

if your going to blast the car / Kombi I would go over it with a large screw driver first of all and stab the rust to make sure it is rust right through and surface thats bubble or dont look good

then get only the rust and surrounding areas blasted

It does not matter if you buckel this through blasting as it will have to be weld repaired anywayl

for all the other panels i would use paint striper after the blasting is done

by doing this method you will reduce the blasting costs and it will clean the area up ready for the panel beater


make sure you spend some time going with the screw driver and you have removed all the doors and trim and windows etc etc

I just blasted the bottom 6 inches including the floor inside and out.Not sure i would do it again as i cant get all the illminite out of the nooks and crannys.

Next time I will blast a car I would strip the large flat panels by hand (sanding discs/stripper etc), then deliver it to get soda blasted. There is a guy at Yatala but I think he just sold his business so before the next bloke takes over, you may need to contact another operator who I think works from the sunny coast. If you check http://www.sodablast.com.au  you should be able to click onto the "local sodablaster" link to get in touch with someone. The bloke from the sunny coast is mobile and can do it whereever, but you need space etc for him to do it.

obviously do your research first as to which media you'd like to be used on your bus, but having my ragtop beetle doors warped by a sandblaster who "was highly experienced in automotive work" and guaranteed it wouldn't warp.....I will be using soda most likely in the future. Only downside is it doesn't get rid of rust, so I think a combo of both would work (for my situation).
Al

I have a guy who can do bolt on panels and small stuff. His booth is 1500 x 1500 mm and he uses a water / compound mix. The benifit of this is that there is no heat transfer during the process and he can do greasy parts as well in the same process.

Sand blasting is very risky. If a full on resto on a rare or collectable, I would only use full acid dip. Kombi about $2k + transport, not cheap but a blaster can wreck your car for about $1.5k !

Are any of the smaller portable one's OK for doing bits and pieces like rims? There are a few on the market like Repco and Snapon for around the $400 mark, have they the capacity for doing resonable size jobs?

The small ones are okay for tiny little jobs - anything the size of say a front beam will take ages. Having a compressor up to the task is important as well, and factor in going through nozzles and the media you use. Very handy for little jobs I must admit - just have somewhere you can make a big mess

There seems to be negatives associated with all these processes.

I've heard of major issues with soda blasting - with it causing rust - I believe there were court cases in the US

Acid dipping - gets into the panel joins - can't be neutralised in there - more rust.

Blasting - warping.

dipping is very reliable these days as they use upto 4 different baths all with diferent solutions, but these blokes charge like there is no tomorrow will try and find the blokes name in melberg and post it for all

Fix all your obvious rust first - bare metal tends to rust and/or need protection so why not leave the factory paint on there for another year or two while you fix rust? Then look at media/walnut/plastic blasting NOT sand/lead or other harsh abrasives

Dipping: some people swear by it but it is difficult to rectify/replace OE rust protection in the places you can't see, which is 2/3 to 3/4 of the bodyshell