soda blasting, your opinions and sources.

Well, i just got back from a sea tour and it's time to strip my car. I'm thinking soda blasting my shoebox. What's your opinion? How much media? and the best source for sodium bicarbonate. thanks in advance,
Zor

 

Thanks for serving our counrty, I don't know anything about soda blasting. I feed sodium bicarb to my cows. Maybe you could find a feed mill or feed store that handles it. Comes in 50# bags.

 

my opinion is soda blasting is great, but soda blasting will only remove paint , it will not really remove rust...so it depends on what you need done

 

A friend who is a custom painter is sold on it. It doesn't hurt the trim or glass and clean up is easy. He said you could actually remove the paint without removing the trim. He doesn't but you could. He said the metal is ready to paint after washing and adhesion is great.

 

Go to the Armex.com website and they'll give you the name of distributors close to you for the soda. It's a lot cheaper than buying it from a restoration place.

 

I second whats said above, it will not remove rust, but will get paint. But it is less likely to warp a panel since it isn't as abrasive.

 

Thanks guys. I talked to the eastwood tech line today and they have me pretty much sold on it. And i found a industrial supplier for media not far from me in jacksonville. way cheaper than buying media from eastwood, and no shipping. oh and rust isn't an issue on this car, just layers of paint on top of original paint and primer. Has anyone tried applying some sort of chemical stripper first, then blasting to speed up the process?

 

does anyone know how much it would be to do a whole car.. that is if a shop does it just looking for someone who has done this before

 

I am talking to a few shops about getting my car hammered and painted. they told me to plan on about $1K for soda blasting.

 

A local shop was doing it. Typical job is about $800 to soda blast and prime car.

 

What about soda disposal? I'm gonna have 400 pounds of bicarbonate dust. Do i just throw it in the trash can?

 

if you are painting a car, chemical stripping should be avoided, the chemicals can make there way into areas you can't get them out like seams behind drip rails. and after you paint and trap the chemicals that didnt get flushed out they cause your paint to fail

also to speed up the blasting i say 80 grit on a bondo hog or even an orbital to knock down that bulk of the paint on the large panels then blasting to finish it off and get the hard to reach angles.

 

we soda blasted our woodie wagon and the metal was phenomenal afterwards. you could still see the discoloration around the welds and stuff, it looked like it was just assembled at the factory and its over 50 years old!! soda blasting is the way to go, but you have to prime it as soon as you clean the metal. as long as you leave the soda on the car and it stays dry it will never rust, but as soon as it gets wet look out!!

 

I've got a friend who does it--you MUST use the stuff they give you (or tell you to buy) to neutralize and wash the car, or paint won't adhere to it. This is such a problem, my friend told me paint companies won't warranty their paint if the car hasn't been neutralized with an approved chemical. That said, when you do neutralize it, the adhesion is great.
I'm not sure how you're planning on doing it yourself...my buddy uses a BIG hose to move the soda, along with an equally big compressor. (In fact, he's got rotator cuff problems now, from the forces working against his arm while blasting)
He quoted me a grand to do my entire '62 Suburban body, $100 to do just the engine bay. I've got another friend who had a '57 Ranch Wagon done--glass stayed in the car, etc. and he was very, very happy with it. They came to his house (not sure of the name, and he's since moved--I doubt he has the company contact info)
I don't know if I'll have my Suburban done or not, but I am going to have my '54 Buick done--no rust ever, never hit, low-mileage original with one repaint over the factory job.

-Brad