If you were going to have a car media blasted what media would you use and what pressure? I was looking at soda blasting but I was reading that it will leave a residue and and does not prepare the surface for paint! Your thoughts!! I'm looking for this info to have when I talk to a blaster as I don't have the equipment to blast an entire car myself!


Thanks

I had my hood soda blasted, and you are right in saying that it didn't prepare it for paint. Soda blasting did however do a very good job at getting rid of bondo, and layers of paint. It just doesn't have enough bite to get rid of the oxidation or discolored metal. This could be a good thing though, since there was no risk of panel warpage. I'm getting my engine bay blasted, and the blaster thinks that 40/60 silica sand will do the trick. Some blast shops use 20/40 silica, and this can very easily warp body panels, as I learnt from doing my air cleaner lid.

There is a magazine on the stands now (Muscle Car I think) that is a bodywork issue. They talk about soda blasting and the issues with it leaving an "inert" coating even after rinsing with water. According to the comapny that did the blasting the issue has to do with the surface tension of normal water. They have a solution which they say will rinse the surface and leave it ready for paint. So that would seem to solve that issue. 'Course the question is "do all soda blasters have the solution and what's the price?". It would be interesting to have a chemical analysis done of the solution. I'd bet its nothing more than something like a 10:1 mix of water to methyl hydrate (alcohol).

After soda blast you will need to rince with 50/50 water and vinegar then rinse with 100% water. After that be ready to scuff the surface and prime.

thanks everyone! Can you tell me what presure they use for soda blasting?