Im stripping my 48 stylemaster down to bare bones to get it soda blasted. I found a very reputable company here in Sacramento who has blasted around 4500 cars. Having never done before I would like to hear some opinions before I send it down the road. It's around $800 to blast the exterior of the body (on frame) and seal it. I'm happy with the price but would like to know more about it. Thanks in advance. Bob
I have had a couple of cars Soda Blasted by Cal Blast in So Cal and have found NO Down side! never had a warped panel, non abrasive, seems to leave a coating that keeps rust away until ready to work the metal etc. I'm sure I'll do more this way.
I have no direct experience with it but my research has come up with soda blasting being more than worth the money. My .02 cents. Later, Chad
I have a friend who just did a 69 Mustang. He said he would never do it again. That powder got in to every thing had to replace the ignition switch, light switch,have the tac rebuilt. It did the job as far as the metal goes. Just take ever thing out of the car. Jim
What is this place in Sac.? A bit far for me, but I need some stuff done too and if they do a good job, maybe worth the trip.
Have had a couple of cars soda blasted ---does an excellent job-very clean with no warpage--only way for me-Precision Stripping in Lodi is the place and they do outstanding powder coating as well
Thanks for all the advise so far. Here is the info for the company I talked to. I'll be sure to check with the company in Lodi. Thanks for the heads-up. Bob
Sorry I forgot the company info. American Stripping Co. 6202 Warehouse Way Sacramento, CA 95826 916.387.9933
I was going to soda blast some parts till I read this. <table cl***="MsoNormalTable" style="width: 100%;" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td style="padding: 0in; width: 100%;" width="100%"> </td><td style="padding: 0in;" valign="top" nowrap="nowrap"> </td></tr><tr><td style="padding: 0in;" colspan="2"> <hr align="center" size="2" width="100%"> <o></o> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="padding: 0in;" colspan="2"> This was some week for Soda calls. The last call Friday was from Steve from yearone with a question on the charger he is doing. The whole car was sand blasted as all their cars are. Yes! Sand blasted, like the Blue and Black mustang was and last week he sprayed epoxy on the whole body and frame. So Friday he starts work on deck lid and one door and the epoxy is peeling off, in sheets and can strip the panel with a blow gun. Now, I have taught Steve about everything he knows as he is a good friend and we work a lot together. So I knew he prepped everything right and there was no need to ask. So my answer was, only way I know this could happen is if the panel was soda blasted. Sure enough he called back and found out soda was used on the deck lid and door<o> ***le="blocked::http://spi.forumup.org/about156-0-asc-0-spi.html"></o>> <o> ***le="blocked::http://spi.forumup.org/about156-0-asc-0-spi.html"></o>> as a test but nothing else on the car he was told. I have had 5 calls like this in last month. Here are the facts: Soda the sales pitch is it leaves a protective film so the car does not flash rust. Well this film if you take and 80 grit DA to the panel and spray and acid etch or an epoxy or a 2K prime will have about 10-15% adhesion only. <st1:state w:st="on"><st1>Wash</st1></st1:state> the soda with wax and grease remover and it does nothing to the film. 24 or 36 grit grinder will clean the soda off so filler will stick. The only way to neutralize this film is WARM water with SOAP. Above all this should be done with a scuff pad and than rinse real good as any re-drying is a problem and seams are of a real concern. If you ask ten guys that do the soda blasting you will get ten different answers on how to neutralize and most don't know what they are talking about. Example: Around Xmas a good Restoration shop on west coast have been using SPI epoxy for a number of years and his first soda job he called me a week later the epoxy is not sticking, I explained to him how to prep, well he stripped the car and the soda guy said don't use epoxy use vinyl wash from Sherwin Williams (acid etch). So this guy bought some and redid the front of car with the acid etch and the other half with epoxy but DID NOT do the neutralizing as I explained. Calls me in January pissed at me because the epoxy is peeling. I asked how the acid etch was doing and he said its peeling also. At that point I suggested that he should be pissed off at the soda blaster more than Sherwin Williams and SPI because the chances of him getting a bad batch from both companies at the same time would be lottery winning odds. (soda blaster said he got bad batches of product) In the last three years I have herd and seen 100's of similar stories from body shops when paint over soda blasted vehicles. There is no need to use this stuff as there are media's to fill any situation you need. My next epoxy tech sheet will say: "If the car has been soda blasted, Please do not use SPI epoxy or Primers" This is what my tech sheet says now: "This product will not stick to SODA BLASTING Unless the metal is prepped to get rid of the film left from the Soda. <table cl***="MsoNormalTable" style="width: 40%;" align="left" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="1" width="40%"> <tbody> <tr> <td style="padding: 2.25pt;"> Only registered users can see links on this forum! Register or Login on forum!