Cost of painting a vehicle &/or cost of sandblasting parts

jeepmkcomin

Well-Known Member
Joined
Sep 3, 2007
Location
Raleigh NC
Those who take a vehicle or parts somewhere for sandblasting or have had a vehicle painted somewhere...

If you don't mind being candid:

Where did you take your vehicle? How much did you pay for your paint job and were you happy? How has it held up? How much prep work did you take on?

Where did you take parts for sandblasting? How much did you pay? Any idea how sandblasters charge--Is it for time and blasting medium? Any advice you have regarding sandblasting?

Thanks ahead of time.
 
The last one I had done was a rolling chassis 76 CJ back in 2005.

I had Robbins Sandblasting on 109 here in Winston-Salem do it for me. He used sand (not media) and their facility is outdoors in the back of a junk yard. So NOT a world class finishes expectation.

It cost me $200 and took them about 3 days to get to it. I took them the stripped JEEP less glass, lights, etc. They did the body inside, out, and under.

This was the second vehicle I had taken to them to do.

No complaints. They would have primed it after blasting if I'd wanted.


Advice: Whatever you take, strip all the way down. I.E. If it's a whole vehicle remove the motor/trans, axles, glass, everything that's NOT the metal or you can expect damage, and or infiltration of sand in every single area. If you take a rolling chassis, expect sand in the differentials, axles, and the bearings to be shot. On the trip home, be sure to hit a road with a great deal of potholes and or washboard surface to shake all the sand out of the areas. When I took my 62 chevy stepside I was still getting sand dropping out months after I brought it home every single time I'd close the doors.

If you're taking parts, disassemble completely.

Sand from Sandblasting anything is like giving a 5 yr old a 10 pound bag of glitter and a red bull. It's gonna be everywhere
 
I use a mobile blasting service that comes to my shop and blasts it in our back lot, Sand or soda. In general, depending on size of vehicle and how much bondo he has to get off it will run $6-900. He knows what he is doing and will not warp panels or blow holes in thin pieces. As he said, sand or soda will be EVERYWHERE!

Can I ask if why you would like it blasted bare? If it is a restoration or something you want to be perfect then I understand, but if you just want a decent paint job and the current paint and body work on the vehicle isn't failing (peeling, cracking etc all over the vehicle) then I would recommend against blasting a full vehicle down to bare metal, especially if you are on any type of a budget. Reason being, blasting for one will make a mess of everything and unless you strip the entire interior (HVAC and all), there will be loads of cleanup. Two, you will have to spend a lot more money on body work unless the vehicle has an absolutely perfect body. Ideally immediately after blasting the vehicle needs to be prep washed and either etch primered or epoxy primered because surface rust will begin to form with any hint of moisture or humidity.

Paint wise, using any type of halfway decent materials you will be looking at a minimum of $1000 in materials alone. You can do it for cheaper but it will have a limited life span, the color hold out and UV protection will be crap. Paint materials are definitely a get what you pay for type of deal, when we paint a car the materials alone run anywhere from $1k to ~$8k (some base coats are upwards of $2k/gallon). In general, the minimum I charge for a complete respray (less jams and undersides of hood/trunk) is $2k and that is a bare bones sand and shoot. No body work, very minor disassembly, but mostly mask off trim, shoot and denib. The finish would be 10x a cheapy maaco job and hold out longer, but certainly not a show quality finish.
 
I use and highly recommend Top-Coat in Raleigh off of Glenwood Ave out near 540. I had my front bumper blasted after I finished building it for around $75 if I recall correctly.
 
Just had a Bronco tub blasted. Ran me $400 but I had already stripped the exterior surfaces. Expect $900-$1500 for a full job. I'm doing all the prep and spraying epoxy primer. I will have a body shop do the finish work and paint. It will be around $3k including materials. That is for a single stage paint job using decent products. It'd be very easy to double that figure.
 
Take a look at dry ice blasting. No worries about getting grit in your cracks. I have no experience with it, just read about it.
 
Gainey Sandblasting is who I use. He is in Linden NC not far from Fayetteville.


10234 Ramsey St,

Linden, NC 28356

(910) 980-0621
 
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