I went to The Pep Boys and bought an enclosed carport canopy and went back to The Shop to try and convince C and his brothers to help me assemble it. Once it was up we went down to Home Depot and bought an industrial power strip some clamp lights to make the carport a useable space, after all winter was coming. Even if it is Los Angeles we still have to deal with darkness and the humid ocean air. I also bought a large roll of heavy duty plastic drop cloth. I went back to the shop and got it all set up. It was clean room quality, or as close enough to it as I was going to get.
The next day I began researching sand blasting materials. Little did I know that high tech cleaning involved either crushed walnut shells or micro rubies. Who would have guessed? However, the more I read online the more it seemed do it yourself sandblasting was pretty problematic. All the sand blasting materials to purchase via the internet were pretty pricing if for no other reason than shipping costs. Eventually, I went back to Home Depot to see what they had. They had no idea. I talked for five different people about sand blasting media and eventually waited around for 20 minutes until their "expert" was free. He directed me to a $5 bag of sand and told me that was what people used, even though the bag said not to use for sandblasting on it. They were no help. I bought the bag and schlepped it back to The Shop.
C and the brothers assessed the situation. R had dug out the sandblast machine for me. C was concerned. I told him about all the research I had done. After conferring with A and R they decided I probably should outsource the sandblasting job just to be safe. I agreed I did not want any of the Brothers put in health jeopardy from flying silicon micro particles from the sand.
Back at the computer researching sandblasting businesses in my area I was trying not to get discouraged. Of course this was going to be more expensive than I expected. Of course The Brothers were going to proceed cautiously. I proceeded forward without complaint since it was my project. I learned about powder coating and while it had an appeal it was too expensive. I tried using the web to find pricing and turn around time information, but despite being the 21st century this was near impossible. Finally I resorted to old fashioned phone calling, but even this was challenging as many businesses had closed or I was dealing with contractors who were out and about.
Finally, I found a place in the neighborhood. They would not quote me a price without seeing the item. I met C at The Shop early one morning before work and we took the frame to the metal working shop. One day turn around and the same price I had been quoted elsewhere. A deal was struck. We left the frame and picked it up the next day.
Now we had a clean frame, a place to store it, and primer and Bondo to repair it.
