blasting a tub : sand, steel, plastic, soda?

[amc78cj7]

We picked up a bronco and intend to refinish the body. It is titled as a '68, but obviously there is no garantee that the body is still original as axles, etc. have been changed out already.

What media would you use to strip it down to steel. The intent is to get rid of the bondo and reveal the cancer so we can weld in patches as necessary. Local sandblast shops I've talked to on the phone have concerns that sand or steel media will leave waves in post-'69 thinner auto sheet metal. What experience have you had and what do you recommend for this project?

Here are the pics of the bronco from last month when we bought it.

http://www.greatlakes4x4.com/showthread.php?t=114768

 

[needabronco]

Soda won't remove the bondo most likely. If the media blaster knows what they're doing sand on anything pre-80 should be ok. You could try a finer sand or plastic media. The shop should know what to use, and THEY should be the ones suggesting the proper substrate to you.

I'd shop around, they don't sound like they want too much business... I do know there is a soda guy there, but I can't remember his name... Good luck.

 

[trailpsycho]

The shop I used ran different media depending on the panel. Most of the tub, doors, grill, dash and such were done with alumina, I believe, and the hood, outer face of doors, fenders were done with soda. Everything turned out sweet. If a shop doesnt know whats best to use for which panel when they see it, find a new shop.

 

[amc78cj7]

Soda won't remove the bondo most likely. If the media blaster knows what they're doing sand on anything pre-80 should be ok. You could try a finer sand or plastic media. The shop should know what to use, and THEY should be the ones suggesting the proper substrate to you.

I'd shop around, they don't sound like they want too much business... I do know there is a soda guy there, but I can't remember his name... Good luck.

The soda blaster in St. Louis is Miller's Soda Blasting. There is a shop called Blastco that will use plastic, but they charge about 3x more money for the job. A local shop will do sand at a reasonable rate but they say they have had issues with hood on a Bronco II turning out with waves like the ocean. That is why I'd like some testimonies to use of sand with an Early bronco tub.

Thanks.

 

[needabronco]

Theres a big difference in the steel in a bronco and a BII! You could always have it soda blasted, then buy a cheap harbor fright blaster and use sand on the bondo or cancer rust. Soda won't get out bad rust, but you should r&r that anyway, it will cure light to moderate rust. As far a body filler it won't get the big stuff, especially if it was done right. There has to be a shop that can do more than one type of media there.

 

[rocbronc]

I used coal slag on my 68 bronco. It looks like black sand but the finish it leaves is very smooth and does a really nice job getting bondo and rust down to the good metal if theres anything left to work with. Just a thought about the Soda Blasting it great. But if you dont get every little bit of soda out of the body or the doors when the bronco is done. When your washing it soda will be coming out everywhere. Just a thought.

 

[allenfahey]

Why not soda blast it, then for the body filler use a grinding disk with 40 grit?

 

[needabronco]

cocbronc, one of soda's advantages is that it is water soluble. When you wash it all out you can actually get it all out. Sand is what you chase for a very long time to get out of all the nooks and cranny's