sweeney : Got my cab back from sandblasting

Got my cab back from sandblasting
Post by sweeney on Oct 17, 2006, 5:43pm

A week or two ago I took my cab to a metal fab/ sandblasting shop, and talked to the owner about blasting and priming my cab. The cab was solid, had primer on it, but had a decent amount of surface rust from sitting outside. So talking to the owner of the bussiness he had quotes me $250 to blast and prime the underside of the cab, the firewall, and rusty spots elsewhere on the cab, or $350 to blast and prime the whole cab. At that point I told him to go with the $250 option. Inbetween then and when I dropped the cab off yesterday I changed my mind and decided to have the whole thing blasted. So yesterday when I dropped the cab off I told the person working in the office that me and the owner had discussed two options and that I had told him I wanted to go the cheaper route, but that I had changed my mind and now I wanted the whole thing blasted and primed. So this guys writes all this on the work order, helps me unload my trailer and I leave. This afternoon I go to pick the cab up, and its about half bare metal half red primer(this is the primer that had already been on the cab), with sand all over it. I asked the owner what the deal was, he said he was never told I wanted the whole cab blasted and then he says that we never discussed priming. This place has a good reputation, and this guy is the owner, and he insists it was his understanding that they were not going to prime the cab. So now I have a cab thats half bare metal, and they want $250 from me. He then goes on to say that if I want they will take the whole cab down to bare metal for another $100, and prime it for $250 more. So what I thought I was going to get for $350 will now cost me $600. I was really ed so I took the cab and left, and luckily my parents were nice enough to let me store it inside at their bussiness. The guy keeps saying sorry for the misunderstanding but thats a prety big misunderstanding the way I see it. His company messed up in a couple ways, and he does nothing to make it right. This guy is less than a quarter mile from my parents bussiness where I work on my trucks, and they have given him bussiness before. You think with all this plus the fact I still have a bed and some other parts needing to be blasted this guy would do something to fix this situation. From now on I guess I'll have to take all my stuff elsewhere, which is too bad cause this guy is literally 1/4 mile away and the next closet place is about an hour.

Re: Got my cab back from sandblasting
Post by socal715 on Oct 17, 2006, 5:49pm

That sucks dude... on the next "quote" get it in writing bro! I feel for ya.

Re: Got my cab back from sandblasting
Post by hetzer on Oct 17, 2006, 7:48pm

For reference, I paid $375 to blast and prime the whole cab. Just red oxide primer, nothing fancy.

Re: Got my cab back from sandblasting
Post by sweeney on Oct 17, 2006, 8:20pm

Yeah its just annoying to expect one thing and get another. Tommorow I'm going to paint the underside and firewall with Zero Rust I already used it on my frame and inner fenders and it came out pretty nice. Going to call a body shop in the morning to see about getting the rest of the cab primed before it rusts up. There are a couple small dents on the cab that could use some bondo, should I wait until the cab is primed before using the bondo or is it ok to put it on the bare metal?

Re: Got my cab back from sandblasting
Post by fisherman on Oct 17, 2006, 8:35pm

Bondo works and sticks better to rough sanded bare metal. If your worried about rust get the cab in primer. When you have time to do the bondo, sand off the primer in the area that needs bondo with like 80 grit sandpaper. Do your bondo work, when finished re prime. I do at least 2 coats of primer over bondo sometimes 4 or 5, and a good sealer before paint.

Re: Got my cab back from sandblasting
Post by vrod02 on Oct 17, 2006, 9:17pm

Go buy a gallon of Bix industrial stripper, 20 bucks.Let it sit for 30 min then powerwash. prep rust areas with rusty metal primer, great stuff and bondo sticks BETTER than bare metal.

