Soda Blasting a Glass Car Body

[Dilkris]

Is soda blasting a fibre glass car body achievable at home and has anybody done it? Sure compressor capacity will be a determining factor but notwithstanding this, what do people think?

 

[marlinspike]

I would think so as soda blasting can be used to remove paint from wood without damaging it. Thing is, with a nozzle of what 5mm or so??, how long is it going to take to do a whole car?

This company quote £1200 for a medium car sand blasting.

Car Prices and Pricing - Just Like New Sand Blasting

Sandblasting is priced by the time spent rather than the individual items themselves - This is because no two cars or items are the same. Therefore, we have a

jlnsandblasting.co.uk

I guess it would be worth it to save that level of expense if you have the patience and don't mind it taking quite a while with soda.

 

[Dilkris]

Thanks "marlinspike" - one of the wonderful things about retirement is having endless amounts of time at zero cost....

 

[marlinspike]

I've just bought a Mattis dual pressure pot thing and have been looking at videos on YouTube. This one might give you some idea of the speed you'd be going at using soda with a compressor and soda pressure pot. Wouldn't be too bad if you don't mind doing it in chunks.

 

[Dilkris]

I've just bought a Mattis dual pressure pot thing and have been looking at videos on YouTube. This one might give you some idea of the speed you'd be going at using soda with a compressor and soda pressure pot. Wouldn't be too bad if you don't mind doing it in chunks.

That's the sort of thing I was thinking about - soda blast the difficult areas and profiles as "chunks" as you say - and DA sand with 80 grit the majority. Makes sense or a stupid idea?

 

[brightspark]

good luck sodablasting with one of them pots hope your comps big enough and got a good duty cycle you will need it the time you spend and the cost of the soda

 

[Dilkris]

good luck sodablasting with one of them pots hope your comps big enough and got a good duty cycle you will need it the time you spend and the cost of the soda

I'm told - allow for 120/150kg of soda to blast a complete car - agreed?

 

[ajlelectronics]

I'm told - allow for 120/150kg of soda to blast a complete car - agreed?

I wouldn't even think about it, if you want it to last. The best way is the hardest; careful D/A to gelcoat and hand sanding anywhere near edges. Ensure that the body and any major repairs are thoroughly dried out after sanding, then apply two coats of Lechler 29107 before doing minor repairs. I like to keep my bare work in my centrally heated garage in poor weather and put outside when it is suitably warm. If you don't, microblisters are almost a certainty.

 

[marlinspike]

That's the sort of thing I was thinking about - soda blast the difficult areas and profiles as "chunks" as you say - and DA sand with 80 grit the majority. Makes sense or a stupid idea?

It'll still take ages. If you have a da sander I can't see that sanding would be any slower, and it would probably be less hassle, and certainly cheaper. Does all the paint need to come off?

I think @W.olly has done a lot of fibre glass boat repair so might help on the sanding/repair front.

 

[frank horton]

Dilkris......*loads'a time in retirement*......TELL ME UR SECRET pls.....any spare time, I've got loads u can help with.....
I'm working harder now than ever......hahaha....

not quite in my yuf, I rebuild loads'a Scimitars.....Ford v 6's.....

It all depends if it's been painted and how many times......plus the condition of the jel coat......
with all the body cracks and the odd cock-up's, I mean repairs....we just used to hit em with course DA disc's......
then down to a medium grit....then on to painting with filler primer.....
Yes we were making money at it but it's frustrating pr@tting about and in the end parts / panels get less atention....
I found,
get the bulk of the stripping done fast and spend the extra time on the little stuff that needs extra attension.....
I those days we didn't have the luxury of such thing as soda blasting and 2 pack paint......

Incidentaly we used a coach enamal for the paint...it was either that or celly which always sunk and showed thru some of the repairs after time......
Our painter made em look like glass.....then we found Isocytianates.....mmmmmmmn......
between primer coats and finish paint there was always a gap of at least 2 weeks which leaves enought time for the primer coat to go hard and sink where it needs too.....
then any repairs are carried out where nec.....

I've still prepped cars n trucks for paint over the years and binned all my air DA sanders.....now I use a couple of Makita DA's and detail sanders.....much cheaper to run and so QUIET....

 

[Keith 66]

Re blasting, A local boatyard did antifouling removal on boats & used polyester blasting media The mess was indescribable & covered half the boats in the yard. They stopped due to many complaints. We have had a couple of members had boats soda blasted, results were good but you could smell the antifoul dust a quarter of a mile downwind.
Doesnt matter what you blast with if its not contained the paint particles will go a long way & make you unpopular!