Hey guys, quickie here - I've got a set of '88 Iron V6 heads, fully disassembled - can I just sandblast these with a fine sand? Now, I also have a set of '96 aluminum V6 heads - now, for the aluminum heads, would I be better off using a plastic media blast, or can I just use a fine sand again?

I would sand blast mine own Iron heads.
I would try and stay away form the valve guides and valve seats. I would go after the scale in the water jacket so you can get better cooling when you put them back on. clean them off good so you can find any cracks that might be there.
You will have to wash them before you put them back together.
I would not and blast Al heads.

I wanted to sand blast my cast iron V6 heads, but the sand blaster at work had huge course grit sand in it and it sucks for every thing.
It did work good on my turbo charger torus.
I sand blasted my aluminium intake when we got fine sand and it looks good.
By then my heads were done.

Most any machine shop will have an iron bead blaster...just stick'em in and pull'em out, and they look brand new.

You can use sand on Al, no issues....take a major blaster to hurt Al...most likely not the one you have in your gararge...now if you happen to be getting a 200cfm compressor and blaster to get real busy, you may want to take note of what yuo're doing...although you'd reallyb have to try to hurt something with a big unit.

Assume you have a siphon blaster oor blast cabinet? If so, no issues with sand or any other media.

BTW, blasting won't hurt the seats...may discolor them, but lapping or a valve job will put it all behind you

good luck getting the sand out of them when you're done

160psi will blow them out real good.

No more difficult than getting metal out after porting them

lol, sounds good!

sorry for the stupid question but where is the best place to buy fine sand...i went to homo depot and the only thing i could find is play sand, but it clumps up to much and there are rocks that get clogged in my lines...can i get some from an autobody shop? and would they sell me some bags?

I think TSC (Tractor Supply Company) sells it. Try any other hardware store also.

I get the silica sand from my local autoparts store.

My favorite is the aluminum oxide in varying grits. Harbor Freight or Northern Tool is here I get mine.

Your best bet is actually using Glass bead not sand. Check out this website. You can buy from them and the shipping is surprisingly cheap.

http://www.consolidatedstripping.com/pages/1/index.htm

Unless you have a blasting cabinet, I'd suggest only using sand...found at any lumber yard...about 3 bucks a bag.

The silica sand is glass beads i'm sure and you don't need a booth to do it. We do it all the time at my place.

I was more referring to oxides, etc...more expensive media's...should be used in a cabinet to avoid loss.

I have fashioned up those cheap blue tarps to recover it, but it's a pain, IMO, and you have to sift it before using it again.

Ya i agree. Its not that hard to sift it thou for the amount of money saved over a containment for the more expensive mediums.

j

Ummm...hmmm... why hasn't anybody told him not to sandblast the head sealing surface? Okay, I will.
You can do it on iron but I'd stay away from the aluminum.
The beed blasters and sand blasters i've used (all 3 kinds) all had enough power to pit aluminum. It doesn't take much, just use a brillo pad and hot water and soap to get most of it clean.
The blasters are best for taking off lots of rust, paint removal, light scuffing for primer, and welding surface prep. I wouldn't use it to clean a part.
How bad are your heads that you want to use a blaster?