Re: Got my cab back from sandblasting
Post by robertcowan on Oct 20, 2006, 9:17pm

PUT WATER ON BARE METAL ???????? ANYHOW YOU ASKED FOR THIS MISSUNDERSTAND IN MY O2. ALWAYS GET IT IN WRITEING............... WHY DONT YOU APINT IT YOURSELF ???? A 45.00 HVLP GUN FROM HARBOR FREIGHT AND A GALLON OF RED OXIDE FROM RAPCO 28.00 PLUS S&H THEN YOU HAVE IT FOR THE REST OF THE TRUCK. ALWAYS COMPLETELY BLAST THE ENTIRE PIECE OR THE TEXTURES WILL BE DIFFERENT.........

Re: Got my cab back from sandblasting
Post by rip68 on Oct 24, 2006, 5:11pm

I just called a guy (The Only One In The Phone Book!) listed under sandblasting & he gave me an unseen estimate for blasting my bed & rolling chasis between $500 - $700. He stated the materials cost between $200 - $300. Also he said that he could bring his equipment and blast the truck at whatever shop I have it at (because I am still trying to locate a place to rent to do the work at). I thought this price sounded fair. What do you guys think?

Re: Got my cab back from sandblasting
Post by pistolnut on Oct 24, 2006, 11:15pm


Quote: <TABLE class=bordercolor cellSpacing=1 width="90%"><TBODY><TR><TD width="100%"><TABLE class=quote cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=2 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD width="100%">I just called a guy (The Only One In The Phone Book!) listed under sandblasting & he gave me an unseen estimate for blasting my bed & rolling chasis between $500 - $700. He stated the materials cost between $200 - $300. Also he said that he could bring his equipment and blast the truck at whatever shop I have it at (because I am still trying to locate a place to rent to do the work at). I thought this price sounded fair. What do you guys think? </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

Take it to his place to get it blasted. Unless you are doing it out in a pasture somewhere, you will never get all the sand and mess cleaned up. Mobile sandblasting is good for large, permanent equipment, but on this type of thing take it their shop and save yourself a bunch of mess.

Re: Got my cab back from sandblasting
Post by jeepistdougiowa on Oct 24, 2006, 11:25pm

I did a couple in the gravel in my drive...one rain and you couldn't tell anything had ever happened. Inside a building would be a nightmare to clean!

Re: Got my cab back from sandblasting
Post by vrod02 on Oct 24, 2006, 11:36pm

They recycle dude!

Re: Got my cab back from sandblasting
Post by jeepistdougiowa on Oct 24, 2006, 11:44pm

Ture, but not worth the hassle to me when I only do an average of one truck every few years...I'll pay the extra cost so I don't have to trip over it in the shop...have enough Jeep parts laying around for that task-lol

Re: Got my cab back from sandblasting
Post by rip68 on Oct 25, 2006, 9:58am

Thanks for the feedback guys,... but how about the price? Am I getting close to the retail price to buy the sandblaster?

Re: Got my cab back from sandblasting
Post by snuffy on Oct 25, 2006, 4:52pm

Do you have a decent size air compressor??

A guy that owns a surplus shop in Woodstock, Ga. was doing a 715 and a 725 with a 'small pot' (around 50 lb) unit. Don't know the time involved, but he did a good job. Problem is with the media used - you don't want to breath in silica or coal. Need a hood or respirator to use these.

OSHA doesn't want you to use silica (sand) any more... but you can get buy construction sand. The sand must be DRY!

A small/cheap unit will cost less than a couple hundred from what I've seen.

Re: Got my cab back from sandblasting
Post by brute4c on Oct 26, 2006, 9:00am

Are you saying that using construction sand eliminates the need for the hood? I would still wear a respirator....

Re: Got my cab back from sandblasting
Post by snuffy on Oct 26, 2006, 9:17am

NO!!! Meant that the sale of 'sand' for sand blasting isn't allowed anymore. Construction sand is an alternative to get around the restriction.

The construction sand isn't graded quite as well and sand media you used to be able to buy by the pallet. Hood or resprirator is a must!!! Remember - lead paint was legal when the trucks were originally painted!!

