Soda Blasting Good or Bad??

[g356gear]

I am seeing a ton of different opinions on soda blasting as a method of removing old paint and getting to the bare metal. Some paint manufacturers say they will not warranty paint on a car that has been soda blasted. Any experiences good or bad with soda blasting from body guys would be appreciated. Can it be done with good results?? Thanks for the help.

[68sixspeed]

One of the guys I work with had a car done, it was nice to the metal as far as heat/warping, left the metal less rough than sand blasting, but some of the soda left in the pinch welds caused some premature rust and swelling (we think).

[BADVELLE]

I had a car done, very clean process. I was told to wipe the car down with a vinegar/water solution, I fist blew out all the jams, etc. I am not sure about the other post referring to the pinch welds, however I can tell you that if the car is not wiped down after the process properly, then the "soda" can "rise" and cause paint issues.

[CROMAN69Z28]

When using soda, you must wash the bare metal with a water/vinegar mix and then wash that off with straight water. Thats putting water on bare metal twice. We use a media called Black Beauty. Its a coke based product. It leaves the metal rougher than soda but its perfect for an epoxy primer to bond to. The only reason I would use soda is if I wasnt going to remove the glass from the car. Even then, I would soda around the glass and media blast the rest. I havent had any problems with the way we do it.

CHAD

[Declawed69]

phosphoric acid, metal ready, fast etch, etc all work just fine neutralizing soda. After that just do what prep you'd normally do after applying them. No need to wash with water.

[MonzaRacer]

As for Soda Blasting the way I have been helping prep for work after is they blaster had an iron phosphate additive in his rinse water. Soft water ,deionized and the antirust additive blow drying wel and even setting up heat lamps/simple hallogen lamps around car, slowly moving back from area being warmed as simple shutting off heat can cause metal sweat as it cools.
But I have yet to see any long term issues and also tell the body shop it was blasted.
Strange you use a ph neutral product to chemicaly break down the paint to get it off then go over it with an acid/water mix.
As for the last three cars we simply took them to local drive through car wash, then we took it home and rewashed it , etched the metal and sealed the metal with etching epoxy primer from PPG.
We had some minor flash rust but 320/400 wet/dry and course scotchbrite let us scuff the whole car quickly and the etch stops all surface oxidation.

[Paint God]

It sucks, but what do i know?

[JRouche]

It sucks, but what do i know?

LOL Yer killin me...

Yeah, it is the NOT the preferred method. Basically you are shooting a strong base (opposite of an acid but just as corrosive) into every crease and crevice of the body. A strong pressure washing will dislodge most of the chemical, yeah, again its a chemical that is corrosive. But as much as the pressure washing does, it also plants some of the chemical further into the tight areas of the panels. So they sit, and you paint over them, and they sit and do their thing.

So after a few years you see some bubbling from some of the joints. Hmm, bad paint, painter??? No!!! Its just the baking soda doing its thing...

I dont recommend soda blasting at all... JR

[rrstroker71]

We use plastic media and have for 20 years, then use aluminum oxide to get the heavy rust out. Do a lot of military stuff and they do not like the Soda because of future corrdion concerns. Soda is not the prefered way of this restorer