Re: A plan to make my '70 pretty(er)
 

I disagree. There is no safe way of using sand . And why would you when there are better products out there that aren't any more expensive. Take a look at the regulations for silica blasting most people other than large contractors dont have the ability to conform

No company that make blasters recommend sand as a medium. But enough on that subject

Re: A plan to make my '70 pretty(er)
 

Thanks for all the good input guys. At this point I'm pausing to consider having it blasted professionally. I gotta weigh time vs $$, but it seems like a reasonable trade in this case. The white comes off but it's not quick. Once I've done that I still have to sand as much of the green off as I can and get the rust off the backs of the panels. That's a lot of time. After doing a lot of reading on these forums it sounds like the best approach for having it blasted is to take it in a bit at a time rather than blasting it all at once. That works for me, I'm not too far from a guy I've used before that has lots of experience blasting cars so I know he'll do it right. Like I said, I'm pausing to consider which makes the most sense for me.

Re: A plan to make my '70 pretty(er)
 

I was gonna say to be sure and use a guy that knows what hes doing ...sounds like you got that covered..
I weighed the time vs $$$ on my IH build...doesnt take long to decide that blasting was the best option..
They can get into all the tight spots I couldnt..other than my doors, it was money well spent..I could drop parts of in the morning, pick em up in the afternoon..wipe em down and spray em with epoxy by dark..
If you do get them blasted be sure to get some epoxy primer on them before they flash rust..then you can do you repair work and follow that with epoxy as you go..
They used coal slag on mine..

Re: A plan to make my '70 pretty(er)
 

I've been making progress, got the front end off and most of the stuff inside the cab is pulled.

Attachment 2068160

I have decided to go with sandblasting. My local guy will even pickup and deliver it so that really clinched the deal for me. I think it makes sense in terms of time/money. Like I said at the beginning I don't want this to drag on forever!

I've got a line on some parts I need locally so I'm gonna get those soon. I'll post again once it's all taken apart and ready to go to the blaster. Most of my questions are about body work, but now I'm wondering if I should maybe start a build thread instead of posting here. Anyone have an opinion on that?

Re: A plan to make my '70 pretty(er)
 

I practiced my welds for a while today. Wow, I suck! But, I did learn a lot. If anyone else is just getting started I found this incredibly helpful!

https://youtu.be/qScAlxb34UA

I've learned a lot from his videos and his accent is a trip. After watching the video I was able to get my welder dialed in and it started getting passable (to me):

Before:
Attachment 2070721

After:
Attachment 2070722

It's a little hard to tell because I was hacking up my scrap piece so bad, but I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. I tack welded and moved to a different spot and then went back, but I definitely over heated it with the grinder so it warped a bit.

What do you guys like to use to grind/sand down the welds so it doesn't get too hot?

Re: A plan to make my '70 pretty(er)
 

Dont try to weld a bead on thin metal..it will result in a mess...only do stich/spot welds..keep each spot about 2in apart, and move around as you go.. wait for it to cool before doing more..When doing stitch welding, you'll need to grind each spot as you go, be sure to grind only the metal you added with the welder..if you go to town with a grinder, you'll get into the orig metal before you know it..then itll be really thin..
I use the mp&c method..use a cutoff disc on a air grinder..keep disc 90deg to your weld seam and you can keep it on the high part of your weld....do a series of spot welds and then grind each weld flat...if possible use a hammer and dolley as you go on the ground spot welds...also anywhere you can get copper on the back side of the weld it will greatly help you prevent burmthru...

Re: A plan to make my '70 pretty(er)
 

One tip that helped me was when your weld sounds like bacon frying, you get a nice weld

Re: A plan to make my '70 pretty(er)
 

https://www.amazon.com/s?k=sanding+f...983562239&hvde These flap disc on a grinder work very well they don't usually attack the surrounding area of the weld. Keep practicing each day will get better. Let me know when I can drop a few things off