Soda Blast Body Paint removal M series

[Artracing]

Like to hear if anyone has experience soda blasting 2500M body for paint removal.
What type media.
What grit.
Pressures.

Rob

[esso]

Make sure you take it to a reputable company, a buddy of mine was supposed to have had his Cerbera body soda blasted, they actually shot-blasted it and blew holes in the body, luckily the engine wasn't in the car but it resulted in the body having to be taken off the chassis and it ruined the interior.

[DAKOTAstorm]

I got mine soda blasted, it’s very good at stripping and exposing all previous paint and attempted repairs. Be careful though as it can unearth some surprises and the whole body needs refinishing and tissuing after, which is obviously time consuming and costly.

[KKson]

One of the Wedge lads had his SEAC project soda blasted by Central TVR prior to a full respray. Finish looks fantastic. I've spoken to them regarding my similar project and they say that soda blast finish is better for keying in the paint, it's less intrusive so interior trim can be kept in place, and it's cheaper than mechanical paint stripping due to the time element. I'm seriously thinking of going the same way.

[Byker28i]

esso said:

Make sure you take it to a reputable company, a buddy of mine was supposed to have had his Cerbera body soda blasted, they actually shot-blasted it and blew holes in the body, luckily the engine wasn't in the car but it resulted in the body having to be taken off the chassis and it ruined the interior.

why would you have a fibreglass body soda blasted?

[Artracing]

I have a guy now that has been using crushed glass. Claims it doesn't have the problems with soda and contamination.
That's my plan now. Cost is $700-$900 which seems reasonable.

Rob

PS I seem to get shut down posting as a new member. I couldn't even post to ask moderator. Seem like I'm only allowed one a month or something. I haven't posted in weeks because even tho I started the thread.

[V8fan]

Perhaps you aren't confirming your membership? You may have had emails from PH and they're in your junk folder.

[esso]

Byker28i said:

why would you have a fibreglass body soda blasted?

To remove multiple layers of paint.

[Unsorted]

Would recommend buying and reading https://www.amazon.co.uk/Restore-Fibreglass-Bodywo...
before deciding a course of action re your GRP body. Helped me.

[Slow M]

Been a while, since I researched this topic, but I thought plastic media blasting was the best way, for fiberglass. From what I remember, it’s supposed to be less damaging to the glass fibers, than most/all other options. Also, you can use the media several times.

B

[wily_coyote]

I used to have a Farrow Blaster - a 'slurry' blast cleaning machine that mixes the blast medium with water, practically eliminating any airborne particles. It also washes the target as you go. Some of the work I did with this was removing old antifoul paint from fibreglass boat hulls, for which I used olivine (powdered pumice) as the blast medium. Adjusted properly, you can remove paint one layer at a time, with zero damage to the gel coat. There's video on YouTube somewhere that shows a guy writing on a raw egg with a felt pen, then using the blaster to remove the ink without damaging the shell!

I also did some work on an Escort Mk1 restoration where the requirement was 'back to bare metal, get rid if any rust'. For this job I used garnet - much more aggressive and very effective. With the right equipment and the right setup, you can blast clean just about anything - including eggs apparently...

Whatever you do if you let anyone near your car with any blasting equipment, make sure that they know what they're doing and have worked with fiberglass before as mistakes could be really expensive to rectify.