Definately go get it Soda blasted...wont't scratch or warp the panels so less stress on the metal. It is more $$$ but so very much worth it..when i had my ute project i had it soda blasted and it looked the goods in bare metal!!! got all the rust, paint, and bog out of the car and all the little hidey-holes and crevices!!

ute soda blasting

this is a short clip of the ute as they began to soda blast it. took about 1.5hrs to do and cost a fair bit but was sooooo worth it..BUT once its done you cant touch it with bare hands..have to wear cotton gloves or some other kids of glove as the natural oils in your skin can cause the metal to rust VERY quickly after..

yep with soapy water then wipe it down and use air in those hard to get places.....i did

Can you just pressure wash it after you soda blast if paint wont stick? What about plastic media?

I have used soda blasting a few times in the last couple of years, it does a great job of stripping the car back to bare metal with no damage. Rust is exposed and you can deal with it however you want.
A plus is that there is some reaction that stops surface rust for a few weeks.
A big minus is that every bit of the surface will have to be rubbed back, as clean as it may look, as you will find that paint won't stick to the treated area.

As far as i know no Abrasive blaster will use sand anymore as it is very harmful for your health and the environment. Most Abrasive company's will use garnet, wall nut shells, ally oxid, galss beeds all depends on the surface that needs blasting. soda blasting on the other hand will not touch rust and is great for paint removal, It does leave a residue on the surface that needs to be cleaned off before painting, I have talked to many abrasive blasting companies about pro's and cons of both and nether really out way the other. It all depends on what your surface is like. The great thing about soda blasting is that most guys use 100% food grade abrasive and unlike other abrasive materials it can be washed off with water. leaving no trace besides the light residue that needs to be washed off before painting, I Have a portable soda blaster and will be blasting my datto ute in the next week or so..

After paint stripping a starion in side and out back to bare metal i was not interested in doing this again, At 60 bucks a tin ( por 15 paint stripper ) we used easy 6 maybe more cans.


Keep an eye on my project build..

Yeah thats what im doin see my wagon project build thats all paint stripper work. Much has been written pro and con but i like gettin messy in many ways.

Paint stripper and elbow grease! cheapest by far!!

I'd get into contact with Blastech.

But if you want some advice from a blaster;

I have only ever had experience with Sandblasting. You can get all sorts of material depending on the guage of steel you are blasting.

I understand that soda blasting (larger particles than your standard shop shelf Baking Soda) is alot softer in terms texture and grain. The 'soft' aspect of the material and the fact that you can blast at 30psi makes it a very gentle process. I have seen it used to take stickers off glass, that's how soft if it is.

It is still the same operating system, maybe a few differences here and there but the trick with Soda is the crystal particles. Sometimes (well most times) water is used (with Soda blasting) primarily as a dust supressant and secondarily as a cleaner (activates the baking soda). I suggest you stay away from the water. They generally use soda blasting for cleaning up.

By the sounds of things I would suspect that soda blasting would be ideal for automotive application. However, there is nothing wrong with using blasting sand, you can purchase the fine stuff. I actually pick what material I use (secondhand grade which is finer and softer) off the floor of the blasting bay. Normally on hotter, drier days.

You can sand-blast at 75PSI and your dead-mans handle will still engage. At this pressure you'd have to be pretty daft to bugger a panel up.

There is nothing wrong with using sand-blast material. The particles do abrade the steel alot more but that is the whole idea of using high build primers, to fill the minute imperfections.

Soda is soft and behaves so well that you can still blast at very low PSI.

Running 115psi on the big Ingersoll -Rand (Blastech blast system, air-prep etc) using a size 4 nozzle will give an approximate particle speed of 475km/h (optimum particle speed). When the particles hit the steel they do not collapse or disintegrate as much. When soda crystals smack into the surface they explode and abrade on a minute scale, making the Soda Blasting proccess alot more appealing for people doing small scale, light guage work.

So when people make provocative, generalised comments (in the other thread) like:

"Nah sand blasting is a thing of the past belongs with Dinosaurs, extinct. Soda blasting kicks but over it now."

They lack the capacity to recognise that Sand-blasting isn't just specific to the automotive industry. It is by far the best performer when you're doing heavy guage, rusty steel. And larger, bigger scale work projects like Truck Bodies, Terex Diggers, Dozers, STPs, Shipping Containers etc etc. Hence why there are still so many sand-blasters around.

I would do Soda if I had the cash and if were for spot work. But I would definitely consider Sand if the price were an issue (I don't know cost per ton of Soda).

We don't do vehicle bodies at work purely because of the brute strength of the Sand-Blaster. I however took to my little 1000 with it and blasted much of the body at 125psi (running two compressors into the same line) and got no issues at all. I did screw the Bonnet up basically because the second compressor didn't get shut down (so I eat my words!).

Your choice Don.

I Sand-Blasted because it was free. But I'd choose Soda if the price was good.

Is this for the 120y?

Quote:

What I mean't was the bare steel that had been sitting out in the weather had rusted that bad, that it started to eat into the steel to give it a Pitted effect.
The sand blasting cleaned it up good as gold.

It did stretch the roof of the ute a tiny bit, but a panel beater shrunk it back pretty damn good. Now it's all high filled and primed, you can't even tell.

thats the best way revvy! let your fingers do the walking!