So I've been fiddling around with a rebuild for a while (more thinking than doing, sadly). My big goals are taking care of the rust and body problems with my BJ40, addressing all the little mechanical issues, and then doing some upgrades depending on my remaining budget once those items are taken care of.
The problem I'm running into is that it's a pain in the ass stripping down the tub. Rhinolined inside, tons of bondo on the exterior. Until I get it off, I'm not completely sure what I can salvage and what I need to fabricate replacements for. I've been going at it with an angle grinder and abrasive/wire wheels, which is at least workable for some of the flatter areas, but all the nooks and crannies are going to kill me. So, I'm thinking blasting might be the best option.
Here are the challenges with that: My workspace only has 120v service off of a 60A breaker, and a fuse panel so old that it keeps trying to chide me about "that horseless carriage" every time I get to work. I could replace it, but honestly I'm renting this house with no intent to own, and improving the lighting + painting the garage interior white is about as much as I'm willing to invest in it.
I've not got much in the way of pneumatic tools, but I do intend to try to handle my own painting after the fact to save a few bucks (plus, it seems like it'd be good to know how to do anyway). Likewise, I'd like to paint or powder coat damn near every thing to keep future corrosion at bay, so building my own little booth for the bulk of the smaller stuff seems to make sense.
The real question is, is there a "workable" compromise out there? The general impression I've gotten is that trying to do any serious blasting with the size of compressor I'll be likely to find is at best slow going, and at worst completely pointless. However, with no practical experience, I can't really say. On the other hand, if I shell out to have everything blasted, that'll probably take most of the budget I'd have spent on a compressor/blaster/etc anyway, and make it a pain for me to do the small scale on-demand stuff later on. In addition, it makes it more of a pain logistically, as I've not got a trailer to haul everything down to a professional place to start with.
So, any ideas? If it's sort of doable on the small scale, any suggestions on the equipment front?
The problem I'm running into is that it's a pain in the ass stripping down the tub. Rhinolined inside, tons of bondo on the exterior. Until I get it off, I'm not completely sure what I can salvage and what I need to fabricate replacements for. I've been going at it with an angle grinder and abrasive/wire wheels, which is at least workable for some of the flatter areas, but all the nooks and crannies are going to kill me. So, I'm thinking blasting might be the best option.
Here are the challenges with that: My workspace only has 120v service off of a 60A breaker, and a fuse panel so old that it keeps trying to chide me about "that horseless carriage" every time I get to work. I could replace it, but honestly I'm renting this house with no intent to own, and improving the lighting + painting the garage interior white is about as much as I'm willing to invest in it.
I've not got much in the way of pneumatic tools, but I do intend to try to handle my own painting after the fact to save a few bucks (plus, it seems like it'd be good to know how to do anyway). Likewise, I'd like to paint or powder coat damn near every thing to keep future corrosion at bay, so building my own little booth for the bulk of the smaller stuff seems to make sense.
The real question is, is there a "workable" compromise out there? The general impression I've gotten is that trying to do any serious blasting with the size of compressor I'll be likely to find is at best slow going, and at worst completely pointless. However, with no practical experience, I can't really say. On the other hand, if I shell out to have everything blasted, that'll probably take most of the budget I'd have spent on a compressor/blaster/etc anyway, and make it a pain for me to do the small scale on-demand stuff later on. In addition, it makes it more of a pain logistically, as I've not got a trailer to haul everything down to a professional place to start with.
So, any ideas? If it's sort of doable on the small scale, any suggestions on the equipment front?
