Quote Originally Posted by blownbudget19 View Post
Just wondering where the best place to buy rust repair panels, i have heard mixed reveiws on the rare spares ones. Particulaly the full cowel, sills and quaters?

Has anyone had there van fully sand blasted? If so did it wreck it, i have also heard mixed reveiws

And does anyone no of a good panel beater/ spray painter in the ballarat area
I can't add a lot when it comes to sandblasting, like many things it can be in the skill of the operator. I have had plastic parts stripped and pecan and walnut shell, it's much more gentle than sand or even aluminium oxide. However if I was doing the job I would have the car dipped. The car that way is de-rusted in all the areas that a sand or soda blaster can't get to. I think they use molasses, it strips the paint and rust. It will get right into all the joints and inside all of the difficult box panels like around the front windscreen. The car can then optionally then get coated with a temporary anti corrosive. I agree with the other poster than said you need to get the paint off to see what condition the metal is in. For me, so much work goes into top paint jobs, so I don't want to see a bubble of rust appearing in short order.

The other product I like is the Penitrol CIP, it is a marine grade product and has a capillary effect so it will find it's way into nooks and crannies in very hard to get to areas and unlike fish oil it is a paint and quite tough. You can still use body cavity wax or fish oil over the Penitrol when it dries.

One other reason I don't like blasting is rust can form in all the little surface defects it creates, so much easier when you have nice smooth metal to deoxidiene. Don't forget to use a excellent etch primer for lasting anti corrosive staying power. I used to use only Glasurit but I don't think that expense is worth it these days, try Baslac, it is made in the same factory as Glasurit but roughly a third of the price. There is no proofie system for the Baslac so hence the lower price. The proofies are for colour matching btw. If you are interested in a cheap pearl, you can buy the raw ingredients to mix into your clear, they cost less than $20 although I haven't used them myself but I can't see why they wouldnt work. Good Luck.