Painting

[David Keenan]

Has anyone tried soda blasting a vette, I would like to know the pro's and con's between that and chemical stripping.

thanks
Dave

[Tom Sarno]

Re: Painting

David,

One problem is if you have the blaster come and do it at your location, they usually set up a tent outside to do the blasting. The soda throws off the ph. balance in the soil and kills your grass and plants.

Also the powder will be showing up for a long time after you reassemble the car. It gets into every crack and crevice and seeps out as the car vibrates.

On the up side it preps the body nicely and will not damage trim or glass. I have not seen it used on fiberglass first hand, up I was impressed on the job it did on a steel body.

Tom S

[Rob A.]

Re: Painting

I read an article once on different types of blasting, including soda. Word has it, no matter how well you protect the rest of the car ( unless it is totally dissassembled, interior, headliner, etc., it will find its' way into areas you will never be able to remove it from.

[Bill W.]

Re: Painting

make sure its soda and not plastic media. the plastic jobs i have seen remove way to much fiberglass but work great on non rusty metal . Bill

[Lawrence C.]

Re: Painting

Dave,
My '66 coupe was soda blasted when it was painted about 4 years ago. At that point the body had been removed from the chassis and was on a wood dolly, so it went to the blaster's and was not done in my yard. The blasting stopped at the primer. I have not experienced any dust or any other ill-effects from this method. I thought that one of the main advantages was that you do NOT get any dust or grit because after the blasting the car is thoroughly washed, which essentially causes the soda to fizz away, unlike glass beads.

I think the result is, like any other process, dependent on the skill of the person performing the work. This process seemed to work pretty well. The painter seemed pleased with the results, which he supervised.

[Mike Walker]

Re: Painting

David:

If you will check Corvette Forum, there is a thread there of an owner
soda blasting his 67 Coupe. Also were included pictures. Looked like
it worked very well.

Mike