My underbody is looking kind of shitty on the 71 skylark. Running car, driveline and stuff still there. I want to shine it up a bit and rust proof it at the same time. Was thinking of sandblasting it from the firewall back, floors and frame and all. And then doing RUbberized undercoating on the floors and some kind of gloss black paint on the frame and axle. Im on a very cheap budget, so i cant really get much more fancier than that. My only question is, what would the pros and con's be of driving my car to a blasting shop, and getting them to blast the underbody? Basically what could go wrong? If its not wise to do the sandblasting, i will prolly have to resort to a wire brush! and i REALLY dont want to do that. any comments, or shared experiences appreciated.
My 56 had this done by the privious owner. Looks good, BUT, big But, make sure they totally seal off the interior and other places to make that sand doesn't get where it's not supposed too. Found sand under my seats, etc, up under the dash too. Probably ruined my speedometer which I had to get fixed. That stuff goes everwhere!
Media blasting Roger is right - any kind of blasting media you use is going to be everywhere you look for years. My Skylark has the whole front clip off and engine out, and I started blasting the firewall and frame with walnut shell. The walnut is nice in that it will eventually disappear with time (and moisture), but after a few minutes I switched to good old engine cleaner and a pressure washer. Items that are off and away from the car I still will blast, but nothing still attached to it. Too much of a mess!
Thats exactly what the guy at the shop said when i called. He said, well we COULD do it, but you know this stuff goes EVERYWHERE. Geeze i didnt think it really DID go EVERYWHERE. Hmm, the rubberized undercoating is some pretty heavy duty stuff, i have also heard of steam cleaning, i heard thats a good alternative to cleaning as well. I have heard good stuff about POR-15, but i heard its availible in brush on only. If it were availible in liquid paint, id have to use my freind's compressor. Right now i like the idea of a can, because i can do it in my garage on solid dry ground while its up on stands, as opposed to gravel road out doors.
A friend had his entire car blasted with Baking Soda. When I was helping him restore it the crap would constantly fall into my face whenever I worked under the dash.. IF you dont remove all wiring the stuff will also find its way into all connections. Also will take fine edges off thinks like the data trim plate.
I think im gonna stick to an old fashioned scraper, wire wheel buffer hooked up to my drill, some brake cleaner and a pressure washer. I think that would accomplish what im after without ruining my electrical stuff. Thanks for all your advice, i may have just saved myself from making a pretty stupid decision.
