Chemical dipping, commercial shotblasting or diy soda blasting

[kev100]

I am just trying to get some opinions on the types of paint stripping/de-rusting that are available,

I have done a little research, but would welcome the input from those that have already gone through the process.

My first thought was to go for chemical dipping, Pro's is that it cleans and de-rusts just about everywhere, I have heard though that the chemicals they use can cause problems at a later stage after the car has been painted, and it seems is quite an expensive process.

Sending the stag to a shotblasters is another option, but I am a but concerned about the damage that shotblasting will cause (if any)

I have also been looking at the option of buying a soda blaster to do the job myself, the soda blaster seems to be much more gentle to the metal, but also more course medium can be used if needed .. the benefits are that I would own the kit and be able to use it to clean just about every part of the stag, engine, suspension, brake calipers .. well you get the idea, I was looking at this kit http://www.frost.co.uk/eastwood-pres...a-blaster.html

I would welcome any comments, especially if anybody has experience with the soda blasting.

Cheers
Kev

[mole42]

Best result I ever had (when I did this sort of thing commercialy) was walnut shell blast cleaning. The bodyshell came out looking like it had just been built and dipped through the phosphate tank. Non-corrosive too.

[kev100]

Best result I ever had (when I did this sort of thing commercialy) was walnut shell blast cleaning. The bodyshell came out looking like it had just been built and dipped through the phosphate tank. Non-corrosive too.

I didnt know about that one .. will google it and check it out, Cheers

[kev100]

This looks interesting too

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bCehkkTTeMk

[mjheathcote]

"My first thought was to go for chemical dipping, Pro's is that it cleans and de-rusts just about everywhere, I have heard though that the chemicals they use can cause problems at a later stage after the car has been painted, and it seems is quite an expensive process."

Chap on an Italian forum had his Alfa chemically dipped, and after painting and rebuilding the whole car, rust started to break out from all the seams due to the chemical dip not been neutralised properly. You can imagine, this was devastating for him.
He got it sorted in the end though, basically he had to strip the car again and start from square one with lots of new panels such as complete doors.
It would put me off!

[kev100]

Soda blasting kits come in at about £250 plus a compressor to run it plus research the cost of soda blasting material - it does add up.



If you use soda blasting at home make sure you get on well with you neighbours as the stuff goes everywhere & difficult if impossible to recycle so consumption is high.

I manually removed the underseal with a heat gun down to the primer then the shell was soda blasted to get rid of the rust.

That saved the amount of soda material.

On a stag the only bits which will be left if restoring the shell would be the rear quarter panel - soda is a mild media which won't distort the metal - yes dipping chemical can creep into the seams but think the companies who do this have it covered now.

Me - I would strip car down to it's bare bones get it soda blasted - as you will have found out - professionally is a higher cost but comparable with DIY.

Neil

I am tempted to maybe try a dustless system .. I have seen that karcher does an adapter to turn a pressure washer into a hydro blaster, would need to see if it can be used with fine ground glass which i think it kinder to the metal than sand (or I should say silica I think), I know the adapter is a very DIY thing and may not be suitable or powerful enough for car stripping.

https://www.kaercher.com/uk/accessory/sand-wet-blasting-set-26387920.html

[kev100]

Soda blasting kits come in at about £250 plus a compressor to run it plus research the cost of soda blasting material - it does add up.



If you use soda blasting at home make sure you get on well with you neighbours as the stuff goes everywhere & difficult if impossible to recycle so consumption is high.

I manually removed the underseal with a heat gun down to the primer then the shell was soda blasted to get rid of the rust.

That saved the amount of soda material.

On a stag the only bits which will be left if restoring the shell would be the rear quarter panel - soda is a mild media which won't distort the metal - yes dipping chemical can creep into the seams but think the companies who do this have it covered now.

Me - I would strip car down to it's bare bones get it soda blasted - as you will have found out - professionally is a higher cost but comparable with DIY.

