Greetings all,

Read tons of material on bead blasting, sand blasting, etc in the archives but failed to find any reference to quantity of material needed.

To blast an area akin to say the inside of a trunk on a first generation Camaro, how many pounds of glass beads would be needed? I know an exact answer is not possible, variances in dirt, pressure, nozzle head size etc. all enter into the equation.

But for those who have done this before, how much material / lbs were used?

To bead blast an interior trunk ?

To bead blast the under carriage?

THNX

If you can recycle the stuff, fifty to a hundred lbs will get you a long long way.

The correct amount is none.

Sandblasting is messy, hazardous to your health and can easily warp and work-harden sheet metal. You will never get all of it out of the car. Glass-beading works well on small parts such as fasteners; it is gentle enough to remove rust from intricate chromed parts. But it will not remove heavy rust or even thick paint.

If your intent is to remove paint there are two ways to go-have the car media-blasted using plastic beads or crushed walnut shells. Even this can be a problem as too much pressure will warp horizontal surfaces like roofs & hoods. I read somewhere shops that do this will no longer do horizontal surfaces.

If you need to remove paint and rust have it dipped; take the body tag off first. Dipping is expensive and a lot of work for you but the end result is better.

After over 30 years in the hobby the only parts I would sandblast are castings-being careful not to trash the casting numbers. Don't even think of sandblasting sheet metal.

I'm looking for the easiest, economic way to take surface rust off the trunk pan and the underside. I was hoping the glass bead blasting would be the "ticket."

Try to find and price out some media called "3m Starblast".
It has sand like qualities but much, much safer.

Well, I have sandblasted sheet metal, but it is a low CFM sears model, not the big commercial ones. Keep it moving, dont concentrate on one spot for long. I just use filtered play sand.

Well, I have sandblasted sheet metal, but it is a low CFM sears model, not the big commercial ones. Keep it moving, dont concentrate on one spot for long. I just use filtered play sand.
lol... I got one o them baby blasters too, things a beetch to use. I use a product called "black magic" Menards sells it in 50 lb bags. I only use it where I have to get out rust that I can't get out any other way. A few nooks and cranny's in the trunk and undercarriage. A lot of work on some inner fenders that maybe shoulda been thrown away. Just a touch on the lower front corners of one front fender, and in and around the rear bracing in both front fenders.

For most rust and paint removal, 3M stripping wheels works real good, and don't hurt the metal.

Ive had cars blasted with "black magic" media before, with the heavy duty industrial blasters. But... the guy knows what he's doing and has been doing it for a long time.

When I asked him if he could blast the car without warping the metal, he looked at me like I had just insulted his mother :eek: Of course that is a rare example. Ive seen blasting-warped sheetmetal, and its not a pretty sight :no:

I use glass bead in a cabinet for most all of the small parts. Just crank the pressure and it will remove paint and rust with no problem. :thumbsup:

I use white silica sand and have gone through over 500 pounds already blasting the tub. I do recycle it by sweeping it up and sifting it through 2 layers of window screen. After 2 times through the blaster it is too dusty and dull to reuse. My buddy is telling me to use fine Black Beauty, less of a health hazard. I wear a good resperator and a hood when I blast but a forced air supplied would be much better especially with sand. I just recently bought sand and the price has gone up and the new brand is too fine in my opinion. I do not recomend any kind of blasting (media or sand) if the car is not completely disassembled, I don't think you could come close to getting it all out of an assembled car.
Jeff

I would not recommend having the car dipped. I have a car that was dipped and then e-coated but you still get stuff leaching out between panel overlaps. A friend had his last car blasted and then while it was still on rotissere it had a paint shaker attached to the rotissere....shake.....rotate.....shake....rotate. .. Car is finished and there have been no signs of any media showing up on carpet etc.

The way I look at it is Chip Foose has his stuff blasted,,,Boyd has his stuff blasted,,CCR has their stuff blasted.....

The Mix I swear by is Poly 20/30,,100 pounds with Walnut Shells 100 pounds @ 80/20 mix Poly/Walnut.

Great mix to remove paint and strip bondo. Also a major reduction in heat transfer under blast. The down side is at $100 for 50 pound of Poly. Total cost for 200 pounds of media is $279.96 from the Eastwood company. I get discount coupons almost every day and I wait till I get the 25% off before I buy. Like Jim said if you recycle the stuff it will go along way.

P.S. I run all of this through a 20 gal pressure blaster using a 13.2 cfm compressor.

I would not recommend having the car dipped. I have a car that was dipped and then e-coated but you still get stuff leaching out between panel overlaps.

Interesting point, Chuck.

Like soda blasting, there are some paint mfgs that won't warranty the paint on cars that have been dipped prior to paint.

Plus, you have to remove the aluminum trim tag, which r&r of one will usually draw question.