I'm in the PGH,Pa area. I looking for a media blaster or chemical stripper and i would like opinions on both I'm quite sure many of you have them .

 

good & bad in both , plastic or walnut is probably the best bet but will not get rust , soda has to be neutralized or will create corrosion , sand is ok but be careful not to warp the panels , acid dip also need to be neutralized .

 

in the restoration shop i worked for we would sand blast every thing pitted,DA. everything surface and cut out everything with holes for patching.
we used plastic "type bondo's" and metal "type bondo's"
welded patches in with, gas, wire, and stick welder's.
cut patches with small cut off wheel's, plasma, and reciprocating saw's.

 

As I get into this more I think I may do just that. It looks to me many of the panels and seams are in good shape. I'm not really ready to do a "full" rotisserie restoration of her. Would like to get on the road in a year or so. (Evening & weekends) will be only available time when my 6 yr old is not playing soccer. He is interested in "how does the car work".

 

IF you do blast it REMEMBER the media will get into everything !!!!!

 

We hand stripped our 73 charger with a DA and 80 grit paper [the whole car outside one panel at a time] then did our body repair and sprayed cheap spray bomb primer till we were done with entire car completely sanded entire car and sealed it.

 

the same princeable applies to just a fender or a basic out side repaint... to seal in rust is a terrible idea get it out before you paint the car don't bury it under bondo and primer it will do worse damage under the finished paint than you can imagine..
i have body work to begin on my ride not for a restoration but so i have new paint for the next few year's i have some patching to do and sand blasting every thing else is sanding too primer and light dent removal and a lot of "blocking"
i'm going to do some body mod.s depending on the finances but i need a clean car for the road so the repaint will be done right i'm saving allot of money having all the tools and skillz to do the work my self save mucho buck's on labor and i have the rest of the part's list estimated
i have a color combo picked
factory base color with a sizable custom color metal flake and royal blue cloth half top.
and at least four coat's of clear so i can sand her smooth as glass
1000
1200
1500
compound
finish buff
custom finish waxing
when in finished with her you'll be able to see the water stains on a 30 ft ware house ceiling off her hood.
But the finished work is only as good as the foundation work
lou3500 is correct also i cant do all of this at one time and i got rust issues to take care of pronto so i have to do spot work until i have the ability to do all the work necessary after a paint job like that the chrome has to be addressed so it's an on going restoration that's the main reason to remove all the rust.
i don't want to finish all the Chrome and have her all tight just to see a rust blister popping on my paint!

 

I watched lots of you tube videos on bodywork and paint and found this guy
http://www.youtube.com/user/diyautoschool
He has lots of videos on everything and is an intresting fellow.I have watched many videos on replacing metal,welding,painting ect. I have never done any of this before [my areas of exper. are suspension,brakes,engine rebuilding] i have learned a lot in the school of hard knocks.

 

Find someone that uses walnut shell media to blast the car with. best thing to use in my opinion.