Blasting, sand? soda? glass media?

[DKC]

I am ready to start dis-assembling my 66 for restoration. It is in unaltered original condition , nearly rust free, and is wearing only it's original coat of paint. I am thinking to remove the bed, fenders and hood, and all trim. I may or may not remove the cab from the chassis, and currently hope to not remove the glass from the cab as the cab interior is very good including a padded dash in excellent condition. I've been trying to learn about the different methods of paint removal. What has been your experience? Thanks

[bruceandersson]

I've tried most except soda blasting. Don't use sand if you are going to leave glass and mechanics in place. I've recently been using paint removal surface conditioning discs like: http://www.ebay.com/itm/231594153698?_t ... EBIDX%3AIT
These are for my 7" grinder and you need a base pad, which I got from eastwood. These raise a lot of dust, but leave a nice clean surface. They are best for outer panels, not the underside or panel edges. It takes about an hour to strip a hood with these.
If you are going to do the door jambs, then blasting is good, but my first comment applies. Blasting is also good if you have surface rust.
With sand blasting you have to be careful of using too much pressure and warping the metal. You also need a very strong compressor (my 80 gal 6 hp does not keep up) and a pressure blasting unit. You will waste your time with a siphon unit. I keep the pressure at 80 lbs to avoid warpage.
Chemical stripping can work well, but you have to avoid any seam or crack where it can penetrate. Otherwise it will come back out and haunt you.

[DKC]

Went to a local shop today that builds trailers and truck beds. They also do sand blasting. They said they would be happy to do "hard items" such as chassis and wheels, but like others have advised me, they were afraid that sand blasting body parts would do damage such as warping. There are some businesses here in south and/or central Ohio that do soda blasting. I will do a little research and try to visit them.
I am also wondering if having body parts dipped might leave chemical in the seams that could harm paint later.

[Blackwaterforge]

These old trucks have a thick hide.
If you don't stop in one place or use to much pressure you can media blast.
I use Black Diamond (coal dust) from tractor supply.
Media blasting leaves the metal roughened and it holds primer very well.
My Dad sandblasted some lettering off of an aluminum truck bed.
The heat raised the metal in the blasted area and after painting you could see a shadow of the letters.
I have not had any issues with steel.

[jamesdfo]

Here's the readers digest version of soda blasting, do some further recon for the rest of the story....

Soda will remove paint, but not rust, and requires you to WASH the panels with soapy water & rinse before applying any product over them....

AND, many of the paint companies will not warranty pain applied over panels that have been soda blasted

[unibody madness]

I once saw an attachment that uses media and your pressure washer, although a bit slower it would keep the metal cool and avoid warping. I finally pulled the trigger on a blasting cabinet and am looking for a good source of glass beads if anyone has suggestions.

[LM14]

I have been getting a lot of parts blasted with plastic media. Media blasting will remove paint but not damage glass or chrome. It will remove very light rust but just cleans p pitted rust so it looks better but doesn't remove it.

Plan on about $1500-2000 for a complete body.

It leaves the surface so smooth you must rough it up o get paint to stick. I use a DA on bog surfaces and scotch brite on shaped areas.

I would highly recommend plastic media blasting over anything else on sheetmetal. Sand or the black grit for rust and heavy things like frames.

I was headed towards soda until I found media blaster that used plastic. Works much better all the way around.

SPark