SkinnyG's '61 Apache

[SkinnyG]

I hit the rusty spots under the dash only, did the cowl vent pockets, and did the kick panels. Then the inside of the cowl and part of the firewall before it started to rain. I cleaned up and came inside for tea.

[Paul Y]

Skinny.

You are a machine....

P.

[SkinnyG]

Rain off and on today. Did some blasting in the cabinet: the fender shields that fit under the cab, the spare tire bracket brace that goes under the bed floor, and the dust shields for the front disc brakes.

Sprayed some epoxy on the dust shields and some spots I missed yesterday (it was getting dark), and straightened the bent up fender shields. I need to figure out how to mount them, as the cab mount isn't in the same angle as original.

[SkinnyG]

Three more hours to blast half the back wall, and the rest of the firewall:

[cwcarpenter98]

All that clean metal is looking nice!

[88Stanger]

Looking good so far! nice job!

[SkinnyG]

Finished blasting the inside of the cab, and started on the back wall. Did about three hours.

In half an hour, I take SkinnyKid1 for his learner's license....

[SkinnyG]

DONE.

Three hours this morning, (over 45 hours total on the cab alone!!), and we have this:

[SCOTI]

eeek. That's some effort/time invested.
How much sand was used/recycled for the process?

[SkinnyG]

Hmmm....

The blaster cost me $135, though I suspect I was supposed to be charged $235 for it.

I didn't really keep track of the bags of sand, but I probably bought at least seven bags at $14 each. I just kept running the same sand through again and again and again just topping up with new as the old turned to dust and blew away.

Still cheaper than farming it out.

I do not count my time. I'm not losing money doing this myself. If you counted your time, you wouldn't fish; if you counted your time hunting, you wouldn't hunt; if you counted your time chasing women, you wouldn't... well.... you know.

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by SkinnyG

Hmmm....

The blaster cost me $135, though I suspect I was supposed to be charged $235 for it.

I didn't really keep track of the bags of sand, but I probably bought at least seven bags at $14 each. I just kept running the same sand through again and again and again just topping up with new as the old turned to dust and blew away.

Still cheaper than farming it out.

I do not count my time. I'm not losing money doing this myself. If you counted your time, you wouldn't fish; if you counted your time hunting, you wouldn't hunt; if you counted your time chasing women, you wouldn't... well.... you know.

Understood about not losing $$ DIYing it. I was mainly curious about the volume allowed to be 're-used' w/o clogging issues (moisture/debris). Didn't know if you were single passing the volume or multi-pass. Obviously that WOULD make a difference on costs but in all likelihood still be cheaper than farming it out unless one did account for the time required depending on location & availability.

[SkinnyG]

I live in "Canada's Desert" and it is very dry here. And currently on fire.

I ran my compressor through two water separators just to try and reduce the amount of moisture getting into the abrasive. The air lines were also specially designed to reduce the amount of water introduced into the lines.

I blast on my paved driveway, and sweep up the abrasive and sift it through a medium-size-hole vegetable strainer into a bucket, and then pout it through a medium-fine-size hole vegetable strainer (it's really only slightly-finer than the other one) into the pot. This removes all the non-abrasive as well as whatever might clog the tip.

If I skip the smaller-hole strainer, I get more clogs. But it never clogged with wet abrasive.

I figured I would try re-using the abrasive as long as possible and see what it did. No complaints.

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by SkinnyG

I live in "Canada's Desert" and it is very dry here. And currently on fire.

I ran my compressor through two water separators just to try and reduce the amount of moisture getting into the abrasive. The air lines were also specially designed to reduce the amount of water introduced into the lines.

I blast on my paved driveway, and sweep up the abrasive and sift it through a medium-size-hole vegetable strainer into a bucket, and then pout it through a medium-fine-size hole vegetable strainer (it's really only slightly-finer than the other one) into the pot. This removes all the non-abrasive as well as whatever might clog the tip.

If I skip the smaller-hole strainer, I get more clogs. But it never clogged with wet abrasive.

I figured I would try re-using the abrasive as long as possible and see what it did. No complaints.

Good deal. Here in TX, humidity is typically in the ~40% range w/weekly spikes up. Rarely below....

[SkinnyG]

Humidity today is 26%

[SCOTI]

Originally Posted by SkinnyG

Humidity today is 26%

Seeing your number.... I looked up our avg for today & it's 78%

[SkinnyG]

Yup. Today was 26% in Arizona as well.

[pdxhall]

Originally Posted by SkinnyG

Yup. Today was 26% in Arizona as well.

I'll chime in on that. It was 26% humidity but that is fairly high for us in Tucson, but we are in the middle of monsoon season. Typically we are under 15%. I use crushed class and I reuse it a few times before it dies. I do my blasting on a large tarp outside the shop.

[SCOTI]

We're down to 59% as of now.

[jrusher]

Amazing work and fabrication skills skinnyG!! That cab is in great shape wow! That PA blaster works great I have the same one and have used it a ton on my last 3 truck builds. Your on the home stretch keep it up

[SkinnyG]

Before blasting the frame, I needed to be sure where the exhaust had to be. Tight fit.

[Paul Y]

Skinny,

Sorry if I missed it but what media are you using? I am seriously considering blasting the inside of my cab and repainting it but am very worried about warping the metal.

I hear a lot of talk about using soda media and the like but have no experiance in using anything other than the glass.

Thanks!

P.

[SkinnyG]

I used crushed glass.

I have heard of issues with soda blasting, in that if you don't deal with it correctly afterward (what that entails, I do not know), the paint doesn't always stick. I have heard of some restoration shops no longer using soda.

Crushed glass breaks down and gets finer and finer and less and less abrasive, which makes it more and more gentle.

I didn't see it causing any problems on the metal, but I'm no auto body professional; I may not have an "eye" for this.

The big difference is a home compressor running 14cfm and 60psi is a whole lot less damaging than an industrial blasting setup that can do the whole thing in WAY less than 45 hours.

[SkinnyG]

Dealing with some wee details on the frame before I strip it. Added some "spacers" for the raised bed strips that normally rest on the frame. Welded on the fuel filter mount.

[SkinnyG]

Mucking around, mostly.

Welded up a couple pin holes in the cab kicks.

Worked out some fuel line routing, including tabs to clip the lines to where needed.

Discovered I need to widen the e-brake rigging. Turns out it's hardened steel. I'm undecided how to proceed.

Blew out a crap ton of abrasive dust from the cab.

Welded in the last two seatbelt bolt washer/nut thingies.

Nothing really worth showing.

[SkinnyG]

Drilled holes for one air bag mount in the rear.

Sorted out disc brake e-brake cable issues.