Anyone on the forum know of any plastic media blasting companies in chicagoland or northwest indiana area? Struggling to find someone. Found someone who will sodablast for $700 but I do not want to do soda, I would like to get the car plastic media blasted.

Looked on the internet, but really no listing showing.

Anyone???

TTERZ

 

Bad idea, don't do it. Sand it of.

 

I. Soda blasted my 74 and it turn out great. Got it done for 400$ . Guy came out and did it in my driveway. Three and half hours.

 

OzzyRulesMe. Is that guy still around and how far would he travel? Roscoe, Il...where is that?

Ok, so everyone on hear has varying opinions on what should be done.

1. DA sanding is not good because lines would be distorted and it is important to keep lines for good paint job.
2. Soda bad because left over soda is hard to get out and could cause issues with paint job if soda is activated with water.
3. Plastic blasting is now bad and I am not sure why??

I would like to do as much work as possible myself, but I do not have a DA and I have a very small compressor in my garage. THe enamel on this car is heavy and I would be hand sanding forever to get this car to a presentable state to offer to a painter and bodywork person.

Limited funds are driving me to do more of this work and I really enjoy doing it with my son, but I do not want to screw it up so I thought that plastic blasting would be the best and safest option. I know I would need to clean car extensively to insure that the paint work would come out good. I called a place in south holland and they want a wopping $1500 to plastic blast the car which I think is outrageous.

My options appear to be minimal at this point and I am looking for suggestions on next steps. As I mentioned in previous threads, the strippers are not denting the enamel paint and I really want to get this vehicle down to the black primer atleast so that a painter has a chance to give me an accurate estimate while also giving me a great base to paint on.....

TTERZ

 

Roscoe is just north of rockford. They guy who did it is out of rockford . I can get his # when I get home. He's mobile but don't know how far he travels.

 

Thanks OzzyRulesMe!

Just spoke to a guy from D&M Corvettes in Illinois and he still thinks that I can get the stripper to work if I scuff up the enamel so that the stripper can penetrate the enamel. I really would like to do the stripper process if at all possible, so I think I will buy more KleenStrip and some more mask filters, a new orbital sander with 80 grit paper and see if this will work for me before I spend too much on soda or plastic blasting. Minimal cost for above items and I seem to think that it is worth one more shot.


TTERZ

 

Wondering about the stripper and the enamel? Most strippers are effective on striaght enamel paint--hardner activated polyurethenes might be tuff-. I've used Aircraft stripper and last time Captain Lee's which worked well but it was on original paint-melted it right off.
????????

 

RIO68
I am using Kleenstrip aircraft stripper for fiberglass at this time and it is not denting the enamel. THat is why this guy mentioned scuffing it to get through the top layer.

 

There once was a TV show called "Dream Car Garage".
Soda blasting was the only method of striping they use.

I would think this method would best be utilized on
frame off restorations due to the mess involved.

Just my .02

 

I think there is a guy from South Holland who advertises on Craigslist/Chicago that does media blasting.

 

I've had some bad experiences with sand blasting--that's why I use chemical now. I thought about soda blasting last time and might try it sometime. Don't know about media blasting. With fiberglass being as soft as it is soda might be the hot tip. No problem to wash it out just time consuming I hear--need to wash chemical out also.

 

I had mine Media blasted by a reputable company that specializes in Corvettes prior to my paint job and it came out gorgeous , the media is softer than the fiberglass and does no harm. the paint can be removed to any layer that you would like by this process , I requested it right down to the bare fiberglass so I could check for any stress cracks. The process leaves the surface like it was sanded with 180 grit paper. This process did cost me $800.00 , ( well worth it ) but it was in the winter time and the company kept my car in a heated and locked storage area during the whole process and only the owner drove the cars into and out of the storage area for the process . I live in Ct and the Media Blast company is in Milford Ct.
PS. I tried the razor blade process and gave that up real fast!! The only repairs that I had to do to the car after Media blast was fixing the razor blade gouges that I made.

 

Well, the C3 is almost entirely cleaned of all old paint and primer, but boy did I find alot of spots that require some additional attention.....did the work to get all the old stuff off and I think it will work out well in the long run because the paint will know what needs to be done and what does not.

Razor blade process worked well once I got the hang of it and yes there are minor blade cuts but I really think alot of these small cuts will be covered with the application of a good layer of epoxy primer and a few rounds of block sanding.

I ended up using zinsser chemical strip from Menards ($20 per gallon),razor blades, scotchbrite pads and lacquer thinner. Looks better right now than it ever has.

Will post pictures in a day or two once all of the car is completed, atleast the major stuff. THen need to do bumpers and fine edges around doors, hood and lights.

THanks everyone for all the help on guiding me in the right direction.

 

Is the soda blasting method of Corvette paint removal something that the average individual can do himself, or is it something that is better left to a professional? I have seen soda blasting setups for sale.

Thanks.

TJ

 

TJ429
In the reading and research that I have been doing, I would say NO. Soda blasting is something that should be left for a professional to do. I believe that it requires the experience of knowing when to dig down and when to move on and say that you have gone far enough into the paint and primer. I still believe with the amount of pressure and soda being shot at the fiberglass vehicle, it could severely damage an fiberglass car if not experienced.

Now on the flipside......if you have donor cars and can experiment for awhile on other fiberglass vehicles, I believe one can get the experience you need to do a car yourself, but not until experimentation and experience have been gained would I do it on my investment.

My choice would be to chemically strip a vehicle and use razorblades. It sounds kind of harsh but I am 85% complete on my C3 and it is turning out pretty well for a novice like myself. I had probably 3 to 4 coats of paint on my vehicle as well.

TTERZ

 

Just a caution on the kind of paint stripper you use some are made to work on fiberglass , I almost went that way until when doing some research some owners were saying that because the fiberglass is porous it sometimes remains in the fiberglass and will come thur under your new paint job on a real hot day and I didn't even like the sound of that!!. I would suggest making sure that your fiber glass did not absorb any of the stripper.

 

Gee, so muchpros and cons on soda blasting. Razor blades, and of course the sanding and stripper gunk. How is one to really know? I've been thinking of soda blasting and all I ever heard is that you really have to dilute the wash down with a neutralizer. How hard is that I ask myself. Water will find its way to ever part of the car that the soda blasting went to, right? Wish some REAL Professionals car painters would give their reply and experiences with each kind of geeting the paint off. How about it, ANY REAL PROS OUT THERE WILLING TO GIVE ADVICE AND EXPERIENCES? Thanks all

 

I soda blasted my 74. after blasting it had to sand on it some more to get some of the factory primer off then primed. Never wash the vet down with anything. after sanding wiped over the vet with a tack cloth thats it. My father inlaw help me. Has over 40 years of painting cars never had to wash the car down after blasting, Just going to get it dusty from sanding on them. URL=http://s976.photobucket.com/albums/ae247/ozzyrulesme1948/?action=view&current=102_3274.jpg][/URL]

URL=http://s976.photobucket.com/albums/ae247/ozzyrulesme1948/?action=view&current=paintingvette118-2.jpg][/URL]

 

I see that you did not take the glass out. Does soda blasting hurt the glass? How about inside the door jambs? How did you protect the interior? tell me more, please

 

No soda dose not hurt the glass or chrome . Did the door jams and the in side of the door . I was replacing all of the carpet and seats so that didn't matter. The soda dose do every where tho. That's the only down side of it. I still get some falling down from the dash. Just A little. But shows up on black carpet. My vet had to coats of paint on it . I felt it was the easiest and quickest rout.