[Ryoko]

I'm looking to get a decent set of sanding blocks to begin preliminary straightening of my project. I know Durablock is the big name in the industry. But the pricing seems rather high for what is essentially branded strips of foam rubber. Are there alternatives that will do the job and not fall apart after 5 minutes of use?

 

[Crosley]

The brand Big Kid blocks are becoming popular from what I read. I have not used them or know what they cost.

 

[Ryoko]

Big Kid blocks

Wow. The Big Kid blocks are way up in price. They look nice, however. They do have one advantage over the DuraBlock kits in that they are longer. The basic kits for the DB are 11" long. I think the 7 piece kit has one that's 16" which I think would be a minimum length for blocking the large doors on a 2nd gen F-Body. A 24" or even a 36" would be even better I imagine. I'm starting to think that I should should buy a long block or two and not bother with the kits.

 

[123pugsy]

A nice long chunk of plastic plumbing drain pipe works amazingly well.
Can't get a cheaper block than that.

Use other flat stuff you have laying around. I see one guy that uses only plexiglass. Only flat hard material? Don't know how he does it.

 

[Ryoko]

The only truly flat areas on a 2nd gen firebird are the sides of the doors (fore and aft). Most of the large areas have a bit of a compound curve to them. So I'm guessing you don't want a long board that's completely rigid. I'm temped to go to the local big box home improvement center and pick up a piece of clean popular and cut it to size and add a couple of knobs for handles on it. Maybe 1/4" hardboard could be usable.

 

[ogre]

i sanded most of 58truk with one foam rubber 5x3 block and self adhesive 3" roll paper
i also used foam pipe insulation and scotchbrite pads cut to 3" wide for the paper
i'm definitely not a body and paint guy, but i did my B&P in a paint shop and just followed the painter's methods

i never 'got' hard sanding blocks, soft works well for wood projects too