To blast or not to blast?

[bergy]

I am in the process of restoring my Vendo 44 and have the machine apart. I will be doing the body work. When I talked to the guy that is going to paint it he said don't bother sand blasting just sand by hand the areas that need work and then prime them. But to me it would almost seem easier to sand blast it and repair and prime it. The paint appears to be completely original. It has typical dings and scratches for a 50s machine, but overall is in good shape. Any thoughts suggestions from people that have already done this?
Thanks.

[briandr1]

Get a new painter if he doesnt want to blast it down you may regret it if you dont, paint is only as good as the prep work.

[cokecolaman]

Ditto! Only as good as the prep!

[MoonDawg]

      I must disagree somewhat. I do agree that prepwork is important but I'm sure Vendo did just that, so a re-paint over original will still have a good base to it.

      Chips should be filled rather than sanded smooth though, to avoid a wavy finish but if the old paint hasn't peeled or cracked in 50 years, I usually don't remove it. I did take a multi-layered Pepsi machine in to be sandblasted 2 months ago and the guy warped the side of it trying to remove decals.

      Two exceptions, and the first is rust removal where blasting is preferred but will surely take the paint off with it.  Secondly, is blasting the embossed letters and surrounding areas as removing prior material will result in them looking much deeper and clearer. I just use a small home blast unit for this.

[bergy]

What you are saying about the base being good is what my painter was saying. I was thinking the same thing about the embossing. I think what I will do is sand down any imperfections and fill/sand prime them. Sandblast the embossing and prime those areas. Then i will scuff up the original paint. I am actually surprised how good the original paint is. It just has a few to many dings to leave it as is.