<o>></o>> </td></tr></tbody></table> 404-307-9740 cell 7 days 706-781-2220 Office 8-5 EST 706-835-5897 Fax<o></o> </td></tr></tbody></table> <o></o><o></o> Barryk <table cl***="MsoNormalTable" style="width: 100%;" border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" width="100%"><tbody><tr><td style="padding: 0in; width: 100%;" width="100%"> </td> <td style="padding: 0in;" valign="top" nowrap="nowrap"> <o></o> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="padding: 0in;" colspan="2"> <hr align="center" size="2" width="100%"> <o></o> </td></tr> <tr> <td style="padding: 0in;" colspan="2"> I made a statement that in the next tech sheet I was going to state that if you SODA blast "please do not use any SPI products". Well I had a lot of people point out that that may not be a good idea since none of the other companies seem to care. I just had a call from a big PPG jobber that has been selling my line for years now and he advised me that PPG now does not recommend any top coats of theirs over SODA blasting. They beat me to the punch!<o></o> </td></tr></tbody></table> <hr align="center" size="2" width="100%"> Yeah Barry, I was thinking the same thing. Saying "don't use SPI" products makes SPI sound inferior to others! Maybe just a good bold print warning about applying ANY primer over soda blasting? I know I saw it once as well. The thing is, the acid etch would be the wrong product as well because the soda is a neutralizer with a positive Ph. So if you spray an acid (negative Ph) with a 3Ph (for the sake of argument, I don't know where they fall) over the positive Ph soda you could end up with a neutral 7 or so and no adhesion!!! <o></o> when soda blasting first showed up on the blasting scene it was for restoring historic buildings and statues. graffiti removal and such. the composite co does not recomend painting over it. my opinion was keep this stuff away from cars. ofcourse i was told right off i was dumber than a tree stump by everyone doing it or that had a car done. now some of these same folks have a 6k paint job going south and a painter that will shoot them on sight. i will not touch a car thats been soda blasted or chemstripped. i can do the same job with starblast. walnut shells still have some oil in them so i p***ed on them. there are at least 150 different medias to blast with but you still see the guys using playsand from home depot. go figure.<o></o> <o></o>
Slammedchieftan, have you come across this issue with your business at all. I have also heard a lot of bad things about "media" staying in cracks and joints for all of eternity. Any thoughts?
I worked at YearOne when that happened. I also know the shop that did the soda blasting. The soda blaster and I have talked extensively about this. I don't know what the stuff is, but he now sends every car out the door with a gallon of neutralizer. Now he includes it in the price, and paint companies WILL warranty their product if a soda blasted car has been neutralized with this. When the YO car was blasted, he was selling the neutralizer at his shop, it wasn't included in the price of blasting (small business starting up... hard to give away product for free; kinda like expecting a paint supply store to include the hardener with paint at no extra cost), but instructions were given to everyone that the soda had to be neutralized, there were a few ways to do it, and he sold this product in gallon jugs if you'd like to buy it from him. Well, YO didn't buy the stuff, because they know what they're doing in the shop, they've been painting cars for years, we don't need to spend any more money with you, and the result was paint lifting. Seems you can't just use a DA and sand off the protective coating left by soda blasting... just like Lannie Porter at New Tech said (the soda blast company). In my small town there is the Soda Blaster, a sand blaster (that YO uses), and there's also another media blaster about 45 minutes away that YO uses for bodies. I think they use that Star material, or walnut shell, or something similar. I get along great with all three of the blast company owners. I will be having my '73 Duster soda blasted in a couple months. For another unbiased example, Gerry Burger at Rodder's Digest had his '57 Ranch Wagon soda blasted a few years ago, it's had nice paint on it since, and he hasn't had any problems with it. -Brad
Thanks for the info guys, sure has me confused. I've been planning to have a non-HAMB car soda blasted, not sure what to do now. About 10-15 years ago guys were useing plastic media to remove paint. Is this still done and effective. A friend had been blasting GM cars during the bad primer days with plastic. But I haven't heard anything about it for several years and I haven't seen him to see if he's still doing it. It was very low pressure and high volumn. I had bought a 25LB box from TIP for my cabinet and it worked great. Any one have any new experiance with it?
If its any help. I had a gl*** fibre shelled car (Lotus) soda blasted here in the UK. Made sure it was bare before the process. Used it to remove all filler and expose any cracks and tears (and there were plenty). It's been in paint for a year now (a $20k job for repair gel coat etc etc) and still looks fabulous, no issues with reaction.
i have had many cars soda blasted and all i did was wash the **** out of them at the car wash for about a hour inside and out then take them directly to the shop and blow out every nook and cranny with a blow gun... and never had any problems with primer peeling... although i did have a buddy that had a grand national buick blasted and all they did was wash it with laquer thinner and a scotch brite and every edge on the car has peeled.... i will soda blast every car from now on unless it has alot of surface rust and then it will go to the sand blaster...
If your car is totally taken apart and you make sure to clean the body properly after it's blasted it's OK. If your car isn't totally apart you will soon discover how that stuff gets in EVERY nook and cranny.