Re: Got my cab back from sandblasting
Post by rip68 on Oct 28, 2006, 1:35pm

I've got a 100 lb psi pancake compressor. I checked Harbour Freight Tools online and they have portable blasters from $47 - $199. I think instead of paying someone else $700, that I'll buy the $199 blaster and do it myself. I've already got 5 - 50lb bags of quartz sand free from the last job site. I'll just go get a good ANSI approved respirator, and blasting hood. The $199 blaster requires between 60 psi & 125 psi. If my pancake compressor doesn't supply enough air, then I'll just get a bigger one.

Re: Got my cab back from sandblasting
Post by fisherman on Oct 28, 2006, 8:30pm

Your pancake compressor will supply about enough air to blast the size of a dime. You will need a BIG compressor. I have an industrial 100 gallon Kellogg compressor and it runs quite a bit. If I blast for 15 or 20 minutes I take ten and let her cool down. The compressor has a fan that pulls air accross the pistons when it runs, still gets warm. Sand blasting takes lots of air, and lots of time. I have the largest Harbor Freight blast cabinet they sell, POS, I wore out two of their guns, and have basically rebuilt and rewired everything. Good Luck.

Re: Got my cab back from sandblasting
Post by jeepistdougiowa on Oct 28, 2006, 8:49pm


Quote: <TABLE class=bordercolor cellSpacing=1 width="90%"><TBODY><TR><TD width="100%"><TABLE class=quote cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=2 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD width="100%">Your pancake compressor will supply about enough air to blast the size of a dime. You will need a BIG compressor. I have an industrial 100 gallon Kellogg compressor and it runs quite a bit. If I blast for 15 or 20 minutes I take ten and let her cool down. The compressor has a fan that pulls air accross the pistons when it runs, still gets warm. Sand blasting takes lots of air, and lots of time. I have the largest Harbor Freight blast cabinet they sell, POS, I wore out two of their guns, and have basically rebuilt and rewired everything. Good Luck.</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>

I'll second that.

I used a 100 CFM gas powered compressor, guessing that pancake is 5 CFM or so. Plan on renting a big one, or it'll take forever. It's truely a mess getting the sand out of every afterwards.

Re: Got my cab back from sandblasting
Post by binfordm715 on Oct 28, 2006, 9:12pm


Quote: <TABLE class=bordercolor cellSpacing=1 width="90%"><TBODY><TR><TD width="100%"><TABLE class=quote cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=2 width="100%"><TBODY><TR><TD width="100%">Remember - lead paint was legal when the trucks were originally painted!! </TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE></TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
The current Gillespie (sp?) military paints such as you'd get from Rapco also contain lead.

Re: Got my cab back from sandblasting
Post by fisherman on Oct 29, 2006, 12:36am

When finished sand blasting I wash everything thing with water very well. Then let air dry in the shop in front of the pellet stove or if small parts I have an old oven, simply turn on low, pull out the oven rack and place parts on it you can even leave it open dries stuff fast. Also makes the parts nice and warm for painting. If it was greasy, I usually use Castrol Super clean, to degrease and let dry, then wash lightly with brake clean before painting.

Re: Got my cab back from sandblasting
Post by rip68 on Oct 29, 2006, 11:02am

Thanks for the info & heads up Fisherman and Doug, yeah I kinda thought that my pancake compressor wouldn't be sufficient. I think I'll invest in a bigger one.

