Thread: Blasting Question

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So I have a friend that owns a 1915 Overland Phaeton that is original and has been in his family since new. At some point in its long life it was painted with at brush, now an unattractive dirty off-white. He's convinced that he wants to have the entire car "soda blasted", but he does not plan to disassemble much of anything, and definitely does not plan to remove the body from the frame. He believes that he can have it blasted to bare metal, then give it to his painter to mask and shoot the frame & fenders black and the body a dark green.

I've told him that I've never run across a commercial blaster that will do a project like that, and that this type of cleaning is generally used for individual parts and pieces. Does anyone have words of wisdom or guidance that I can offer to him, based on actual experience? I fear he's headed for a train wreck, and I'm trying to save him some pain and expense. Shine, how would you attack this if he brought it to you on a trailer, wanting to come back to a painted car? He's not trying for a concours car here, just wants a parade queen.

Has anyone ever had it done with dry ice. I know a guy who does that, but have never had him do it for me.

Darn, I thought this thread was about dynamite.......Just had an industrial part blasted with the solid CO2. Did a reasonable job of removing baked on paint. Was fairly expensive
relative to soda blasting. mike in tucson

The real question here is not so much the media used, but the idea of media blasting an assembled car to prepare for paint which I believe is questionable at best. My friend is convinced that he does not need to take anything apart.

it is doable . but first things first. he will need to remove a few things that will be in the way. headlights and etc. cant shoot between hood side and fender so hood has to come off to make room. frames not going to happen unless buzz bombed.
media will need to be acrylic . not going to get into soda-blasting discussion period.
but the problem is going to find someone to do it. myself i would pass . not the kind of thing i do. will someone willing to do it be able to ??? good question. best advice is be careful and check on it every other day. if no work happening return with a trailer.

Originally Posted by shine

it is doable . but first things first. he will need to remove a few things that will be in the way. headlights and etc. cant shoot between hood side and fender so hood has to come off to make room. frames not going to happen unless buzz bombed.
media will need to be acrylic . not going to get into soda-blasting discussion period.
but the problem is going to find someone to do it. myself i would pass . not the kind of thing i do. will someone willing to do it be able to ??? good question. best advice is be careful and check on it every other day. if no work happening return with a trailer.

Yeah, I'm telling him that he's going to destroy the old fender/body welting, and even if not painting it is a bad idea. He needs to loosen the bolts to allow paint into the space, then new welting. You bring up a good point - the guy that will do it might not be the guy you want, and the guy that knows how to do it may not want the risk. What do you mean by "buzz bombed"?

Shine-it is kind of a interesting idea blasting with dry ice.I kind of see where that would work.Could you please tell us the upside and downside of that??.

For sure I have no experience, but I couldn't imagine how you could do an entire car without disassembling - especially a restoration, even if its only a partial. That media would be in every crack and crevice just waiting to spoil a fresh and shiny paint job no matter how well you cleaned. If he just wants to remove the lousy brush job, a pack of 80 or so paper and a block will do it. A DA is better yet. The positive with a body off is also giving the restorer a chance to replace frame welting and wood mounts. It sure makes other maintenance easier as well

I have never even tried somthing like that it just sounds like a BAD idea.. The car should be taken apart and done right

Originally Posted by rspears

So I have a friend that owns a 1915 Overland Phaeton that is original and has been in his family since new. At some point in its long life it was painted with at brush, now an unattractive dirty off-white. He's convinced that he wants to have the entire car "soda blasted", but he does not plan to disassemble much of anything, and definitely does not plan to remove the body from the frame. He believes that he can have it blasted to bare metal, then give it to his painter to mask and shoot the frame & fenders black and the body a dark green.

I've told him that I've never run across a commercial blaster that will do a project like that, and that this type of cleaning is generally used for individual parts and pieces. Does anyone have words of wisdom or guidance that I can offer to him, based on actual experience? I fear he's headed for a train wreck, and I'm trying to save him some pain and expense. Shine, how would you attack this if he brought it to you on a trailer, wanting to come back to a painted car? He's not trying for a concours car here, just wants a parade queen.

I know a few friends who have had soda blasting done,always on disassembled parts,,never like this,a complete car..One guy had an ex London transport double decker bus done,and still regrets it,due to the mess..The main problem with it,from my point of view,is the fact that every last vestige of the soda treatment has to be removed,usually by water blasting,when finished..Sorry,Roger,if it was mine,it would be coming apart,whether a concourse build or a nice useable rebuild..I have seen the damage from that crap leeching out of body seams,getting under a nice paint job,and ruining a nice job..At the very least,loosen off the fenders,etc,but the thought of it scares the c..p out of me..And in all honesty,would probably take longer to do,having to work around hinges,etc..

In all honesty,I would rather tape up all the body seams and remove the paint with paint remover,and wash off with thinners..

way too expensive for me. the set up is very expensive. acrylic can be recycled so it is one of the best. corn starch is another good media. it is the same moh hardness as soda. 2.0-2.5 .

Originally Posted by shine

way too expensive for me. the set up is very expensive. acrylic can be recycled so it is one of the best. corn starch is another good media. it is the same moh hardness as soda. 2.0-2.5 .

Shine, what is "Buzz Bombed"? Not familiar with that term.

Originally Posted by shine

way too expensive for me. the set up is very expensive. acrylic can be recycled so it is one of the best. corn starch is another good media. it is the same moh hardness as soda. 2.0-2.5 .

Shine,are you talking small plastic beads,what we call plastic media blasting?? Thats kool stuff..Had a few bits done that way some years ago,and was impressed with it..No one around here does anything like that..just sand/garnet blasting,and boy,there are a few butchers who dont know/care about quality too..Never heard of corn starch method..dry or wet?? Saw a bug eye sprite at Rod Millens place 20 years ago,that had been done with walnut shell..that was a nice clean finish..

there are many different medias. i go by the hardness. type5 acrylic is 2.5-3.0. does not leave an anchor pattern . i use the plastic on vettes. i can recycle the plastic until it is very fine. even then it keeps working.

I would go along with the BAD Idea........... and further a total waste of money. Not to be harsh, but to me it's not even half ass-ed, I'd give it a quarter ass. As pointed out media, or whatever it is blasted with between joints and will surely ruin any attempt at a fair paint job. If your not going to totally dissemble it, IC2 probably has the best solution, just sand and wire brush. Prime and put some inexpensive enamel on it. I believe anything else will do more damage, and waste good money on a bad result. M2Cents.