>For what it's worth, I did a complete inside and out sandblast of my `70
>GT6+ a few years back. I once knew an old-time body man and restorer who
>said that blasting could easily distort panels, so I was quite worried
>about what I might do to the car. Never bent or wrinkled a single panel,
>mostly because of the technique employed. I used a rented commercial 125
>hp. air compressor and first tried the recommended blasting sand, which
>was somewhat coarse. I immediately sensed that it wasn't right. Promptly
>drove to the nearest hardware store and asked for the finest available.
>Was told, "you'd be wanting playground sand, then." And, with that
>loaded and the blasting gun several feet away from the surface, the
>effect was much like leaving the car in a sandstorm. Took longer to
>remove paint and rust, used more sand, but left the panels quite intact.
I use 100-mesh sand for anything that needs to be smooth and finished, and 20-40
for really bad rust in hidden places and on the frames. Not an expert here on
body work, but seems to work for me. I think I will go ahead and shoot a couple
body panels to see how they fare! BTW, when I made the earlier statement about
light body panels on LBCs, I was thinking of my 53 Mercury and 85 Jag, both of
which weigh in at 4000 lbs each, I got a lot of (deserved) heat on that one!
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