A day at the beach

Finally it's not raining and there is time away from other obligations so that the frame can be sandblasted.

The sandblasting pot that is being used is from Harbor Freight, so it's not perfect, but this machine will eventually get this job done. It's slow going, but after a few hours of going slow to spare the air compressor from overwork, about a fifth of the frame is rust free.

Sand was the clear choice for blast media for this job, despite the large sticker on the side of the blast pot that warns to avoid doing just that. It works well but must be screened before putting it in the pot, a process that takes a long time.

At the start of this portion of the project, there appeared to be only one stamping of the VIN - along the frame that reside beneath the driver's door - but there is another spot above the left rear wheel as well. This was discovered today.

There is sand everywhere, but that makes it easy to scoop it back up and sift it back into the sandblast pot.

It appears that it's going to take four or five more sessions of blasting to get this done, but the finished product is very nice. The surfaces of the frame are fairly smooth and free of pitting save for a few rough places.

Once this is fully blasted and cleaned of excess sand, this will be primed and painted semigloss black as it was by the factory. Until then, it's being pickled by SEM Rust Mort which converts the surface rust and seals it with a phosphorous salt.