Body Preparation

Soda Blasting is the perfect choice for preparing car bodywork for painting. Apart from being immensely time saving over conventional methods, Soda Blasting –

	Will NOT scratch or etch metal, but will remove ALL of the paint.
	Will not scratch chrome or damage trim. In fact, a car can be stripped of all its paint without the need of time – consuming masking, actually leaving all trim,rubber,  glass and wiring IN PLACE , with no harm coming to those components!
	Does NOT generate heat on impact – so, unlike other forms of Blasting , will result in NO panel warping, pitting or distortion – even on Aluminium and fibreglass!
	Can strip wheels, panels or the entire car.

It is interesting to note that there is a phenomenon which occurs which is unique to the Soda Blasting process. Soda Blasting removes electrolytes, such as acids and chlorides. The result is that the metal will not have activated anode and cathode steel molecules which will, in turn, prevent rust from forming for up to  several months!  Other Blasting methods and mechanically cleaned surfaces will rust in as little as a matter of Hours! After stripping, the soda leaves a light, dusty protective film on the panels. Unlike other blasting options, like sand and plastic media,this film, along with any soda left trapped in crevices, seams etc can be simply rinsed away with soapy water prior to painting. It is recommended that parts be rinsed thoroughly before painting to prevent possible adhesion problems.

Mechanical Parts

Soda Blasting is an excellent degreaser and also breaks down hydrocarbons
which makes it highly suitable for cleaning engines, engine parts and similar.
Being non – abrasive allows it to be used on surfaces which would be
otherwise damaged using conventional abrasive media. Aluminium, Stainless
Steel, bearings, seals, hydraulic and electrical components can all by cleaned
without damage.
Also, complex mechanical assemblies such as carburettors,  transmissions
and rear axles can be cleaned and degreased with no harm to internal
moving parts.
Another major advantage is that the surface tension of metals is not broken, which eliminates the problem of flash – rusting.

As well as de - carbonizing, Soda blasting is excellent for cleaning in
inaccessible areas such as finned cylinder heads - as below.






Here is a 1921 Model T Cab which required Soda blasting to de-rust and     
clean it prior to painting.

Luckily, the day was fine and the gazebo cover used just once!
Total job took about 6 hours but the result was very impressive








This old wheel was dropped off the other day. It belongs to a 1934 open trials car I believe, and was pretty heavily rusted. We actually blasted this with aluminium prior to finishing off with Soda.

We picked up this Honda 650 four to demonstrate the use of soda blasting on different metals - steel, aluminium etc. and in particular to show how soda can be used to clean engines without damage to wiring, rubber seals etc.





Alfa 75 Rally Car


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This is how the car arrived, completely stripped out inside and minus engine and front wings. We removed the wheels, gas struts and steering column for ease of blasting.

Honda Civic

Underside took some work but turned out well.

So did engine bay

Weber Carbs

This is a Pinto engine we recently had in. I've put it on the web because I think it turned out rather well!

Lotus Seven

John, from Classic Car Workshop, came down to see us the other day and brought with him a load of bits including this chassis from an original Lotus 7. other parts from the same car included the fibreglass front wings which we soda blasted to reveal the original red gel - coat pictured below.

John has a great knowledge of classic cars and can be contacted by e-mail at classiccarworkshop.ie

This Aluminium Horse Box was a good result

This Model T Van was stripped on site ready for new livery

Fergie 20

This old girl was in a bit of sorry state when she arrived. First thing to do was to strip off all the tin work, starter, dynamo etc. to allow for maximum access for blasting.

Following blasting, everything was treated with 2 coats of two pack primer before being re-assembled.

Wolseley hornet

This car was bought late in 2009 from the U.K with a current M.O.T (!) and driven by the owner back to Ireland. Although the car looked very pretty, resprayed in two tone green, closer inspection showed signs of rust appearing and the new owner decided to completely dismantle the car and carry out a thorough rebuild. We were asked to remove all paint and underseal and cut out and replace any areas affected by rust. The following pictures show just how bad the car really was underneath its shiny respray!

The front panel with grill, sidelights and air vent apertures is all one piece and includes the valance and bumper hangers. This was found to be full of filler underneath both headlamps and the valance was beyond repair.  This panel was cut out and SC Parts in the U.K was able to provide a pattern replacement.

Short sill replacements had been fitted and the floor was badly corroded along the welded join. When the outer sill was peeled back a second replacement sill was revealed and under that the original! All were severley corroded as you can see below.

The first picture below shows the extent of the corrosion around the rear subframe mounting points and the second shows the typical quality of the repairs that had been carried out.

This picture shows the amount of the underside that was cut-out to remove the rust. The same amount was removed from the other side of the floor. The picture on the right shows just how much metal had to be removed from the car to remove corrosion. This from a car with a current test certificate !

Extended replacement sills were fitted as were new battery box, flitch plates, rear valance, extended boot floor panel ( the Hornet is approx. 5" longer than standard Mini ) and, as already mentioned, complete front panel.   Repair sections were fabricated or bought for spare wheel well, rear subframe mounts,rear wheel tubs, inner sills and front inner wings. The cold air collector pipes were also repaired as were the pipe mounting plates on the front scuttle. Both the front and the rear subframe had previously been replaced and were found to be in good condition so were just Soda Blasted. The completed underside and subframes were then sprayed with several coats of Rust Inhibitor.

Following all the welding and repair work the car body was totally blasted inside and out.

Before finally being sprayed with two pack primer.

Anglia Estate

This car belongs to Tom Heavey, Editor of Irish Vintage magazine. Tom intends to restore this car to its former glory and feature the ongoing restoration in his monthly magazine.

BMW 3.0 Csi

Ford Cortina Mark 2

This car is reputed to have belonged to Jack Lynch, former Taoisech (Prime Minister), of Ireland and was the first Ford off the assembly line in Cork.

First of all, the car was blasted.

And then, because the restoration work was scheduled over several months, we sprayed the car all over with a special light oil which dries hard and prevents any rust reforming. This oil coating can be left on the car when it is finally painted to act as a rust inhibitor.

Escort Harrier

Toyota Twin Cam

Ford County

Mark 11 Jag

'Henry' the Beetle

Mk 11 Capri

Alfa Spyder

There are some cars that just aren't worth doing !!