to sandblast a complete car your looking at about $400

Sound advice. I think for the engine bay I might get a few quotes and pick the lesser of 2 evils.

all i can say is it will warp most bonnets either paint strip it or soda blast it
all other panels will be fine if you have someone who knows what they are doing
and it will clean up all crap easily and you can get rid of lots of bog quickly it will also blow out any rust that the sodablaster may not
im not sure what you mean by pitting the panels if you mean like how rust pits the steel?
cons of blasting is if you have someone who hasnt blasted cars before they can #### it up real bad to avoid getting someone who doesnt know what to do ask them if they can blast bonnets if they say yes start walking away
another bad thing is it gets everywhere so you will have to blow out the sills of all the grit

If there is any surface rust Sand blasting is the go. otherwise i`d go soda.

With sand blasting, it is rare to use sand. most use garnet (including myself). Garnet comes in several grades just like sandpaper and i use 80 grade and the local panelshops are more than happy with the finish on panels and parts.

I use glass beads on aluminium and plastic beads are also available.

Edit: The main benifit of using a fine grit over soda is it leaves a fine texture on the metal which gives the primer something to hang onto.

the fish in the ocean arent thirsty

soda blasting is heaps better and doesnt damage anything unlike sand blasting. it is well worth it in the end and can evern leave glass on and chrome as it doesnt damage anything

yeah it depends on how much and thick the rust is, Some applications need sandblasting. If your just removing paint go for the sodablasting, costs more but leaves the surface nice for fresh painting!

I've heard soda blasting is better.
But, It depends on what your trying to get rid of.
When I got my ute, the previous owner had chemically stripped it to bare metal then left it outside in nice Melbourne weather for a few months.
So I had surface rust and minor pitting all over.
Apperently anything other than sand blasting was no good for this - but special care had to be taken with sand blasting the extreemly thin Datsun panels. (find someone really good that actually cares).
I used Yarra Valley Blasters and can't speak highly enough of him - Top bloke, did a top job for a good price.

Whoa!!!! i just read the other thread and it seems to be getting a little nasty! but this is my opinion of the subject......

Sandblasting is generally used in fabrication workshops as a way of cleaning a surface from thick scaley rust and bits of slag and other imperfections and impurities like oil and flux, it is also very messy and has to be cleaned otherwise it can premote rust.

Sodablasting is good for getting paint off a surface without leaving so much as a scratch on the steel, it leaves a really nice finish for painting, just got the brother-in-laws ute soda blasted and it came up so nice.

Personally i would use soda blasting, but it all come down to price and availablity. IT set the brother-in-law back $550 for the whole car to get done, inside and out. the same job i'm guessing if you had a mate who did sandblasting it could cost as little as a carton of beer and be done on the weekend, when the boss isn't around of course!

But if its only a little area just go out and buy a flap disk or two, and get stuck in!!! put some beer on ice and get a couple of the boys around and get a couple of grinders going, have a whole car done in no time!

now now.......i opp to sodablasting ....