Media Blast

I am in the beginning stage of the restoration of my  1950 Ford Truck. I have all of my modifications to the dash and body done that I plan on making and now I am looking at starting the body work and painting.
I would like to media blast the body and frame to start fresh with everything and have a good idea what I have under the old paint. I know it would save me a lot of time with a sander but I have been told it could damage the body panels if it is not done correctly. I have done some research but every shop has it’s preference on what media is best.
Is it worth the cost to do the blasting and does anyone that has used media blasting have any suggestions on the type of media to get the best result without damaging the body.

Thanks  

Hi there,
I have been researching this myself and this is what I have been told by pro's, internet and friends;
A: "If you want to do a proper job and address everything, do the media blast."
B: "If you don't want to know whats under there, don't do it. Outta sight, outta mind".
C: "It is important to find a media blast place through reference."
D: "Walnut and glass beads are the best for blasting."

Not sure if this helps, just thought I'd share what I have learnt/heard.

Cheers.  

Hi txbubba: When I blast the parts I work on I find that most media is to course to blast the panels,but I use crushed glass in one cabnet and glass beads in the other and field sand in the portable,The crushed glass works great the beads are the best but pricey if you can't salvage it and reuse about five times. The fine field sand seems to work the best for me on the older metal but the thin stuff you have to be carfull.Course grit is good for frames and heavy rust.Not sure what grit the field sand is that i get from the back yard but it is slow on some rust but great finish.The great thing about blasting is the job is clean and nice to weld with very little smoke.I blast every piece of metal on the vehicle and know it is good.Glass bead dosn't remove and material even on brass or copper. I have wore out two blasters and replacing all valves and fittings on mine right now so it is not cheap but is a must. have fun,get a good helmet and don't breath the dust.  

Thanks for all the info.  I have used Walnut and glass beads before on small projects and even stripping paint off of wood. It works well. To do it myself I will need to get a bigger volume tank. It takes low pressure and my compressor can handle that but my tank could not keep up with the constant supply of air.

Thanks
Txbubba  

Hi txbubba: I have wanted to try wallnut shells but not readily available in manitoba Can. so i havn't been able to try them. They must be ground up fine to put through a blaster and what kind of finish do you get,it must be gental if you can use them on wood.What kind of drive train are you insalling in your 50 Ford? I am hoping to get started on one mid Dec. if I can finish the 55 chev I am working on now.If you are looking at a comp a 18 cfm 60 gal tank makes a good shop comp and will handle the blaster for a hour or two at a time if you can cool it.I use a 38cfm 80 gal and a 60 gal tank from my old comp it keeps up longer than i can but i put a extra fan on it just to make sure.  

I just received Summit Racing's tool catalog and they actually have a kit for DIY-ers. They also have a graph telling you what type of media is good for what type of part you want to blast. Pretty informative. I tried to find it on their website but couldn't.  

Thank you for the info on summit racing. I will check into that. The company I use has several sizes of the walnut shells depending what type of finish you are look for.
I have a 351 Cleveland with a C4 transmission pushing a  9” rear end but I have not checked to see what the gears are in the rear end yet.  Before we pulled the motor out of our Torino it was producing 400+ HP. I don’t need that for HP for this truck but it is setup well with a cam that still lets it idles well for city driving. I will just have to keep my foot off the gas!!!


Thanks
TXBubba