Sandblasting

H

Hengy

501 Club
Hey all...

I am in the "dream stages" of getting poor ol' Merlin(cub) cleaned up and ready for some paint. I am going over some options in my own mind, and wanted to get an idea as to cost for sandblasting. It is hard to find anyone who is interested and willing to do any of this kind of work here in town. I am not set up to do this at all on my own. One company said that they would NOT do the tractor in assembled condition (or even partially) assembled because they would get grit in places that I wouldn't want grit. Basically, I was told that I would have to bring the tractor in unassembled condition, and that they woud do only the sheet metal parts... I am waiting to hear back from La Crosse Monument Company who may be willing/able to do it, but now I am scared of having it done there. A local, well respected auto body shop said that they wouldn't do it either (I live in the city!)...

Any suggestions from the folks on the forum about where to turn? I guess, I should just plan to spend the time with the wire wheel on my grinder and do it myself, huh?

Mike in La Crosse, WI
 
can't help with the sand blasting part of your question but needle scaling works awesome on the cast parts, floor pan ,wheels and the hubs. i did my 52 and turned out great. i finished painting this past weekend and in the process of putting it back together, hope to have pics soon.
 
Mike,

I'm working on my transmission (for too long, me thinks) and while I have the rear end all apart, I'm wire brushing it with a small side grinder with a braided wire brush. Works great. Only problem is, your tractor is out of commission for a while. Would be a good winter project, unless you need it for sneaux pushing. Oops! Thinking about them LSU Tigers winning the SEC baseball tournament and 20 games in a row. GEAUX TIGERS!

Ron,

Does a needle scaler get in small nooks and crannies? Do they have that at Lowes or Home Depot or is that a special order item? I've never seen one.
 
Joey said:
Would be a good winter project, unless you need it for sneaux pushing. Oops! Thinking about them LSU Tigers winning the SEC baseball tournament and 20 games in a row. GEAUX TIGERS!


Joey

The tigers are geauxing for 21 in a reaux I beleive :big smile:
Hopefully their last victory will be in Omaha in the championship game. :big smile:

Get you a Purple and Gold Cub ready :big afro:
Click to expand...
 
Joey":rpxht039 said:
Mike,

Only problem is, your tractor is out of commission for a while. Would be a good winter project, unless you need it for sneaux pushing. Oops! Thinking about them LSU Tigers winning the SEC baseball tournament and 20 games in a row. GEAUX TIGERS!

Ron,
Click to expand...

Actually, Ron, that is Merlin(cub)'s main function around La Crosse... Sneaux pleauxing.... (that is really hard to type!)... I kind of do my work in the reverse of most everybody in the known Cub universe. I take mine down for "service" in the summer when I can actually work in my unheated garage. Then, during the Winter, he goes to WORK. The only other time that he is needed for work is now the second weekend of May for the Cheesy Cubfest!!

Mike in La Crosse, WI
 
redfin":3aqxk39i said:
Joey":3aqxk39i said:
The tigers are geauxing for 21 in a reaux I beleive :big smile:
Hopefully their last victory will be in Omaha in the championship game. :big smile:

Get you a Purple and Gold Cub ready :big afro:
Click to expand...
Click to expand...

Trinity Bantams 44-0 playing for the Div III championship in Wisconsin. They lost the first game but finished the season 45-1 with a National title. Plus the record for consecutive victories with 44!

Good Luck Tigers!
 
Mike,

The sand gets everywhere. I had a body shell blasted (Tiger) and sand was coming out of the frame for years. What would happen with a complete tractor is the sand would get past the seals and then you would have a mess on your hands with gritty grease and crunchy oil. Those are NOT good word combinations. I LOVE the needle scale for the cast parts. Wish I bought one a year ago. I too have the I-R as some day I will want to buy replacement needles and the discount tool supplier won't have them for the catalog brand stuff. Soda blasting is a good alternative, but it is expensive. Since it is not grit you can blast seals and glass. It is expensive as the soda is a one-time use media and they have to run a refrigeration dryer for the air to keep it dry enough to keep from caking so the blaster's overhead is a lot higher than grit. You can always tackle a section at a time and do a rolling restoration. Tranny back in one gulp Torque tube and floor pan in another. The at the end you can always scuff it up and lay a top coat on the entire tractor the way they did it at the Factory. I have a couple of working tractors so my 77 is in bits and pieces and I am getting ready to start painting sections at a time. I want to get the bare metal covered with primer before the July Tropical humidity shows up.
 
I'm gonna jump in here and hopefully give back a little of the help you all have given me. I spent 30+ years in the automotive restoration biz. So I've got some experience. Has nobody ever heard of paint stripper? I know it's foul and nasty. But it's also effective. And you can work at your own pace. Just follow the directions and be careful. Use alcohol as a final wash before scrubbing the metal. Another tool nobody seems to mention are scuff wheels. 3M and other companies make them. A round abrasive disc about 5" round x 1/2 thick. Mounts on a mandrel that can be used on anything from a hand drill to an air grinder. It's big advantage is it doesn't throw wires at your face, and scrubs/grinds just about any shape surface. A little spendy, but they last a long time. Great for prep before primer.

