May 2008

Sandblasting the body

In May I continued with removing and disassembling some small parts but the main objective was to remove the rust form the body. I decided to completely sandblast it.
Front hubs and bearings looks ok . I will try to turn the surface of the disc only at least for the beginning. The front bumper was badly damaged probably due to the car crash. I cut the urethane cover and removed the metal reinforcement which was badly rusty. As this type is unique for Mach 1 and no reproduction is available (except the chrome one), I will try to repair the scratches in the cover as well weld the inner brackets.
As the body shell was cleaned from all the messy rubberized things I finallay agreed on the term for the sandblasting for middle of May. I put the shell on the trailer and drive to the sandblasting company. I have picked up the car next week (and pay incredible amount of money). the sandblasting is a perfect process. I cannot imagine restoration without using this method. As for the body used it an nearly all metal parts in the car to remove rust and dirt. Sandblasted shell.
I do not blasted the parts which will be replaced for the new one to save some costs. Unfortunately I let the roof panel blasted as well but it was a mistake. the sandblasting companies are using huge compressors with a lot of pressure to do the things quickly. But this is not optimal for thin big metal areas. Due to pressure and heat the panel has been sag on couple of place. It ws to realize this but for future - never more. It will take more time to repair it. As usual I have brushed the whole shell with epoxy primer to protect against rust.
Some pictures of the body condition after sandblasting - side view. The taillight panel is gone.
Front frame. The sandblasting makes the rust cancer more visible. Blasted body.
The suspension brackets.
The cowl panel is badly damaged as well. The water makes its own. Interior view for the air intake to the airconditon system.
the right side of cowl is no better. I sanblasted the rear and and other parts. Some of this parts were heat zinc plated.
Suspension parts. Front sway bar and springs.
I disassembled the heater and airconditioning system. It looks like squirrel nest with a lot of grass and nuts inside.a I purchased a small handy sandblasting gun and try to blast some small part. I can recommend this only to small parts like screws and nuts. Its not effective fro bigger parts. Also it requires a lot of pressure. You can see some bolts, windows brackets, hood hinges, alternator pulley after sandblasting. I will let all these small parts zinc plated. I have start to measure and take picture of every screw and nut removed form the car and make the comprehensive list for the entire car.