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Epoxy Primer is on

Now to be sprayed black, new superpro bushes fitted, new GAZ coilovers fitted and the ARB put into its rightful place.

It is a good feeling to sense that you are making progress on a project. I will be blasting suspension parts on the Viva and other panels on another project. Looking at sourcing a good compressor. Saw somewhere that it is suggested that you need something capable of producing 14CFM to effectively blast. With a lower power is it just a matter that you spend more time to get a desired result. As a matter of interest Ethan how did you fare with your system.

For blasting, you want the biggest cylinder you can. I used to use a mate's blasting cabinet run by a screw-compressor with something like a 500l cylinder, but it was still running all the time. I have a 50l cylinder and need a lot of patience when I'm blasting, to the extent I don't do it much.

Hi Bill. We use a road compressor so it's more like 90CFM. The pot we use holds just shy of 1 x 25kg bag of sand and to be honest the 90CFM compressor is just about fit for our setup and no more. A 14 CFM definitely would not run our blasting operation but I believe with a smaller tip it perhaps could be done. We have a proper tungsten tip 6mm but so require at least 60CFM. See below link for info on our pot and compressor requirements per tip. They are saying a 3mm tip would need 15CFM but you'd be better with an oversized compressor so it's not on its knees the entire time you're using it.

You'd also need a hood with clean air feed and the filters too. See photos

http://blastclean.info/products/gb25m.html

Photo of our pot

Subframe components now painted black too

Also worth noting the pot is supplied with a water separator but we fitted an additional one to work with it. We were advised to do this by a friend who does the lettering on headstones and uses his equipment on a daily basis. The drier the air is the better

Thanks very much for your comprehensive reply Ethan. Plenty information to guide me there. Better to get the most powerful that can economically bought. Bill

No problem Bill. It is expensive to start up because you really do need everything listed unfortunately can't cut any corners. We do have quite a lot of stuff to blast so it was worthwhile investing in. Plus, when it comes to body panels we prefer to take longer at it and do it ourselves as thinner metal can get warped very easily due to the heat buildup the blasting causes in the material. Some who blast for a living may not be so keen on spending twice as long as normal on one panel to ensure it doesn't warp. I was told a pretty good way to think of it is like the reverse of painting. You apply paint in layers so you should also blast paint/rust off in layers. Don't focus on one area for ages, move on and return to it multiple times to prevent damage.