SanFord the Great! A 1956 Ford B-600 RV

Chadeux wrote: So I see we're back to the Planet Express logo-less Planet Express livery. I like it.

So it would seem..

It totally needs a Planet Express crew member looking out a window.

If only there was an explanation for why that is...

In reply to nocones:

Well Played, well played.

Love the bus. This is going well!

I've given up on the water blasting. I refuse to spend another $70 for another blaster only to have it wear out in a couple of hours.

So, we are back to doing it the old fashion way. Air. My sandblast rig isn't very big so this is going to take a little longer, but it will be a good bit cheaper.

More to come.

Would you be willing to share more details about your experience with the water blaster? Would you recommend the water blaster for a smaller vehicle?

For a smaller vehicle it would probably work great. By the time you finished the vehicle, the blaster would be worn out. The problem is the sand not only wears out the tips, it erodes the gun body as well so even changing tips doesn't help.

This tip has run about 3 hours and 400 pounds of sand. It will no longer remove paint. I have tried rotating the tips every 10-15 minutes, but that actually wears them out faster.

This gun has about 10 hours and 1200 pounds of sand through it.

The half moon part in the center is supposed to be a full circle. It will no longer build pressure and won't remove paint.

The gun really needs to be made out of ceramic to hold up. I have found some that look more durable, but they are $400-$800.

Toyman01 wrote: A couple of thoughts on the water sandblasting. Over all, I prefer it to regular sandblasting, but it does have one glaring disadvantage. Dry media can be sifted and run through the gun again. Wet media can't. I'm going to try to dry what I've used so far and use it again. We'll see how that works. It sure was nice to not have to wear a respirator or hood today. That alone makes water blasting worthwhile to me. I bought the General Pump blaster from Norther Tool. It was pretty cheap and works pretty well, but durable it isn't. I burned up two tips today. Not that big a deal except they are $30 each. Rotating them regularly didn't help. If anything, it made the tip unusable even faster. I should have spent more money and bought a blast kit with a ceramic tip. I may be doing that anyways. If I burn through 4-5 more tips finishing the bus, it may be cheaper to buy a better gun. Stay tuned for more on that.

I'm interested in water blasting as well, I've had enough of dust. Though googles failed me this is what I was looking for. No consumable ceramic tips... was that the problem??

Looks like it did a good job while it was working.

edit: guess you answered that as I was typing. thanks

I'm continually impressed at your perseverance. So many of these projects don't get past the bring it home and think about it stage, but here you (and the whole family) are just plugging away at the tasks that need to be done to save this bus. Good job.

Tempted now to home build a blast gun. Heavy BMI pipe wye 3/8" NPT, SS tubing for sand and water supply, steel or brass compression fittings, 3/8" to 1/4" bell reducer on the discharge w/ heavy 1/4" (even 1/8) pipe nipple. The bell reducer and nipple should be the only wear parts but not a big deal.

I prolly have most of this on the shelf or can get it easy enough.

I think the problem with the gun is simply one of intended use. The NT unit is for hobbyists and built to a low price. You're taking on a massive job, all those layers of paint on such a large object. It's basically a pro level job so a pro tool would be appropriate.

Keith Tanner wrote: I think the problem with the gun is simply one of intended use. The NT unit is for hobbyists and built to a low price. You're taking on a massive job, all those layers of paint on such a large object. It's basically a pro level job so a pro tool would be appropriate.

That is exactly the problem. One car would be no problem. 5 of them is beyond the designed use of the tool.

Progress has been made.

I should have the rest of the bus body done in one more session. Then it will be time for the hood and fenders. I'm not sure sand blasting them is a good idea. The bus body is pretty thick to resist warping. The rest of it isn't. I might just sand them with a DA.

Planet express colors, I approve

The offer to buy the planet express stickers still stands.

I'm probably a bit biased but I like the red stripe.

In reply to Wall-e:

nice

My perfect paint isn't quite perfect. After a couple of days there was some staining. Either a reaction with the metal primer, or possibly rust stains from the metal itself. I had sanded the metal primer prior to painting and might have gotten overzealous. The directions said it was self-priming and a second coat would cover, but at $50 a gallon I didn't want to take the chance.

So, now we have a primer on a primer. The new primer should seal any issues I was having and be compatible with the color paints.

Looks like:

The light color makes it look smaller as well. Interesting.

Tomorrow's plan is to seal all the little annoying cracks and crevasses. Then this side will be ready for the finish coat.

Wall-e wrote: I'm probably a bit biased but I like the red stripe.

I wonder if this influenced the color scheme for Planet Express? They're based in New New York after all.

Toyman01 wrote: The light color makes it look smaller as well. Interesting.

We're all adults here, everyone build your own joke.

I have more respect for you now that I drove through the mountains today between NC and SC. Holy crap that was a ride. I couldn't imagine what it was like in Sanford.

In reply to SyntheticBlinkerFluid:

That is my favorite place in the world. And having spent a lot of time there, I was pretty worried about it. Honestly, other than being slow, it wasn't too bad.

Toyman01 wrote: In reply to SyntheticBlinkerFluid: That is my favorite place in the world. And having spent a lot of time there, I was pretty worried about it. Honestly, other than being slow, it wasn't too bad.

Did you take it on US 129 and get some Killboy photos of it? Did I miss that?