Car restoration: Restoring a car takes a lot of love and hard work. With the right attitude and know-how, it can be an incredibly rewarding process.
To ensure you get the most out of your classic car restoration project, it’s important to understand what’s involved.
This guide provides an overview of the basics of car restoration, including how to safely remove paint, rust, and filler without damaging the vehicle.
With this information, car enthusiasts can rest assured that they are well-equipped for car restoration jobs of all sizes. Get ready to restore your classic car with confidence!
The Best Methods for Classic Car Restoration
There are many products to choose from for classic car restoration. However, more options don’t always make the decision easier.
Some methods are not only outdated, but also pose risks to the user and the car’s paintwork.
The quality of your performance and the success of your project depend largely on the use of top-notch surface restoration methods.
Let’s take a look at what most automotive professionals use to improve their shop.
The easiest, safest, and most effective way to restore a car is to use a blasting system that can remove paint, rust, and filler in one step.
A blasting medium, such as glass shards, is pressed against a surface in combination with compressed air or water.
This process makes it easy to remove unwanted coatings and creates an anchor profile for new paint to adhere to.
You want to use a machine that allows you to regulate the pressure and easily switch between wet and dry blasting.
This is because our system can wet blast body panels with water without warping them, and can easily be switched to dry blasting interior when you want to blast dry abrasives out of the nooks and crannies.
To truly understand which approach is best for these types of projects, it is important to compare different restoration options.
Below is a list of common car restoration methods that can do more harm than good to your classic car.
Outdated Car Restoration Methods
Many traditional car restoration methods are now considered outdated and can be harmful to both the driver and the classic car. Below is a list of common methods that you should carefully consider.
Sanding Equipment and Grinders:
Due to the high production rate, using a sander or grinder to remove car paint is not an ideal option for car restoration.
Removing coatings from surfaces takes significantly longer with these handheld devices than with a blasting system.
If you own a blasting business or an auto body shop, you know that time is money.
So you need to ask yourself how much time you are willing to spend on such tools.
With a blasting system, a car can be completely restored in just a few hours, while repairs with a sander can take days.
Additionally, you may find that there are some tight spots on your car that hand sanders simply cannot reach.
Sandblasting
While dry sanding of interiors is a great option when working on a car project, this is not the case with body panels.
Sandblasting body panels can cause tremendous damage to the vehicle’s surface and often results in surface deformation, causing dents and scratches and making the surface difficult to repair.
When using sand as an abrasive, you need to be aware of the health risks of inhaling these airborne particles. Inhaling silica sand can cause serious health problems such as lung cancer.
This is why we recommend never using sand as a medium. 40/70 ground glass is an excellent abrasive because it is chemically inert, environmentally friendly, and contains less than 1% free silica.
Chemical Use
The chemical dipping process was once an option for car restoration, but is now considered dangerous and time-consuming.
Due to adverse effects on worker health, the use of methylene chloride in most chemical paint strippers is banned by the EPA and related safety regulations
In this blog article, you will learn why dust-free blasting is the best method for car restoration compared to other processes.
How to Restore Cars with Dustless Blasting. Now that you know the preferred method for car restoration, it’s time to get into the details of effective car restoration and achieving optimal results.
Restoring a vehicle with a blasting system involves many steps. Below is a list of preparation, safety, and blasting tips to keep in mind when using a Dustless Blaster on a car.
For the Job
To budget the job correctly and deliver quality work, it’s important to develop a plan and understand the client’s expectations. What outcome does he want to achieve?
Are you responsible for preparation and follow-up? If you expose Bondo, does he want to leave it intact or have it removed? All of these questions contribute to customer satisfaction.
Vehicle Preparation
Before blasting a car, you should cover all rubber, chrome, plastic, glass, and electrical wiring as these can be damaged during the blasting process.
Anything that can’t be completely removed should be covered. You’ll also want to set up your blasting area.
To properly store and dispose of waste, cover the blasting area with plastic so you can roll it up and throw it away when the job is done.
Choosing the Right Blasting Media
Choosing the right blasting media is one of the most important steps in any blasting process. Different blasting media are best suited for certain surfaces.
For this reason, you need to find a blasting media that meets both your production needs and surface requirements.
With dust-free blasting machines, you can use a variety of blasting media, whether you are blasting wet or dry.
For wet blasting, you can use any blasting media that is clean, uniform, water-resistant, and not water-soluble.
For car restoration, 40/70 glass grit is the preferred choice because it can easily remove paint and rust without damaging the underlying metal of the car.
In this article, you will learn how to choose the right abrasive and which abrasives to avoid when restoring a car.
Auto blasting techniques
The most important tip when blasting a car is to hit the surface at a 30-degree angle rather than straight on. This technique allows you to pull the paint off instead of hammering it in.
Also, a proper distance must be maintained. If you are close to the surface, the removal will be faster, but from a smaller area, causing unnecessary fatigue.
Pulling back increases the jet pattern and achieves a more comfortable pace while distributing the pressure evenly across your panels.
What makes dust blasting the first choice for automotive restoration is the fact that the user can easily switch from dry blasting to wet blasting.
When blasting thin or large panels such as hoods or trunk lids, you should blast from a greater distance than usual as this spreads the jet pattern more.
Prevent Rust
Protect your work with a high-quality rust inhibitor. During the blasting process, rust can form, whether it’s wet or dry.
By washing away contaminants properly, you can extend the life of the coating on the truck or classic car you’re working on.
The dust-free blasting rust protector prevents rust film for up to 72 hours, giving you time to prepare the vehicle after blasting.
This product is safe and prepares the surface for priming. Read this article to learn more about how it works and how it can be used for automotive projects.
A Guide to Classic Car Restoration Equipment
We’ve already established that a blasting machine is the most suitable tool for car restoration.
But let’s take a look at how dust-free blasting machines offer specific solutions for different aspects of these projects.
Our pressurized blasting pot effectively removes all types of coatings without damaging the underlying surface, benefiting the entire surface restoration industry. Below is a list:
• • Dust-free blasting machines use a venturi suction process that prevents blockages.
• • This system can use a variety of abrasives for better results.
• • Mobile units are equipped with an air drying and cooling system that removes moisture from the compressed air by cooling it.
• Read this article to learn more about why refinishing professionals choose dust-free blasting equipment and accessories.
• Start your car restoration journey with dust-free blasting
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• With so many contractors using dust-free blasting equipment for car restoration, we recommend reviewing some automotive case studies if you’re unsure of what this tool can do for your next restoration project.
We hope this hands-on experience will give you the confidence you need to effectively and safely rebuild any vehicle that uses a sanding system.
• Now that you have a better understanding of the do’s and don’ts of car restoration, it’s time to get started.
If you’re still using the outdated methods we discussed earlier, it’s time to consider purchasing a dust-free sandblaster for all of your car restoration projects.
If you have any questions about car restoration or need help choosing the right equipment for your project, we are here to help.
Contact us today and let’s get started restoring your author! Don’t forget to check out our online store. There you will find all the essential blasting tools, consumables, parts and accessories.