Re: Got my cab back from sandblasting
Post by fisherman on Oct 29, 2006, 12:03pm

Gonna be expensive, at least where I live. Don't get an oiless they are junk and will only last a few years with semi consistent use. I bought mine used from a air compressor place that custom builds larger commercial units. The one I got was a trade in for a new compressor. They went through everything and all worked fine. I called my father in law in Pennsylvania to ask about it as it was made back there. One of his best friends owned Emglo which he sold to Black and Decker, Dewalt. He said the Kellog was one of the better compressors ever made. I would suggest looking around for an older used one, they seem to be better quality. Mine set around here outside, undercover for 3 years with out running. When I finally got the shop finished and compressor installed inside I had to replace a couple o rings in the pump. A couple oil changes and that thing has been a life saver. Plumbed the whole shop with air lines. I built and insulated box for my compressor with a large door. When it kicks on you can barely hear it. The box has air intakes and a seperate fan that pushed the warm air in the box out through a louvered dryer vent. So the compressor is quiet, and the box has a fresh supply of air flowing through when it kicks on. Two industrial water, oil seperators with regulators allow me to adjust things throughout the shop. My main air line follows the pitch of the shop roof, I installed 3 drops of pipe with petthingys in the bottom. 90% of the moisture runs down into those. I can drain those with a 4' ladder and a coffee can. My water seperators have never had any water or oil reach them in 4 years. Mostly my air is used for sand blasting, tools, painting. All the typical uses. I even plumbed underground to the barn and outside so I have air in those places. I bought the 100 gallon Kellog for $1,000.00 and it should last my lifetime. Good Luck

Re: Got my cab back from sandblasting
Post by gimpyrobb on Oct 29, 2006, 12:57pm

Rip68, Fisherman has hit alot of good points. Dry air for sandblasting is important. I would like to add that I have a Champion brand pump. Love it! I have seen many just like mine go for 200-300 on ebay in Ny. I would for a good used one there.

Re: Got my cab back from sandblasting
Post by gimpyrobb on Oct 29, 2006, 1:00pm

Ebay# 190044047335

That is the 4cyl version of what I've got. I had been thinking about getting it till the deuce came up.

Re: Got my cab back from sandblasting
Post by rip68 on Oct 29, 2006, 5:25pm

Thanks Fisherman and Rob, Sounds like a nice set up that you have Fisherman. I geuss they aren't too cheap. Could probably find something closer and a little cheaper if I look around. Rob, I noticed that one is three phase, even if I did pay out the $650 for it and the shipping - I would have to run a three phase circuit to the garage to power it. Can't the newer electric motors be wired single or three phase?

Re: Got my cab back from sandblasting
Post by gimpyrobb on Oct 29, 2006, 5:36pm

I would just get a single phase motor to swap in. I got my 5hp 220v single phase motor for 50.00. Depends on where you look.
I meant for you to look for one near you. If you were going to have it shipped, check this one:

190045999445

Its not far from me, I could check it out for you. Its the same pump I've got and you don't need to worry about 3 phase.

Re: Got my cab back from sandblasting
Post by fisherman on Oct 30, 2006, 12:31am

I wouldn't go with 3 phase unless you already have it. A good 220v motor will do just fine.

Re: Got my cab back from sandblasting
Post by cjal on Nov 29, 2006, 1:18pm

just a note for comparision. I have like a 6hp 40 gallon cheapo craftsman compressor and that same harbor freight sandblaster and it took me the better part of a day just to blast the subfram assembly on my trans am. I could only blast for a minute and stop to let the compressor fill up(takes forever) and I wore out two tips so get lots of extras.
Oh and I did it in my garage as it was winter!! ya, never do that again. it was three years ago and I still have sand EVERYWHERE!

Re: Got my cab back from sandblasting
Post by squatch on Nov 29, 2006, 9:20pm

I have a small 50lb pressure pot. ok for little stuff but not heavy duty work like truck. I learned my lesson a couple of years ago. Started a militery trailer with my blaster. It took days and getting nowhere. I went to local rental place and rented 200lb pot and tow behind diesel compresser. Cost here $140.00 a day. Has hose about 2" dia on blast side. Then went to welding shop and bought course sand (for sandblasting) $7-10 per 100lb. Done in 1 day everything. Talk to the man about your project. Black beauty ect. not for car panels in hands of novice. Coated inside with"herculiner" and painted outside with rustoleum ind. 5 years of firewood ect. holding up great. This summer I rented same rig and used fine sand to blast an aluminum bassboat inside and out. Worked great no damage or warping. Just be sure to use good respirator SAND DUST CAN KILL if you breath.

Re: Got my cab back from sandblasting
Post by squatch on Nov 29, 2006, 9:23pm

Also if you blast outside over a big plastic tarp you can screen and reuse your sand helps save some money.