Media Blasting Advice

[MAGGEE]

I am having my truck’s bed media blasted in preparation for some new paint. Should I disassemble the bed for blasting or just blast it assembled ? Disassembly will take more time (and/or money). Not sure it’s worth it. I’m not doing a full restoration. I’ve just replaced my old, very rusty bed with an old, nearly rust free one. The bed’s in great shape, but it’s brown- and my truck is not. Any thoughts?

[Grumpy old man]

Post a picture of the bed you want to have blasted , Some commercial blasting companies will blast your parts at 175 psi + ,While that's fine for a frame it can warp and distort sheet metal .

[projectking]

Yes, I would recommend blasting and 2 coats of epoxy too all mating surfaces.

[CUDA8U]

blow it apart,blast it all,epoxy prime,paint the floor and box inside and reassemble
The seams are prob loaded with dirt and rust and need to be cleaned up or it will come back to haunt you.

[clay68c10]

Take it apart, this is a job you only want to do once. Any rust hiding in the seams will come thru at some point.
It’s a fairly simple job. Just a couple of welds near the tailgate trunions and (seems like) about 5000 bolts. Tighten the carriage bolts to break them off, much easier that way. You’ll want to replace them anyway.

[sick472]

Grumpy makes a very good point about potential warping! Make sure your blasterman has a high confidence level in his equipment and ability...you don't want to spend an eternity putty sanding to overcome warpage. And even some of that can't be easily restored if it warps out. My guy refused to hit the long wide areas of my truck (bed sides, hood, and cab top) for that point alone, but sanding or paint stripping those areas is pretty easy. It's the tight spots and along strong body contours and folds in the steel that can take the stronger blasting and that's where the time savings come in compared to using a small bucket blaster and/or sand paper.

I think the dry ice, soda, and walnut shell blasting is less likely to warp, but discuss that with your blasterman, don't take my word for it.

[mike16]

dry ice media blasting has become the newest fad. it workes very well because it leaves no media behind to clean up later nor does it make a bigger more unmanagable mess.

[Grumpy old man]

Does the truck still look like this ? if so you have way more important things to deal with than whether your paint matches and blasting your new rust free bed . Does it still need cab roof rust repair ? rear springs ? Pick your battles wisely and get a real plan and budget together before you find yourself with a blown apart project with no direction .

Frame/suspension /brakes/mechanics/electrical/body/interior/glass/wheels .

[MAGGEE]

Grumpy Old Man:
The truck still looks similar to those photos. But itÂ’s definitely not still the same truck. Taking some advice from this site, I spent the first several months with the truck working to get it mechanically sound. Lots of new parts any many hours invested between the frame and the ground. Not much required under the hood.Â’
Frame is solid and straight. Had some surface rust but itÂ’s gone now. New suspension, brakes and lines. Could probably do with a new booster and master at some point. But it stops like it should. No electrical issues. ItÂ’s sporting some Craigslist wheels and tires.
After all that was sorted out, I started getting rid of rust. I guess thatÂ’s the stage IÂ’m in now. The cab is almost rust free. New floor, corners, etc. Have some new doors on order.
But, I donÂ’t want the project to stall. So, the bed is getting some attention.

[MAGGEE]

Here’s where it’s at now:

[57taskforce]

Nice K10 I would blast the bed and epoxy it like was mentioned above. You’ve made some excellent progress on it! It’s nice to see another 4x4 truck saved!

[MAGGEE]

Thanks for all the responses. Sounds like the bed will be coming apart for blasting and primer. I think it also makes a lot of sense to paint (at a minimum) all the seams before it goes back together. Otherwise it will just have to come apart again.

[Nicks33]

Hey Maggee, have you looked at dustless blasting?? I have a 71 k10 project that I'm ready to get started on the bed, it uses high pressure water and glass bead, no warping. They are Mobil and come to you, that's the beauty of it.

[MAGGEE]

I’ve watched some videos. It’s an interesting option. But there’s not one close. And probably not right for this project.

[mike16]

Originally Posted by MAGGEE

Thanks for all the responses. Sounds like the bed will be coming apart for blasting and primer. I think it also makes a lot of sense to paint (at a minimum) all the seams before it goes back together. Otherwise it will just have to come apart again.

sage advice.

Always build it like you'll never go back into it again but always plan as though you will. Aircraft mechanics have this same philosphy. Fix it right the first time but always do so to help the next guy wether this will be you next week or another owner 50 years from now.

Part of every effort must be some form of preservation

[CUDA8U]

acid dipping is another option once its apart