i just called a bunch over in stafford (as recommended by morphias)...and they said that the reason sandblasting on cars is often bad is that the people doing the sandblasting are using too much pressure and too coarse a grain of glass beads for the thin metal oft found on car bodies...he also told me that he has seen sandblasting applied to WOODEN furniture restoration and that the varnish can be stripped without ruining the wood underneath...which sounds incredible...should i believe this? would save alot of time if i could just get it sandblasted...

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Bling me up Scotty!
"wait till it grows into a plant...then bunny rabbit THE PLANT!"

1966 Morris Mini DeLuxe FOR SALE

You can get it blasted - but bead blasting is the go.
"Sandblasting" is a bit of a misnomer - the use of sand containing silica was banned years ago. Most use a purple coloured mineral sand called Garnet. We use Stauralite (another mineral sand product). I have even seen concrete & aluminium blasted.

Don't take it to a general sandblaster - take it to someone who specialises in cars.
Or if you are going to do it all yourself as a long term project while you learn panelbeating, might be worthwhile finding the cost of acid dipping in your area. This will strip all paint/rust/bog (but not f'glass) and passivate all internal & external steel surfaces, giving you some time delay before rust sets in again.

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Too many cars, and too little time.

really? the panel beater i called is going to come round my house sometime this week and give the car a look see...he knows a guy who he outsources his sandblasting to who does specialize in cars apparently...so it should be good...

is acid dipping fairly expensive generally? sounds like the go...in terms of removing all the un-wanted stuff...

i am a bit scared of what lies beneath the paint on this thing actually...but i guess i'll find out soon enough...

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Bling me up Scotty!
"wait till it grows into a plant...then bunny rabbit THE PLANT!"

1966 Morris Mini DeLuxe FOR SALE

I was quoted (I think) about $800 ? for the Moke.
Have heard other people were quoted about $1,800 for a mini + boot/bonnet/doors.

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Too many cars, and too little time.

geez...$1800...thats...alot...
spose i'll ask the dude who's coming by what he reckons...i would like to go with acid dipped...but not for $1800

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Bling me up Scotty!
"wait till it grows into a plant...then bunny rabbit THE PLANT!"

1966 Morris Mini DeLuxe FOR SALE

Well rubbing it all back by hand is the cheapest way,
and has the added benefit that you can become a master criminal
- because your fingerprints will take a while to grow back

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Too many cars, and too little time.

hahaha...well i am in no real hurry to get this done...as long as it doesnt take years

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Bling me up Scotty!
"wait till it grows into a plant...then bunny rabbit THE PLANT!"

1966 Morris Mini DeLuxe FOR SALE

I would have done that instead for $800 as the sandblaster here charges $280/h and takes them at least 2 hours they reckon and this new guy is supposed to be crap (warping panels )

I got mine done off the guy who left before the new guy (obviously) he charged me $100 or less cant remember for everything and he was good real cautious with cars

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67' Matic
73' S

i heard somewhere that blasting with baking soda is the way to go. And i would probably only blast the hard to get places anyway. paint strip the large areas and blast places like the floor, seams etc. places where chances of warping would be extremely low.

well...if i get the guy to do it i am going to ask for a guarantee that the job will be good and the shell wont be totally screwed once he's done...he should be able to provide that...hopefully...then he can basically do whatever he likes...as long as the result is good...although i would still be pretty pissed off if he screwed my shell up

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Bling me up Scotty!
"wait till it grows into a plant...then bunny rabbit THE PLANT!"

1966 Morris Mini DeLuxe FOR SALE

i bought a cheepie sandblasting kit on the weekend....its just a warrior one from mitre10 its cost me $25 ....havent tried it yet and i have no sand...i was just gonna get some fine paving sand from a local sand&soil place and give that a go...

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I have a problem.. apparently

cool...would love to know how it goes...

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Bling me up Scotty!
"wait till it grows into a plant...then bunny rabbit THE PLANT!"

1966 Morris Mini DeLuxe FOR SALE

ill be sure to let you know then i wont be using it on panels, but subframes and wheel arches.... and the paint is pretty hard there....so yeah hopefully ill get the sand tomorrow

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I have a problem.. apparently

i found that LOTS of degreaser and a screwdriver will get that stubborn mud grease and general crud off of the subframes, wheel arches and firewall then wirebrush and sandpaper comes up good....

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My rides-74 fj40
74 clubman hopefully rego'd soon....
and 76 clubbie van!! - Ratschite after what i found what it was covered in when i found her...
http://photobucket.com/albums/b44/minimechanic/?sc=1

Disabled, make sure you wear a good dust mask & have proper ventilation.
There was a reason they outlawed the use of sand for blasting - silicates in the lungs causes all sorts of terminal lung diseases

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Too many cars, and too little time.