<VV> RE: dipping

goofyroo@excite.com goofyroo@excite.com
Wed, 30 Jun 2004 14:57:50 -0400 (EDT)


<snip>
3. recommendation, in the recent past i have seen several bodies and parts stripped with soda at a commercial facility. seems to be pretty
environmentally friendly, does a nice job and is easy to get out of nooks and crannies with just water from a garden hose.
<snip>

I used baking soda to strip a '63 convertible in 2000.

On the plus side, it takes off everything down to the metal -- even old Bondo.  It does not harm chrome or aluminum (though I suppose you could dull them with concentrated spray).  And it leaves a slight residue that protects the bare metal for a short time until you can begin prepping for paint.

On the minus side, soda gets *everywhere*.  Four years later, I am still finding flakes of the stuff in places like on top of my speedometer housing.  It doesn't seem to hurt anything.  However, even though the body shop *flooded* the body with water to get rid of hidden soda, there are still some trickles that leave orange streaks in various corners of the body seams.  These look like rust, but they don't grow and they clean up with polishing compound.  They may be a put-off for potential buyers looking for evidence of rust.  My car is for sale, and I don't know whether my explanation is satisfactory.

Anyhoo, I guess all the various methods have their positives and negatives.  Soda blasting is loud, but it doesn't require a respirator (just a dust mask) and won't harm the body -- your car's or yours.

Michael Smith
Dallas

_______________________________________________
Join Excite! - http://www.excite.com
The most personalized portal on the Web!