My friend and I are currently sandblasting the rust out of the engine bay of his 65 GT stang, and I was wondering if its possible to sandlast aluminum, formula wheels, in particular? Will it tear the aluminum up? Is there any softer media a normal sandblaster will shoot that would be better? The reason I ask is because I have a set of Formula wheels that need the clearcoat taken off, and paint stripper takes a long time (I have done 1).

 

I didn't use sand on this but it was some other finer material. Also did my intake that had been polished before but now has the same sort of frosted look. Sand would work but it'll leave the rim with a rough texture kinda like warn out 220 grit sand paper. What are your plans for the rims? Polishing or painting them again?

 

Your best bet is to use glass beads on aluminum. Sand is a little coarse for aluminum, if you want it to look good that is.

 

try plastic bead media... its not so much as abrasive as sand or glass

 

I have a blaster in my garage and for aluminum i use plastic media. I sandblasted a set of 70's firebird rims to put my slicks on and in addition to stripping the paint it took some of the worst surface crud off of the rims so i could polish them easier. Sand is too rough for a surface like that.

 

I am not sure whether I will polish them or simply repaint them. I have alot of free time on my hands lately, so I will probably polish them. I don't mind if it leaves the aluminum scratched up a little, jut not pitted or uneven. Where can you buy glass beads or plastic media? Also, will a normal sandblast gun shoot glass beads or plastic? Im fairly new to sandblasting, my friend and I are kinda getting a crash course in it on his new 65 mustang GT. It has alot of surface rust in the engine bay which we are in the process of sandblasting out. One thing we have found out is that instead of buying expensive sand for blasting, you can get a $2.48 bag of play sand from Home Depot, a ten dollar window screen, and a bucket, and sift your own sand. Plus, with the sive (err, window screen :P ), you can sweep all the sand on the ground into a pile, and sift it back into a bucket. We've been using the same sand for 3 days now :P

 

I buy all my media from Eastwood company and yes a sandblaster should shoot any type of media you want. Sand is just a little rough on softer surfaces like aluminum.