Thread: Firewall/Bulkhead Sandblasting

Not in Perth but have had a couple done. I used Garnet which is a fairly aggressive media but no problems. It will start to rust within a few hours of blasting so paint it quickly. Many blasting places also do apply industrial coatings which will probably be better than anything you can buy. Organic zinc is a good coating to ask for. However the blasting process may reveal rust pinholes or worse which you didnt know about........ Holes up to about 5mm can be filled with a MIG without patching.

It cost me $150 including blasting and priming in organic zinc.

Originally Posted by Sealo

Hi all,

I have a Bulkhead / firewall from my IIa 109 GS that I would like to get sandblasted.

This will give me a good base to assess the said item for repairs and welding.

Can any one recomend how I could get this done in the Perth area, and what sort of costs/problems I would encounter ?

thanks

j

Never, ever Sand blast sheet metal on a car or truck, not only does sand blasting distort panels it Work hardens them and makes them Brittle, a firewall would normally be under stress and prone to cracking and splitting especially if it is work Hardened by Sand Blasting. There are other methods like bead blasting where they use Plastic beads and much lower pressures, a mate of mine had a high tensile chassis off an Atkinson truck sand blasted and he ended up with more cracks (in his chassis) than there is in Kings Cross on a Saturday night, another mate had a HQ Panel Van sand blasted and the large side panels stretched that far that both sides of his van ended up like a Wobble board, they used to flap something fierce when he was driving, ended up having to scrap it, check it out carefully before you sand blast, Regards Frank.

Originally Posted by Tank

Never, ever Sand blast sheet metal on a car or truck, not only does sand blasting distort panels it Work hardens them and makes them Brittle, a firewall would normally be under stress and prone to cracking and splitting especially if it is work Hardened by Sand Blasting. There are other methods like bead blasting where they use Plastic beads and much lower pressures, a mate of mine had a high tensile chassis off an Atkinson truck sand blasted and he ended up with more cracks (in his chassis) than there is in Kings Cross on a Saturday night, another mate had a HQ Panel Van sand blasted and the large side panels stretched that far that both sides of his van ended up like a Wobble board, they used to flap something fierce when he was driving, ended up having to scrap it, check it out carefully before you sand blast, Regards Frank.

Work hardening only occurs to a very shallow depth when sand blasting, and land-rover parts are mild steel, not high-tensile like truck components, so I doubt it would be a problem.

The firewall on my IIA was sand blasted, then galvanised, and it hasn't had any problems, as was just about every steel part on my dad's IIA (also then galvanised) - again without problems.

Originally Posted by isuzurover

Work hardening only occurs to a very shallow depth when sand blasting, and land-rover parts are mild steel, not high-tensile like truck components, so I doubt it would be a problem.

The firewall on my IIA was sand blasted, then galvanised, and it hasn't had any problems, as was just about every steel part on my dad's IIA (also then galvanised) - again without problems.

Didn't say that the L/R firewall was high tensile, my mates panel van certainly wasn't, you can take my advice or not, no skin off my nose, but I would check with a reputable company that does sand blasting, Regards Frank.

Large thin panels eg door skins etc can and do warp when media blasted however the shape and stiffness of a firewall means it wont be prone......