Thread: Sandblasting
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Old 10th Nov 2017, 11:34 pm   #3
1100 man
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Join Date: Apr 2016
Location: Ventnor, Isle of Wight, & Great Dunmow, Essex, UK.
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Default Re: Sandblasting

Hi,
Be very, very,very,very careful before entrusting something like this to any commercial sandblasting company!!
I have been involved for many years with the restoration of Austin/ Morris 1100's (well somebody has to!). We have our own blasting set- up using much finer media than most companies and I would consider that we are very experienced at blasting body panels. Basically, we don't!! We will blast round the edges and rigid areas but any flat areas such as say a door skin, bonnet etc we will avoid at all costs.
The force of the media hitting the metal causes very localised heating which causes distortion.
Without exception, 100% of panel work I have seen that has been blasted by commercial companies has been utterly ruined. It often looks OK with a coat of matt primer- its only when the body work guy who has to fill and paint it takes over that the distortion becomes apparent.
They will all assure you that they can blast without distortion but they can't!!!
Surface rust on flat areas we will sand with a random orbit sander and then treat with rust converters and panel prep chemicals.
I would investigate having it chemically 'stripped' as this won't cause distortion.
Hope that helps
All the best
Nick
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