In all her glory..!!

[E-ticket]

Just finished Soda Blasting my 72 today what do you think??

Metal work complete time for body work and paint.

Edited July 12, 2009 by E-ticket

[Oiluj]

Reminds me of when my car was at that stage. Nice work!

[tibZ]

Looks good E. Did you do that yourself or hire someone?I am thinking about trying that out for my next step. I have taken the heavy stuff off with alot of elbow grease and I was going to blast it next with glass bead. Do you prefer the soda? I have read there is a special bath you have to do before paint.

Mike

[E-ticket]

I did it myself, I am a partner in Tidewater Soda Blasting. www.tidewatersodablasting.com

We prefer soda on body panels as it doesn't build up heat while removing the paint or damage the steel, but it doesn't remove rust.

If I see rust, I switch to glass bead. Glass bead removes rust and leaves a small profile - less then sand or jet-mag.

A word of caution using glass bead: It does build up heat in the steel and will warp panels if you get too close.

As far as prep work prior to primer or sealer / paint.

There is a layer of soda that needs to be removed prior to

any coating as with any type of blast work.

We use Hold Tight 102 it is a rust inhibitor and removes all the soda residue. It leaves the steel clean as the day it was stamped at the factory.

Soda blasting it the only way to go to prep a car prior to a full paint job. Most blasters can do a car in one day and pricing varies depending on the detail requested.

Edited July 12, 2009 by E-ticket

[george71z]

Boy, that reminds me of when I had my '71 media blasted in 1992. Got it back in about the same shape; and man, was I scared. All the patches, holes and hidden damage. I swore I would never be able to finish the project. All is well in the end. Good luck on your resto, and be sure to post more progress pics, and the final, of course.

[Carl Beck]

I had the BRE Z glass bead blasted. The car's sheetmetal was in amazing rust free condition, and it only had a couple small door dings that had been skim coated before.

I would have had the body shop strip it by hand - and that is really what they wanted to do. The probem was that the PO had reinstalled a complete stock interior.. and in so doing he had glued the jute pads to the metal, then glued the new carpet to the jute pads. What a mess... I tried stripping the glue off by hand with a very strong glue remover - but after doing a small area I decided it just wasn't going to happen.

So I really sent the car to be bead blasted - to remove all the glue on the interior! I believe the shop said that they had to use walunt shells to get the glue off - as the glass beads were not good at all for removing soft, sticky materials... like the glue or body sealers etc... Whatever they used - it came back clean as new metal... After doing the interior, there wasn't much more to do on the exterior, and what the heck might as well do the engine compartment while it's there...

The main problem is - when the body shop got ready to shoot the epoxy primer... we had media blowing out of every crack and crevasse... STOP.... take the day and blow or vacuum the hell out of the body.. blow and vacuum some more. The next day it was again ready for primer.

After the paint job was done - and after I got the car back together - The first trip down the road resulted in medial blowing all over the inside of the car - don't ask me where it came from - it seemed to come from everywhere.. Got home vacuumed and cleaned again. For the next five to seven road trips as I was trying to break in the engine and brakes.. same thing... media blowing out of everywhere...

If I had it to do again - I wouldn't. I would just pay someone else to strip the interior of glue...

You might have an easier time - washing the soda off - and out of the hiding places...

FWIW,

Carl B.

[E-ticket]

Carl you are exactly right, the media, whatever type is used ends up in the strangest places. After I blast a car I use my blaster's dry side to blow out as much as possible.

Even with my big compressor (175 cfm), it sometimes takes a while, but it sure beats hand sanding an entire car for several days.

[E-ticket]

More pics before and after Soda Blasting and metal repair..

[mally002]

I used the soda last winter, but your right it's everywhere. Good luck with your project.