Yes there will be problems if the soda film is not removed. The way we recommend removing the film is with a warm water, soap, and vinegar mix, then scotch brite it. I have only done around 20 car bodies up to this point and we have never had anyone with a problem yet. Also, as far as it getting in every nook and cranny, that is true. I only blast completely stripped bodies. Alot of the guys I have done bodies for like the soda because of the time frame they have to do sheetmetal work without flash rust occuring. If you are stripping the bodies to paint quickly I would probably recommend starblast or fine sand. One of the other reasons soda blasting is so popular is because it doesnt chance warping panels because it doesnt create heat. We run all of our soda through a cooler so that this doesnt occur, lately I have been running my sand through this cooler as well and it has keep the heat down also. The thing is just like the above mentioned. If you ask ten different people how, you will get ten different aswers. There are so many different medias out there it is crazy. Personally I like using the soda more than other media, not saying it is the best just what I prefer. and to this point have had no real problems, ( at least that have been brought to my attention. ) I think every out there probably has some horror story about why not to use it, but I also think there are thousands of people that have used it successfully. And if you want to blast your car without soda, talk to your blaster about other media that you are comfortable with. Dupont makes some really great medias that are great for blasting bodies as well. They are priced higher than soda, but I dont believe you will have to neutralize the film afterwards. I am by no means the be all end all authority on soda blasting, I have been doing it for around 2 years now and have had good success, that could change today. I'm just putting in my 2 cents. Soda is also is to clean up, keeps the EPA of my ***, and my employees prefer using it to other medias. That is a big reason for me to like it. So, I would not be afraid to soda blast anything as long as you neutralize it before painting. Nough Ramblin from me.
Allright guys, now that I have stirred the pot, I must confess to my blunder. I guess I mixed up two companies that I had talked to. The company I mentioned in this thread does not do soda. Apon talking to them today to find out more of their procedures (with my new found knowledge) I found out that they do what's called mineral blasting which is a form of plastic media. They offered to give me a tour of their facility and have many years hundreds of show cars under their belt. With that I appologize for the misslead info. I would like to check out their shop and I'll keep you posted if anyone is interested. Once again sorry and thank you for all of the great info. Bob Ward
ive had 2 cars sand blasted and had no issues what so ever. it all depends on the guy/companie you use.
really good thread so far. i had acess on the weekends years ago to a blast booth and spent as much time blasting as i could stand. i screwed up (ruined) some stuff learning how to pick the correct media. nice to hear about the extra steps involved after soda blasting.
I had a full size Dodge blasted years back...loved the results. It sat in a non-climate controlled garage for 3 or 4 years before being primed, only flashing where I put my sweaty hands. A bodyman (who owns the car now) supervised my prep...we wiped the car down with a scotch-brite pad soaked in acetone and did some light sanding on the flash rust. That car has sat out in the elements now for 4 years now IN PRIMER with no issues (not sure if it will ever be painted!) The biggest problem was the media coming out of god-knows-where, generally around the firewall, when we applied the primer. We were SURE we got all those nooks and crannies! I am definately sending my next project for blastin'.
We media clean car body's with Al Oxide, never warped a panel. We work with a local company that restores early Jaguars, thin aluminum body's, panels, never had a complaint. Al Oxide removes paint, body filler, undercoating, and RUST. from what I understand Soda does not remove rust.
I worked for a buddy of mine off/on for about a year stripping cars with soda and every car that we stripped came out beautiful. I've stripped carbon bodies for old CART/INDY cars to aluminum panels for a Lambo and everybody was happy. The best thing as the operator is once your done your clean up time is next to nothing for being a mobile operation.
Am I correct on soda not removing rust? also I saw a video where it was a combination of soda, and water at high pressure. I know soda shoots dry, I just didn't get on that video, how you strip metal, and hose it down with water at the same time
OK, someone's just linked to this thread from elsewhere so I guess there are a couple of relevant questions: 1) Bob (bward76), how did your blasting go? All work out OK? 2) Anyone else have anything to add? Anything changed in the soda-blasting world?
Baking soda blasting is done with Sodium Bicarbonate. When its done, it's driven into the pores of the metal. To get rid of it, the Bicarbonate (alkaine) must be neutralized. Mild vinegar (acid), or some such type of rinse would seem to be the answer, then a wash down with soap and water/rinse...or so it would seem...
that sounds like a great price. was it body only or fenders and hood too. I pay about that for stripping along in North Carolina. I've not used soda, but rather abrasizve meida (walnut shell etc) with no complaints. beats the hell out of hours and hours of manual stripping and does a much better job.
waste of time and money ..have the car blasted with 120 grit aluminum oxide soda has no profile does nothing for rust and leaves a film . why pay 800 bucks then have to waste money on the rust and on d/a paper to profile the steel when you can pay 800 bucks and have it done with oxide ..much better .
The Jalopy Journal
