Media blasting die cast & fiberglass

[eclecticdriver]

Decided to media blast my car myself. What media should/could I use for the die cast headlight components & fiberglass interior pieces? Considered Eastwood's dual blaster (soda & sand) but figured to go just abrasive to leave more $$$ to upgrade my air filtration (more copper piping & better filter). Thanks in advance for all your input!

 

[Horseplay]

Have no idea of your experience, situation or how your garage is equipped but I ALWAYS recommend to hire this part out. You need a huge amount of air for this process...much more than almost any home type compressor can deliver. Otherwise you end up spending a large amount of time to complete the task. If you need to purchase equipment, anything up to the task starts to add up to the bill of farming it out.

Even if all that doesn't scare you off, the mess should. You end up with media EVERYWHERE. FOREVER.

If you do intend to proceed do not use a blaster on the fiberglass. You will damage the panels. Use a chemical stripper. A lot of people use Easy Off oven cleaner with great results.

 

[cmayna]

+1 Do not blast the interior panels. You will lose all the texture if you do. As agreed with the above, use a chemical stripper.

 

[eclecticdriver]

Chemical strip sound good & I may try the Easy Off. As for the rest, I was planning on investing in a blaster anyway and plan to do my own paint so the air filtration was inevitable anyway. I looked seriously in having it done. Factoring transport, and the fact the blaster said he prefer that I clean up as much as possible before hand, i.e the extra coats of paint on top of the factory job as well as the undercoating, I figure I could give it a shot myself.

 

[Horseplay]

I'm all about doing things yourself. The only thing I hired out on mine was the media blasting. Simply more cost and time effective to go this route as opposed to doing it myself. You'll spend as much and more on your own between the equipment, material and your time. The mess should not be overlooked. It is a big deal when every single square inch of your garage and everything in it is covered in "dust".

Curious, what was the range of cost quoted to you by the pros? I had my whole car, all the panels, all the bits and pieces done for under $2k. That figure included a little bit of welding work on a patch and shooting the epoxy primer as well. That is in the Chicago area where I expect the prices to be above average. It was also a few years ago before the recession hit. I figure tougher times might have helped bring costs down today.

 

[lethal289]

It's over three years since I blasted my car in my garage. I found abrasive yesterday and I cleaned the place very well when completed. I also tented the car In to keep it contained. That is one job I'll never do again myself. The weeks spent would have been better on something else. It really is a never ending task unless you have large enough equipment to handle it.

 

[Midlife]

You have to use Easy Off Oven Cleaner, HD with lye as an ingredient; no other oven cleaner will work.

Do NOT use aircraft stripper, as it will damage the fiberglass as well.

 

[eclecticdriver]

"Curious, what was the range of cost quoted to you by the pros? I had my whole car, all the panels, all the bits and pieces done for under $2k"

I'm the NY tri-state area and was also getting quotes in the $2k range but that did not include priming and smaller pieces. Also, because of an additional layer of paint over factory, he anticipated it to be higher. I was also concerned because some of the places also hang the cars from a hoist instead of putting on a rotisserie. With my "swiss cheese" floors and the upper cowl and dash out, I'm afraid of it twisting.

Midlife, thanks for the aircraft stripper heads up! Almost tried a test panel but now will look for the right Easy Off.

 

[GTchris]

That sounds really high for the blasting. Originally I was going to have my car blasted IIRC I was quoted $700.00

That was like 2 years ago.