SANDBLAST OR SODA BLAST ?

[SOLSAKS]

1976 J10 DIS ASSEMBLED
only surface scale in bed

no rust or rot anywhere else
solid floor, rockers, etc etc.

I have used soda blasting in past to remove paint
on a previous vehicle restoration.

BUT

a customer does dustless sandblasting
( water with rust retarding agent and sand )

any advice on which to use ?

dave in NC

[joe]

Disclaimer: I'm not a "restorer".
Soda blasting won't have the poop to remove scaly rust. The floor of the bed? I'd dry sandblast it. Wet sand blasting just benefits the operator not the process efficiency. The bed floor is thick/tough enough to easily handle dry sand blasting w/o over heating/warping. Not recommended for modern thin sheet metal unless the operator has a really good sense of touch experience. For serious heavy scale on "thick stamped steel" I've used an air needle gun on frames, bed floors etc. Again, not for thin sheet metal fenders etc.
Point being: if you're paying by the hour forget soda or wet sand blasting.

[SOLSAKS]

thanx Joe.

I agree on the scale
soda not agressive enuff for the bed scale

but the last soda blast on a vehicle was
very reasonable
and worked great
inside the passenger area
underneath
and entire outside 700.00
took over 5 hours.

dave in NC

[SJTD]

Blasting deposits stuff in all the hidden areas. I did it on my Wag. Took forever to clean up with air and vacuum blowing and sucking at the same time. Moving around and repeating and doing it some more.

Wish I had a way to turn it over while I was at it. I'm sure there's still sand in there.

If it was done with wet sand it would have caked in all the nooks and crannies and hardened only to come out while driving. Would have to flush it out with water but seems to me you would leave more in there than with dry sand.

Just guessing at this but I agree with Joe. The advantage to wet blasting is for the guy doing it.

[SOLSAKS]

I had the vehicle that was soda blasted on a rotissere'
so you could rotate,....


I remember the blaster saying to wash with Palmolive
and lots of water, several times.

the body shop did all the washing

I hear advantages of soda
getting onto crevices over sand is that soda dissolves
( and does not generate heat)

also leaves a soda residue that will not flash rust until residue is washed off.

I appreciate the replies

anyone else have suggestions, let us know.

thanx
dave in NC

[SnowShoe]

I'm using glass bead in my sand blaster...goes quick and no warping problems on my Cherokee. Rotisserie restoration, admittedly no pitted rust mostly surface stuff.

[8man]

Glass bead is the preferred method of restorers. Done correctly, it causes the least amount of distortion to the metal. It will remove rust, paint and fillers, not as quickly as sand blasting, but it gets the job done.

Soda is second because it is not as good at getting rid of rust, but does a pretty good job. It is good at not warping the metal.

Sand blasting is a last choice because of the aggressive nature of the treatment. The "peening" by the sand particles will act as tiny hammers and often cause warpage. I had a dash sand blasted and when I went to put it back in, when I bolted the two ends to the A pillars, the middle was bowed up almost 2 inches.

These have been my experiences and what I have learned from talking to restorers who do this for a living.

Good luck with whatever way you go.

[PBG928]

I had my 89 GW blasted with beads and water using a $40k blasting machine. Worked out great. Yes there is left over sand that can be blown or vacuumed out. But nothing does a better job on rust without damaging the metal.

[SOLSAKS]

thanx for all the replies

dave in nc

[Frank Ziebert]

Not rain on the parade but have you thought of acid dipping?
Ya, kind of expensive but: no warpage, no missed spots, nothing but bare metal left. Then they spray a rust retardant on.

This is what I did to everyting on my build and could not be happier with the results. I have rebuilt several other old cars and trucks and did sandblasting. Never again except for small parts that fit in my blast cabinet.

[goldhammer]

When I was at the last shopI worked at we had a customer bring in a soda blasted rig. He didn't tell us what was use to remove the paint. Nice clean job....until the paint went outhouse mouse 6 months later. Rig was wahed down with normal procedure and materials. On the repaint found out we should have washed down with viniger.....

Just a word of warning.

[SOLSAKS]

frank and gold hammer

I agree on both statements. and appreciate the replies.

I have heard of paint companies not warranting paint jobs after soda

last one I had soda blasted was 5 years ago, soda blaster told us, "wash many many times with Palmolive "
paint has not turned loose yet, but could I guess. anything is possible.

I love the acid dip process
how much was it frank if you don't mind divulging that.

supposed to schedule soda blast next week so sooner the better.

thanx
dave in nc

[SOLSAKS]

good news
found a guy who does glass bead blasting
mixed with water and anti rust agent too retard flash rusting.

I feel better about this
after hearing a lot of paint companies no longer warranty
paint after soda.

the project I did a few years ago
was soda blasted down to metal.

paint shows no signs of trouble
but I have heard horror stories

and did not want to chance it.

thanx to all who responded and led me to the glass beading.

dave in NC

[Frank Ziebert]

frank and gold hammer

I agree on both statements. and appreciate the replies.

I have heard of paint companies not warranting paint jobs after soda

last one I had soda blasted was 5 years ago, soda blaster told us, "wash many many times with Palmolive "
paint has not turned loose yet, but could I guess. anything is possible.

I love the acid dip process
how much was it frank if you don't mind divulging that.

supposed to schedule soda blast next week so sooner the better.

thanx
dave in nc

Dave check out MetaWorks Paint and Rust Removal in Eugene, OR. On their web site is a price sheet for any and all they don. It isnt cheap but man does it work well!

[SOLSAKS]

THANX FRANK !