I am getting my 82 Firebird ready for a complete respray. The car has had a lot of crap spray job done on it over its troubled past. I brought it to a couple of spray shops before finding one I liked. There are 9 or 10 rust spots on the car, around wheel arches, channel around deck led etc. I am told that the best thing to do with them is to sand blast them with a small blaster to get ride of all the rust. The hood, paint wise is bad with some deep crapes and three small rust spots (size of a quater). Could I get the hood fully sand blasted too or would that distroy it?. I am thinking about painting both side of it.

Gerry,
82 Firebid s/e
Location: Ireland.

 

Don't sandblast good body parts if you want them to stay good. Will end up warped. Concentrated sandblasting on small rust areas may be OK, not done it before. Would rather just sand it down, or if bad enough, cut out and replace the affected area to eliminate the rust.

 

I agree with wilyk9 completely. Sand blasting seems harsh for surfaces not needing the rust removale. If the rust is too deep the sand might actually rip that area apart. If it's that deep the affected areas must be repalced.

 

The rusted spots are not that deep, mostly surface rust. I have brought the car to a lot of body shops, some of them said to sand blast the hood. From what you guys are saying the best thing is to just sand it down. I have to replace the doors on the car as the old ones are beyond repair. The car is black and that is the color it is staying. I have one black and one red replacement door. I was advised to get the red door sand blasted also as it has some rust and if I spray black over red then any paint chips will show in red and be more noticeable than undercoat. What do you think of that?.

Thanks

 

A spot blast gun would be fine for small areas but like has been said, doing large areas may cause warpage.Consider using a rust removing product containing phosphoric acid,may take a little while but works very effectively.

 

You can successfully sandbast a car without warping panels if you use the right media. aluminum oxide is the recommended one. The aluminum absorbs the heat, rather than the body panels. I've also heard that basic corn meal is soft enough that it won't warp the panels. If this is a reputable body shop you're going to, they'll know what they're doing and they can answer your questions.

Mathius

 

Plastic media is also supposed to be good for removal of paint and scum, but it wont work very well on the rust.

I am about to sandblast my car, but I will be doing the engine bay, doorjambs and other areas that wont warp. It's best to stay off the large panels in finished surface areas with sand media.