Blasting for a frame-off restoration

A frame-off is the one time everything is accessible. Using that window properly saves you doing parts of it twice.

Do the disassembly properly first

Every bracket, clip and line still attached is something we mask around, and masking is time. It is also a place contamination hides and coating fails later. The further it is stripped, the better the result.

A sensible order

• Frame and heavy structure first, dry blasted, then coated promptly.
• Suspension, brackets and small parts — batch them, they are quick together and slow individually.
• Body shell and panels last, wet blasted, timed so your primer goes on immediately.

What people get wrong

• Blasting before welding. Any fabrication or patch work should be done first, or you are grinding and welding a prepared surface and preparing it again.
• Stripping everything at once with no coating plan. Bare steel does not wait.
• Leaving grease and undercoat on. Media drives contamination into the profile. Degrease first.

Frames coming out of storage on acreages around Dunmore, Seven Persons and Cypress County have usually sat on dirt for years. What is underneath is rarely what the owner expects.