I have been under the assumption for a while that soda blasting is perfect for stripping a car down to metal. I have a 29 coupe that has the usual rust in the fender wheels and a lil on the front cow and mostl surface rust. I was told today by a car builder who i contacted to get my car soda blasted that soad will not blast the rust away and is only good for blasting paint away? is this true? he said that i need it media blasted with glass? he said it would cost $800 to $1000 for my coupe body and fenders.
ive had cars soda blasted and the rust was removed (gt500 shelby) that said, i prefer the walnut shell or plastic media wich for sure will remove the rust. we used to get cars done for 600, but the price you quote is about the going rate, sad but true skull
Just FYI I am looking into getting my coupe stripped/dipped. Did some research and I was told Not to get a car soda blasted. Had two shops tell me that the soda will absorb moisture. It can get in tight spots and cause problems down the road. One guy even pointed out saying that if a plane gets sodablasted it is deemed grounded permanently. Now I don't know the exact truth behind it all, but I did here that from two different shops not to use soda. I was quoted $500 obo to get my 30 coupe dipped, or $700 obo to get it glass/media blasted(paint/rust) and epoxy sealed. Billy
Sorry, but that's a load of BS. Soda blasting is routinely used to strip paint from aircraft. Just google "aircraft paint stripping" for more info.
My business uses fine grit #4 blasting sand mixed with silica for consistency. Old school? Absolutely. Remove rust the least expensive way and leave a great texture for primer? Absolutely. Finding someone that knows how to do it correctly without messing up your sheet metal? Good luck. Using sand takes practice and skill to do correctly, but when done correctly the finish is great. 40Deluxe - The price you stated in your post is about the going rate nowadays. Especially if your blaster is only using fresh media and not recycling it. Sand and media doesn't sounds expensive when you look at bag prices... but you add up 20+ bags+gallons of diesel per hour depending on compressor, add in the overhead for your shop... and it's not cheap. Best of luck on your project. -Chris
He's full of shit........, or wants to sell you someting? Anytime somebody in business tells this kind of tale, they have an agenda, usually in their best interest, not yours.
yea ive seen cars that have been soda blasted before and after and it looked to me that it got rid of the rust, so im confused, the guy has done some nice work and cars from what i can see from his website, but was really confused when he told me that.
the big thing with sandblasting, soda, media,walnut blasting is the piles of stuff it leaves behind in nooks and crannies of the body.. i had a t-roadster media blasted and the $hit piled up everywhere in corners and seams.. had to spend a full weekend cleaning, blowing vacuuming, before i could shoot the epoxy primer on.. i've seen cars after being dipped, thats the only way i'd do it now.. when they dip them its alot cleaner and it gets all the bondo and rust. the pre-cleanup is much faster and easier..
Soda will work for light-medium surface rust, however it's efficiency goes down dramatically once you get into heavy stuff like this: I haven't seen a pic of the project car to see what kind of rust is on it. Will soda remove rust? Yeah. Is it efficient on heavy rust or "1920's field car" rust... hell no.
Well aside from that, acid dip will work or real sand blasting (with sand) of course, there will most likely be a gaping hole when its done but hey, at least the rust is gone
Soda blasting will remove SURFACE rust, but not anything deeper than that. I have used it multiple times and can speak from experience. It also causes problems if it is not TOTALLY cleaned from all nooks and crannies afterward. Media blasting (sand, plastic beads, or walnut shells) is better but also requires a good cleaning after blasting. If your guy is not experienced, he can mess up a lot of metal in a hurry. Good luck. Later, Dick
For large fragile pieces with paint and/or rust that we get in for plating, we use the Redi-Strip in Indy. Mostly flimsy grill shells, dashes, and large garnish mouldings; stuff like that. Parts come back rust-free and paint free; and most importantly warp-free. Friendly guys, too. We haven't used them for a full car, but they do them. I had them strip my 1920's steel heater vents in my house 3 years ago. Those things were some really bad kind of nasty. Cleaned up great and I plated them; still look like new.
Soda WILL NOT remove RUST!!!! You may get some of the "STAINING" off a painted or lightly oxidized part but soda only takes off the paint.
Agreed, the last car I had soda blasted was a 64 Chevy wagon. The company that did it also does sand blasting. After they hit it with soad and removed all the paint they hit the rust spots with sand to get rid of rust. Soda is not very agressive. The areas where only soda was used you could still see the stamping scratches in the metal from when it was stamped. It didnt realy even etch the metal, I went over it all with 80 on a DA to make sure the epoxy primer had something to bite.
I had a primered body soda blasted and will definitely use it again, but, as stated, it is really only good for paint, primer and very light rust removal, as it is about the least aggressive media. It's also the cheapest in my area. Soda had two other advantages. One-it leaves a light rust protective coating that can last for months, as long as water does not come in contact with the parts. Two- requires only a good plain water rinse to prepare for primer, which will remove any soda from any tight hiding places. I know some shops do not recommend soda, as well as some paint suppliers, including PPG, the products I used, but research will reveal that soda not being properly removed with a water wash caused the problems, not the soda blasting itself. You just can't wipe the metal down, you have to use lots of water-no soaps, cleaners, etc, just water. I did this in the bright sun on a warm day, so the body dried fast with very minimal flashing until DP-90 was applied several days later. Bob
I have had 3 cars soda blasted. It will remove surface rust, the areas where there were rust you need to go over with metal prep or you could get some rust returning over time. Anything heavier will need to be media or sand blasted. Cleanup of Soda is very simple. If it hasn't got wet you can just blow it out with air. If has has got wet flood it out with water then blow dry the metal. I will never Dip a complete body again. The problem is it strips out everything in places you can't get to like in between seams and in pockets like where the rocker panels and quarters come together. Even after they neutralize it, it will rust in those area that you can't get some sort of protection (coating) on. I had a 53 F100 dipped and the cab corners started rusting from the inside out. Also the inner fender started rusting from inside the flange where they were double folded over at the firewall mounting area. It's fine for fenders and things like that, that you can get to all areas of but not so good for others.
Yep seems like a waste of time to me ,I paint strip ..AND then metal prep ,Deep rust cut out ,Thats my 3 step program .Like Neil Young says Rust never sleeps .......
Look at these pics and you tell me! I know the guy who owns this operation, and he's been doing this for a while. Judge for yourself about soda blasting...like what was said above, it is used to strip aircraft...Big, giant rust will remain, but light to moderate rust goes away. Sand blasting has its place, with aggressive rust removal. http://gosodablasting.com/applications_autorestore.php
I have a friend in the Soda Blasting Business. Soda only breaks down paint. He uses a special Glass product to take off minor to moderate Rust. I watched him strip a 1967 Camaro and a 1971 Chevelle a week ago. He can also strip Bondo with the Glass. If you've worked with a Glass Bead Cabinet, that is the surface you get with the Soda Blaster loaded with Glass. There are at least 3 grades of Glass. The right person can do wonders with an old Rusty car ! ! ! You also need to take "up front" time and isolate interior "pockets" to try to keep the soda, glass out of the knooks and crannies. It lessens the clean up time greatly. If anyone in the Central N.Y. area needs his name, number, etc... PM me. Voodoo.
i own and run a commercial soda blaster and sand blaster. soda will not remove heavy rust, it will however remove surface rust fairly well. i use soda to strip the body of all paint and what-not, then i "etch" with ultra fine sand and silica to remove all rust and traces of soda. i highly recommend soda blasting for paint removal, but be careful who you use to sand blast because as mentioned above it can screw up sheet metal quite quick.
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