Soda Blasting

[gema]

Anyone else heard of this?

Just got off the phone with Stacey from http://www.chesapeakesodaclean.com

and talked at length with him about possibly using the process to strip my Z. I'll probably end up using biodegradable chemicals for the exterior, and having him do the engine bay. Price is 150/hr. My question is...is it possible/affordable to do this yourself? I have a good compressor, and if I could buy soda blasting equipment (sandblasting equip seems to be cheap), I could do this for parts later on as well (suspension pieces and such). Really is an interesting (and environmentally friendly!) technology.

[Ed]

I remember seeing a member's picture here that had his engine bay done with the soda blasting method, sorry can't remember who. It sounds like a less abrasive media vs. sand or glass bead.

I wonder though how many times can you re-use it before it turns to dust?

I don't know how well it would work for your suspension parts. I think you would want a more aggressive media to clean those parts with. I've been using aluminum oxide and am happy with the results.

You can buy a portable blaster at harbor freight $80 bucks or so. Only problem with getting one is then you need a booth or compartment of some kind to do your parts (I converted an old freezer and used my portable blaster).

The body shop I took my car to to get painted HIGHLY recommended to NOT blast the body. They say that the heat generated by the blasting process distorts the metal.

Do your homework on this. I for one wish I had bought a proper booth instead of converting the freezer. Live and learn I say.

[TomoHawk]

I think it's the sand or aluminum (harder) media that heats up the body metal and distorts it. The soda, or even plastic, makes less heat. The good thing about soda is you can wash it out of the little crevices, and dry with air, where sand, aluminum & plastic may get stuck in there, and that traps water, making it easy for rust to get a start.

The worst part of blasting your car body (or anything not done in a blasting booth) is that you get the media ALL OVER: in your hair, in your shirt, down your pants.. No matter how good you think you shake out your clothes & hair, you still end up bringing it in the house. You might consider going swimming in a pool or a bike ride to get the stuff off you and not bring it home. Maybe you have a buddy that's building himself a garage, so you can borrow it and cover the floor & walls with media, like we did.

[webdawg1]

I'm checking out a place in atlanta, GA called "Abrasives & Equipment of Atlanta" url for their website: www.abrasivesandequipment.com

From what I've looked at so far, as far as information goes, it looks like you can only use it one time when you blast something because it basically turns to dust when it hits the surface that you are blasting. (It self destructs (the blasting media) instead of heating up the metal that you are blasting.

Appears to be the way to go if you want to do the entire shell at one time, or in stages depending on what part of the body you would want to blast.

webdawg1

[beandip]

The method works. The city of Portland uses it to remove the painted lines in the street , takes off the paint and no effect on the assfault. I personally would not do the body to strip all the paint. If you remove everything you will just need to reapply and you are causing a hell of a lot of unnecessary work. I sandblasted the rust on the floors and battery area . And also the front suspension. before you strip the body do some research , you will be glad you did. Send a email to escanlon , he has painted several Zs.

[Walter Moore]

I tend to agree with beandip, don't remove solid paint unless you are not sure what it is hiding.

As you can see from my picture I did remove all the paint on my car, but that was only because whever I hit it with a sander I hit bondo, and I wanted to know what I was up against.

(old repair panels mostly, that some previous owner had "blended in" with body filler and an oar... in some places it was 1/4" thick.)

But the factory paint, if it is solid and not hiding rust, is a better base than anything else you are likely to apply later.

Just what I have come to believe.

[ChrisA]

gema,

My dad had his Cutlass 442's engine bay and front suspension soda blasted. Really nice. Left a nice smooth finish for the paint. Must be rinsed with a solution afterwards but I'm sure you know that. The shop that did it for him even left some of the rubber bits on the car and they were not affected by the process at all. I would do it if I ever needed it.

Chris

[gema]

I have to take the entire thing to bare metal. There's some questionable areas (both rust and filler) and the original paint is no longer original.