In reply #10, I said that had I found three companies in the Orlando, FL area that did dustless blasting and that I was going to check out the one that seemed the most promising.
Well, that didn't work out so well. I thought I had communicated with the guy over the phone the finish I was after. Maybe his idea of what a "satin" finish was and mine were two different things. When I got there, the guy I spoke to on the phone was not there and but a couple of his workers were. When I started talking to them about what the final finish would look like, what they told me didn't sound right. I asked them to hit a small area on the inside of the bell housing so I could see what it would look like. It was nothing like what Lloyd's vapor blasted bell housings look like! It just looked like basic blasting. Rough and dull. So I politely thanked them but told them I didn't want to do it. They were nice guys and said no problem. It didn't cost me anything, just some time!
So the one thing I learned from this is that dustless blasting and vapor blasting are not necessary one and the same. I'll have to check if there are any others who do vapor blasting in the area. This time though, I would send them the picture of Lloyd's bell housings and be sure that's what the finished product would look like before even leaving the house.
This was never something I was looking to put a lot of effort or money into. I wanted to check out the vapor blasting since it was mentioned and the results looked great. If the blasting doesn't work out, I'm still willing to go with paint and still looking for a suggestion on a good aluminum replication paint.
Thanks.....Dave
