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Looking for advise... Sandblast or soda blast

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Old Mar 13, 2013 | 04:37 PM
  #1  
Michael Knight's Avatar
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From: Greenville, Michigan
Car: 1985 Pontiac Firebird
Engine: 2.8 v-6
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Axle/Gears: 3.42
Looking for advise... Sandblast or soda blast

So I'm looking into having my car blasted to bare metal and I'm looking into either getting the car sandblasted or soda blasted. Opinions on which one would be better to do. Will the sandblasting warp the panels? Thanks!

Paul
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Old Mar 13, 2013 | 05:03 PM
  #2  
l_dis_travlr's Avatar
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From: League City, TX
Car: 90 Formula -- tot resto in progress
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Re: Looking for advise... Sandblast or soda blast

Is this going to be DIY, or contracted out.
If DIY, I assume you'll have a serious compressor...

Based on my somewhat limited knowledge, here's my

Soda is not as abrasive as sand, which makes it more desirable for refinishing
smaller parts like, grilles and other trim pieces.

For a whole car total resto, sand may be acceptable, or even desirable for
the surface texture to start applying primer.
(Word of caution. Virgin metal will begin to re-rust immediately, especially
in humid climates. So be prepared to apply some primer immediately after
the blasting.)

DustlessBlasting is a new process, that is water based.
(Can be seen on "My Classic Car" w/ Dennis Gage)
http://dustlessblasting.com/

I must plead ignorance about the cost of each, but I'm pretty sure sand
is the cheapest medium available.

Good luck, and keep us posted.
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Old Mar 13, 2013 | 05:06 PM
  #3  
lunati397's Avatar
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From: Clovis NM
Car: 2012 F350 lariot/1991 Camaro RS
Engine: Powerstroke/6.0
Transmission: 6R100/4L80e
Axle/Gears: 3.73/3.42
Re: Looking for advise... Sandblast or soda blast

dry ice blast

if they know what they are doing sand blast because soda blasting is great but the car must be wiped down immediatly after becuase the soda leaves a residue that you do not want to paint on and will make it rust faster

you can always da the whole car yourself too thirdgens dont have that much metal
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Old Mar 13, 2013 | 05:10 PM
  #4  
lunati397's Avatar
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From: Clovis NM
Car: 2012 F350 lariot/1991 Camaro RS
Engine: Powerstroke/6.0
Transmission: 6R100/4L80e
Axle/Gears: 3.73/3.42
Re: Looking for advise... Sandblast or soda blast

Dry ice blasting can be done with NO taping of the car it wont hurt rubber or glass or warp panels. Its the best type of blasting out there but good luck finding a company that does it they are few and far apart.
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Old Mar 13, 2013 | 05:14 PM
  #5  
Michael Knight's Avatar
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From: Greenville, Michigan
Car: 1985 Pontiac Firebird
Engine: 2.8 v-6
Transmission: Auto
Axle/Gears: 3.42
Re: Looking for advise... Sandblast or soda blast

Originally Posted by l_dis_travlr
Is this going to be DIY, or contracted out.
If DIY, I assume you'll have a serious compressor...

Based on my somewhat limited knowledge, here's my

Soda is not as abrasive as sand, which makes it more desirable for refinishing
smaller parts like, grilles and other trim pieces.

For a whole car total resto, sand may be acceptable, or even desirable for
the surface texture to start applying primer.
(Word of caution. Virgin metal will begin to re-rust immediately, especially
in humid climates. So be prepared to apply some primer immediately after
the blasting.)

DustlessBlasting is a new process, that is water based.
(Can be seen on "My Classic Car" w/ Dennis Gage)
http://dustlessblasting.com/

I must plead ignorance about the cost of each, but I'm pretty sure sand
is the cheapest medium available.

Good luck, and keep us posted.
This will definitely not be a DIY project as I will be subing this out. I have the car 85% stripped and all of the rubber is trash anyways. It's gonna have body work on it bc I'm sealing up the gfx holes. Just concerned if its gonna warp the panels a lot. I am going to have the hood hinges, reinforcement bar, various brackets blasted to refinish them. Thanks for you advise!

Last edited by Michael Knight; Mar 13, 2013 at 05:16 PM. Reason: Forgot to explain more
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Old Mar 13, 2013 | 05:17 PM
  #6  
Michael Knight's Avatar
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From: Greenville, Michigan
Car: 1985 Pontiac Firebird
Engine: 2.8 v-6
Transmission: Auto
Axle/Gears: 3.42
Re: Looking for advise... Sandblast or soda blast

Originally Posted by lunati397
Dry ice blasting can be done with NO taping of the car it wont hurt rubber or glass or warp panels. Its the best type of blasting out there but good luck finding a company that does it they are few and far apart.
Never heard of dry ice blasting.
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Old Mar 13, 2013 | 05:32 PM
  #7  
lunati397's Avatar
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From: Clovis NM
Car: 2012 F350 lariot/1991 Camaro RS
Engine: Powerstroke/6.0
Transmission: 6R100/4L80e
Axle/Gears: 3.73/3.42
Re: Looking for advise... Sandblast or soda blast

look it up it will blow your mind (no pun intended)
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Old Mar 20, 2013 | 11:52 PM
  #8  
Mirror Image's Avatar
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From: Birmingham Alabama
Car: 1991 Firebird convertible
Engine: LQ4 ls 6.0
Transmission: 4L60E
Axle/Gears: 342 Limited slip
Re: Looking for advise... Sandblast or soda blast

there are all kinks of ways to strip a car and it all depends on your car do you have rust are you going to take the car apart we strip cars all the way down to nothing so we use Dupont starblast because most of the cars we do have rust sada blasting will not take out the rust so that is way we use star blast and it only has like .3 percent silca so all we do is blast it and epoxy prime it black beauty is also good so with that said if you go with soda blasting make sure you use a good cleaner to clean the car before you apply epoxy primer or you will have problems with adhesion
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Old Mar 21, 2013 | 05:00 AM
  #9  
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Re: Looking for advise... Sandblast or soda blast

I recommend dry ice blasting. The working principle is quite easy to understand.
Basically it just "explodes" whatever you want to remove and there is no residue, except for what you take off.
No sand dunes, no puddles, no extra rust. The ice just evaporates immediately after removing the paint.
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Old Mar 22, 2013 | 04:00 PM
  #10  
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From: Michigan
Car: 1987 Trans Am
Engine: 5.0L TPI
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Axle/Gears: Richmond 3.73
Re: Looking for advise... Sandblast or soda blast

why not just sand it by hand? The factory paint makes for a good base to start off with.
Get yourself a board sander and go at it getting it as straight as possible. Then paint with a sandable primer, block and keep going till its straight.
I changed the color on my car and didn't take things down to bare metal where I didn't have to.
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Old Mar 22, 2013 | 04:40 PM
  #11  
lmidden's Avatar
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From: long island ny
Car: 1987 camaro sc
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Re: Looking for advise... Sandblast or soda blast

sandblasting will warp the panels simple as that thats why soda blasting is used cars it doesnt warp the sheet metal
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