Neil

I am tempted to maybe try a dustless system .. I have seen that karcher does an adapter to turn a pressure washer into a hydro blaster, would need to see if it can be used with fine ground glass which i think it kinder to the metal than sand (or I should say silica I think), I know the adapter is a very DIY thing and may not be suitable or powerful enough for car stripping.

https://www.kaercher.com/uk/accessory/sand-wet-blasting-set-26387920.html

Or maybe not after reading this ....http://www.classiccarblasting.com/media-types.html

I will have an indoor area to do the stripping if I go DIY

[Bandit1200]

Kev
I've used a Dudley based chemical dipping company. You probably know of them.
The parts I've had dipped by them have been wheels and panels which have no hidden sections or crevices and as a consequence I have been satisfied with their service.
However, I share your concern about the chemicals causing problems later on in the restoration.
My recommendation would be to satisfy yourself that no hidden corrosion exists in the shell, and this can only be determined by surgery, combined with a serious treatment of the rust inhibitor of your choice.
If you choose to invest in a soda blaster, you have the opportunity of cleaning other parts for other members for a fee. I'm not far from you and would a willing customer.
Steve

#

I am just trying to get some opinions on the types of paint stripping/de-rusting that are available,

I have done a little research, but would welcome the input from those that have already gone through the process.

My first thought was to go for chemical dipping, Pro's is that it cleans and de-rusts just about everywhere, I have heard though that the chemicals they use can cause problems at a later stage after the car has been painted, and it seems is quite an expensive process.

Sending the stag to a shotblasters is another option, but I am a but concerned about the damage that shotblasting will cause (if any)

I have also been looking at the option of buying a soda blaster to do the job myself, the soda blaster seems to be much more gentle to the metal, but also more course medium can be used if needed .. the benefits are that I would own the kit and be able to use it to clean just about every part of the stag, engine, suspension, brake calipers .. well you get the idea, I was looking at this kit http://www.frost.co.uk/eastwood-pres...a-blaster.html

I would welcome any comments, especially if anybody has experience with the soda blasting.

Cheers
Kev

[kev100]

Kev
I've used a Dudley based chemical dipping company. You probably know of them.
The parts I've had dipped by them have been wheels and panels which have no hidden sections or crevices and as a consequence I have been satisfied with their service.
However, I share your concern about the chemicals causing problems later on in the restoration.
My recommendation would be to satisfy yourself that no hidden corrosion exists in the shell, and this can only be determined by surgery, combined with a serious treatment of the rust inhibitor of your choice.
If you choose to invest in a soda blaster, you have the opportunity of cleaning other parts for other members for a fee. I'm not far from you and would a willing customer.
Steve

#

Hi Steve,

Thanks for comment,

As somebody who works with tools (I am a property developer (or builder to put it correctly)), and an ex mechanic .. farming out jobs really pains me, buying the tools to do the job myself is far more satisfying, I have a huge collection of tools because of this, but I know I can practically do any job now because of it, and its a big cash saving in the long run. After doing more reading I am now thinking to do more research on using glass rather than soda as soda also leaves a residue which is not paint friendly, but glass will also work in the soda blaster so no problems there, and there are several grades of glass to use http://www.stacey-processing.com/shop.html

The idea of having the kit and using it on any and all other parts of the car really appeals, and if other members would like their car parts done, they would be more than welcome to either do it themselves, or if I have the time I would be happy to do it, at a small cost for the medium and time and use of the blaster to try and recoup some of the outlay, (by the way I am a few months away from this stage yet)

I know the place for chemical dipping, but its extremely expensive (including the rust protection), I have already had a quote, see below

To chemically clean the bodyshell including the Boot Lid, Bonnet & Doors - £845.00

We recommend that you have your shell chemically stripped of all coatings, take it away and do your weld repair work and then return the shell to us for the zinc phosphate primer. If you choose this route you will get surface rust on the shell whilst carrying out your repair work, however, we would then carry out a re-cleaning process before coating your shell.

To re-clean the bodyshell to clean surface rust and contamination - £495.00

To electrophoretic coating on the panelwork - £300.00 (this covers standard panelwork on a car i.e. 2 doors, bonnet and boot lid)

To electrophoretic coating on bodyshell - £1450.00

All prices are subject to VAT at the prevailing rate

So spending £700 on a blaster and good (second hand) compressor + the glass and having the benefit of using it whenever I need it (and possibly making a bit of cash on the side with it) seems to make more sense.

