Opinion on soda blast or dip?

[Sean]

I have never had a body dipped before is it worth it vs having the body soda blasted?.

[x77-69z28]

I am afraid of dipping a car. It cleans off everything, and in places you can't recoat! Unless you have the ability to dip in rustproofing after the chemical dip.
Buddy

[big gear head]

You also loose all of the sealer that was put into places that you can't get to. I'd blast it.

[marxjunk]

even soda blast can seep back like dipping....

i like media blast..lots of clean up..but i like it

[JRSully]

blast it, then put aside lots of time for you and the shop vac. Most reputable shops that do cars a lot, get a lot of the residual material out these days though

[BCreekDave]

"I've heard" soda blasting can come back to haunt you due to the soda lime media. The soda has to be neutralized as it can leave the surface with an alkali pH which can come back to haunt you. It can be successful, but you have to neutralize it.

Better to plastic media blast it.

[wrench]

Probably depends on the company who does the dipping. I had my my 69 rag top dipped in 1990 and still shows no signs of anything negative.

[big gear head]

The shop that does dipping here use to have a second dip that they did to prevent rust, but I'm told that they can no longer do the second dip. Sometihing about EPA.

[Sean]

Last one I had blasted took me 2 months to get all the media out of it. Have done it myslef but takes to long. Some use baking soda never been that route. I like to start from scratch on the body detail but depends on how many times it has been painted and bondo buildup.

[x33rs]

When it's preferred or necessary, I prefer blasting. I use a local portable company that comes to the house, dustless blasting. Generally they can't get their wand anywhere I can't get a paint gun. This process is quick and easy, and the car never leaves my sight.

I haven't seen the chemical dipping done since the 80's, and never even get anyone that requests it these days. Not even sure there is one available local to me anymore as the EPA ran most of them off. I know even the chrome plate shops have shrunk to half of what they used to be.

[Bernhard]

Dip method has its draw backs like every process. When you dip you have to make sure the shop knows what they are doing as in rinse and re rinse! Then the car should go straight in to a paint both with heat lights for a day or two to dry out any remaining rinse residue.
Next step in the process will include sanding and chemical cleaning and etching.
Some guys like metal etch primer some like epoxy I have done both.
Soda blasting again has its draw backs as it leaves the metal in a neutral PH state.
A lot of the primers are acid based and will loose adhesion on a PH neutral substrate.
As soon as car is in the white/bare metal it starts rusting!!
Its not as simple as strip and prime the steps taken after striping are very important.
I like a shop that can strip and prime in house.
When you pick a shop look at the method they use to strip.
Is the media clean free of oil etc.
What is the air supply like, well maintained air supply with dryers and water and oil separator.
I have never used dustless blasting but it does look like it might work very well. I would like to see feed back and long term results from this method.
With any system its the entire process that leads to success, miss a step and poor results will follow!

I will be media blasting my car with a shop that has a in house striping booth and paint booth.
The reason I will be using this method is past success and that I'm comfortable with the method.
A lot of shops use a mix of garnet that they have fine tuned over the years that helps achieve a warp free strip.
The operator is also key as even with the best media to much heat can be put into the metal.