Car Motor Makes Good Sandblaster

Car Motor Makes Good Sandblaster ENGINES Engines 31-2-38 "I made a sand blaster-compressor from a car motor," says Harold Witulski of Beatrice, Neb. "The sand tank is made from an old water softener tank." Since he already had the old motor and hydraulic hoses, the only thing he had to buy was the ceramic nozzle and a sandblasting hood to protect his head. Witulski started his project by removing the valve rocker arms, intake springs and push rods from the motor. Then he installed lightweight springs on the intake valves so when the piston goes down, it can suck air in. "I removed the carburetor and made an adapter for the air cleaner. Next, I removed the inside of the eight old spark plugs, and welded on the outer ring of a one-way hydraulic ball valve (which lets the air out of the cylinder one way and won't let it back in)," he explains. "These were taken off of hydraulic fittings." Witulski ran hoses from the valves to an air manifold he'd made from a foot-long section of 2-in. pipe with plugs welded on both ends of it. Then, he drilled holes along the pipe's length, positioning four on each side to go to the spark plugs, and a large hole on one end to go to a T at the bottom of the sand tank. After welding fittings into the holes, he used a 1-in. hose to connect the end of the pipe to the sand tank, and 1/2-in. hoses, which run to the spark plugs, creating eight places for the air to go in. At the other end of the pipe, he installed a smaller hole and fitting for a 3/8-in hose which allows the air to exit to the top of the sand tank. He made the sand tank by placing a ball valve at the bottom of an old water softener. Witulski connected this to a T where the air comes in. The T also has a 1-in. dia. hose connected where the air and sand travel out to the ceramic sandblasting nozzle. "When you open the ball valve, the sand will fall down into the air stream," he explains. "There was already a 3-in. hole at the top of the tank, with an airtight plug that works good to put the sand in. You adjust the ball valve at the bottom to set the amount of sand you want in the air stream." Witulski mounted a salvaged pto to the engine, allowing him to hook onto the tractor's pto. This turns the compressor engine the same way it did while running on the car. In this way, he says he's able to maintain oil pressure in his motor. "I also moved the car's radiator and fan to the back end of the motor for cooling." he says. "You have to use dry sand, otherwise it will plug up everything. I usually get fine fill sand ahead of time and shake it through a house screen to make sure it's fine enough - then let it dry in the shed so it's ready to use." Witulski says he generally uses his sand blaster for only an hour at a time, but cautions that if you're going to use it continuously, you should probably use copper tubing from the spark plugs to the manifold because it gets pretty hot. Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, Harold Witulski, 8558 W. Lilac Rd., Beatrice, Neb. 68310 (ph 402 228-0633).

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