And primer doesn't have to be sprayed. It can be rolled. Using small foam rollers, you can get into just about every nook on a Cub. It'll leave some overlap lines, but that's what sandpaper is for!

The real secret to a quality finish is preperation. There are no short cuts.

Bob
 
Sand blasting a assembled tractor is a big NO NO! It doesnt matter how well you seal things up the sand still gets in. I have had a few people over the years bring their cubs to me to fix damage done to internal parts by sand . There is a better way to do it. I use high preasure water along with paint stripper. It is a little messy but water wont damage internal parts. It will dry out or you can change fluids if water gets in. I have never had any trouble using water and stripper. you do have to remove some parts like belts, wiring harness and rubber parts or your preasurewasher may blow holes in these parts. Also do not preasurewash the radiator unless you turn the preasure way down. My preasurwasher puts out 3200 lbs and will cut a radiator in half if not carefull.
 
Mike,

I agree with everyone here, DO NOT sandbalst an assembled tractor. The blasting media gets everywhere. I sandblast a lot of parts when we do our Model T restorations. I only do the engine/tranny/rearends when there are completely bare and then they are rinsed many times over. Soda blasting works good on some material, but it never gets any deep rust pitting out. I would suggest stripper and lots of elbow grease. My FIL has been in the auto body business for nearly 40 years and he has taught me alot. I wouldn't be afraid to blast the sheet metal, just don't hold it in one spot too long; and strip the rest.
 
I am with the experts... I would NOT sandblast a whole tractor. Engine, bearings, seals etc will take a beating, no matter how careful the operator is. Sand gets everywhere. It is fine for sheet metal, rims, mower decks etc.

Took me forever to do it with an angle grinder and wire wheels. Drill with wire brushes in the tight spots. Electrolisys on stuff like wheels, fenders and small parts. Bench grinder for bolts.

I have heard good things about the needle scaler, but still don't have a compressor that will run one.... mmmm could be time?
 
Have your tractor soda blasted and you don't have to worry about anything anyone here has said about blasting an assembled tractor. Soda blasting will not hurt any seals, or internal engine components.

If you want to reduce the amount of blasting hours, make sure your tractor is 100% degreased and it wouldn't hurt to spray it with oven cleaner and power wash it a few times. If you have a grinder with a wire wheel, hit all the easy spots. The more work you do before the soda blasting, the less time it will take. Time = money.
 
Thanks for the input guys!

I saw the pictures earlier of Jeanne Pruitt sandblasting her cub, and I thought that this would be the quickest way to get Merlin(cub) prepped for paint, but I can DEFINITELY see the issues with "crunchy oil" and close tolerances in the cub. I will go back to my original plan to strip off the sheet metal and get after him with the wire wheel...

I really appreciate the input!

Mike in La Crosse, WI
 
Sand WILL get everywhere that isn't properly prepared beforehand... that's the key. I've lost count of the tractors I've had sandblasted successfully. It's just a matter of careful preparation. I'll admit some of my front axle tubes may have some sand in them, but probably not. :{_}:

all3_far_l_front.jpg
 
George Willer":3sx5oxts said:
Sand WILL get everywhere that isn't properly prepared beforehand... that's the key. I've lost count of the tractors I've had sandblasted successfully. It's just a matter of careful preparation. I'll admit some of my front axle tubes may have some sand in them, but probably not. :{_}:

all3_far_l_front.jpg
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I have to agree with GW. I sandblasted my 1st Cub 6 years ago and didn't get sand anywhere it shouldn't be. I am in the process of sandblasting my other Cub right now. It's going quickly and I degrease, scrap and wire brush as much as I can then sandblast. Scrap a little more and continue. The paint stripping idea is a good one. I might try that as well. Although I don't want the animals to get into that so weigh it out. My two cents, Mike.

Chris
 
I had a quart can of strypease left over and decided to use it on my hood and dash panel. So far, I've been very pleased with the results. It was easy to brush on, let it sit and do its work, then scrape/wire wheel off. Wash the residue off and let it dry. I haven't used it on the cast iron parts yet, but I have no reason to believe it will not work there also. I'll let you know what happens later on.

SS

BTW, it does stink, and I would not use it in an enclosed area that doesn't have good ventilation. :mrgreen:
 
If you use paint stripper, cover it with wax paper and let time work in your favor. It keeps the methyl chloride trapped to work on softening the paint and reduces the amount released into the atmosphere. I then scrape it off the best I can and put the gunk in an old paint can to seal it up. You can remove a lot of layers of paint at one time if you use wax paper.
 
What do you guys use for degreaser before paint stripping? (oven cleaner? Commercial Engine Degreaser?) Also, have you had any luck with that "orange-oil" based stripper or is it not worth the time and money?

Mike in La Crosse, WI
 
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