[marshman]

I am tempted to maybe try a dustless system .. I have seen that karcher does an adapter to turn a pressure washer into a hydro blaster, would need to see if it can be used with fine ground glass which i think it kinder to the metal than sand (or I should say silica I think), I know the adapter is a very DIY thing and may not be suitable or powerful enough for car stripping.

https://www.kaercher.com/uk/accessor...-26387920.html

Don't bother with the Kaercher wet sand blasting set. I have one and it is ok for what it is - i.e. cheap - but virtually useless for what you want. I used mine twice on some wheels. It struggled to get the paint off and that was with their own aggressive media. I have a decent "professional" pressure washer and not a cheap DIY one and wound the pressure right up but it still wouldn't shift all of the paint. Dissapointing is the politest way to describe it, certainly nothing like the youtube video of the dustless system. Media consumption was also high.

I now have one of the big orange £100 sandblasting pots, not used it very much as I am still experimenting with getting the right media at a sensible price.

I also have a small sandblasting cabinet and used to use grit in it. I switched to glass beads and find it is much better. Its seems quicker and leaves a better finish.

One final comment, if you do get the whole shell blasted the media gets into every nook and cranny and everytime you move the bodywork some more appears from somewhere. I have an old Standard 8 I am restoring on a rotating spit at the moment and despite loads of time spent with a vacuum cleaner, everytime I rotate it you can hear media running about in the box sections. Having said that the body shell is nice to work on when it has been totally stripped of paint and underseal.

HTH

Roger

[kev100]

Don't bother with the Kaercher wet sand blasting set. I have one and it is ok for what it is - i.e. cheap - but virtually useless for what you want. I used mine twice on some wheels. It struggled to get the paint off and that was with their own aggressive media. I have a decent "professional" pressure washer and not a cheap DIY one and wound the pressure right up but it still wouldn't shift all of the paint. Dissapointing is the politest way to describe it, certainly nothing like the youtube video of the dustless system. Media consumption was also high.

I now have one of the big orange £100 sandblasting pots, not used it very much as I am still experimenting with getting the right media at a sensible price.

I also have a small sandblasting cabinet and used to use grit in it. I switched to glass beads and find it is much better. Its seems quicker and leaves a better finish.

One final comment, if you do get the whole shell blasted the media gets into every nook and cranny and everytime you move the bodywork some more appears from somewhere. I have an old Standard 8 I am restoring on a rotating spit at the moment and despite loads of time spent with a vacuum cleaner, everytime I rotate it you can hear media running about in the box sections. Having said that the body shell is nice to work on when it has been totally stripped of paint and underseal.

HTH

Roger

Thanks Roger,

I think with the comments I am probably going the DIY route, and will get the Eastwood pressure and soda cleaner http://www.frost.co.uk/eastwood-pres...a-blaster.html as this should do both soda for more gentle area's and a course medium, which I think is going to be ground glass,

Thanks for the tip about the medium getting everywhere, will look out for that.

I will also get a system to zinc-phosphate spray it after the blasting to give it some protection against the onset of rust, I will probably have to build a special area at the back of the unit to do all of this to contain the mess, and possibly look at a system to help keep the dust down.

[Jeff]

My local blasting shop use aluminium particles, very impressive finish.

Jeff.

[kev100]

My local blasting shop use aluminium particles, very impressive finish.

Jeff.

Yes I saw that being used, aluminum oxide I think, will have a good read up on that too

[staginhiding]

I went through the same process of decision making and ended up using a sandblasting company near Chippenham for my Tahiti shell.
A one man show,totally unreliable but an excellent job in the end,and a really nice chap..

Dipping was too expensive for me,and soda doesnt remove the rust (or underseal).

The downside with sandblasting is that even though you think you have got all the sand out the shell it always just runs out of somewhere..

I did buy the Frosts soda/sand blaster but it was quite messy and you need an open or enclosed area to use it..

Sam

[Jeff]

Don't forget it's not actually sand as that was made illegal here many years ago for health reasons hence alternative media is used.

I know we still refer to it as sand blasting though.

Jeff.