Media blasting advice., Full tub: cost and prep Options

[Series9]

For the guys who have blasted a full tub:

How much?
How long?
How much undercoating has to be removed before hand to get an effective strip?

I'm starting to think the TurtleGirl project should go this way.

[Jeroen]

you need to remove ALL the undercoating and seem sealer by hand (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/sad.gif)

[Series9]

QUOTE (Jeroen @ May 22 2005, 04:49 PM)

you need to remove ALL the undercoating and seem sealer by hand (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/sad.gif)

I don't want the seem sealer out, so it's OK.

I think we're talking about a week of solid work to remove the undercoating. That sucks. Are there no methods to make this job easier?

[ben1440]

what was your method for the RS?

[Series9]

QUOTE (ben1440 @ May 22 2005, 04:56 PM)

what was your method for the RS?

Non-acid dip. The facility is in Fort Worth and is not in the budget for this one.

[scotty914]

i would bet good old fashoned sand would take out under coating. if it is old and flaky how about a whire wheel on a grinder

[william harris]

I had no problem scaping the bottom of my car and wheels wells with a paint scraper. In a few spots I used a wire wheel on a drill where the crap was real, real thick. Of course, my tub was on a rotissiere, and this makes the work easy. However, it really isn't necessary. My media blaster used baking soda most every where, but they can use "black beauty" to remove almost anything. The media blasting took three days and cost $1,000. IMHO media blasting is the only way to go. I recommend using a facility that can shot a vinc rich primer (Dupont Viraprime) to prime immediately after blasting - otherwise the bare metal will flash rust in days. (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/ar15.gif)

[william harris]

Forgot to post this.

[db9146]

William Harris, when you has yours blasted, did you have to remove the wiring harness?

[william harris]

I suppose you could do it with the harness in place, but I strongly recommend against it. I know it is a pain in the ass, but I removed mine. Pull everything from the engine compartment forward into the car. After you have it inside, and remove the harness from the logic relay panel under the passenger seat, you then pull everything from the front into the interior. Disconnect the fuse box and then pull the rear harness under the last piece of the transmission tunnel and the whole harness is out of the car. I labeled every branch and connection as I disconnected, took over 700 digital pictures and just take it slow and easy. It is real easy to scrap wires if you get in a hurry. Use lots and lots of silcone spray to pull the harness into the car from the engine compartment. I had removed everything (and I do mean everything - shift rod, fuel lines, etc.) from the car and removed the wiring harness last. This frees up some room in the tight quarters and remove a branch at a time thru the rear firewall. This may not make much sense now, but when you are doing it you will see what I mean. Look at the pictures in my most recent restoration thread and you will see me putting the wiring harness back into the car. (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/smash.gif) Took about a week to have everything pulled in and wired up.

[Carrera916]

That's a real nice color of blue....

paint code???

thanks

[william harris]

This is Lapis Blue Metallic as found on 2003 and up Boxsters and 997s.

[jonwatts]

Commence drool (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/drooley.gif)

My wheel wells had a lot of (what seemed like) weld splatter. Enough to make stripping the PO-applied undercoating a pain. Wire wheel on a drill would probably work better.

[Brett W]

Forget the little hand drill and wire brush, that will take for ever. Get a 4.5 inch side grinder and a knotted wire wheel. This will remove seam sealer and undercoat better than anything. It will however make a huge mess around the car so you should do this outside.

[jonwatts]

I thought that going too hard-core like your talking about with the knotted wire wheel and angle grinder could actually damage the metal (you can cut grooves in sheet metal with a wire wheel). Plus they make more noise than a drill if that needs to be considered.

[Gint]

QUOTE (jonwatts @ May 23 2005, 08:33 AM)

I thought that going too hard-core like your talking about with the knotted wire wheel and angle grinder could actually damage the metal (you can cut grooves in sheet metal with a wire wheel). Plus they make more noise than a drill if that needs to be considered.

None of the areas that have seam sealer are going to be polished anyway, so I don't see where it makes much difference. You'll never get anywhere with a drill and small wire wheel.

[David_S]

When I stripped mine, it only took me a full day. I had my kids and some of their friends scrape the undercoating out of the wheel wells. I was replacing the floor pans, so didn't have to worry too much about the tar on the pans. I wend to the local concrete place and got a yard of "finish sand" because it is finer (less chance of metal warpage) and definitely cheaper! Only bad thing about sand blasting is that it seems like you can never get all of the sand out. If I can help, lemme know. I still have the rotisserie I made to put mine on, and I have access to a sandblaster. One good full day and it could be done!

[markb]

Talk to SirAndy about sandblasting. (IMG:http://www.914world.com/bbs2/html/emoticons/wink.gif)

[sharper]

I used a heat gun on the under coating and could scrape it off in sheets that way. It also seems to help get the seam sealer out too.

[Series9]

We got a quote today to finish stripping the chassis: $400 and a two day turn around.

Done (once we finish stripping the undercoating).