[TR] Soda blast

[Dave Connitt]

Hi Marty,
I recently had some of the body panels on my TR4A soda blasted. Not so much
for paint removal as much as for bondo removal. The one caveat with soda
blasting is that I was told by the blaster to make sure I washed the panels
in a 50/50 mixture of vinegar and water before I did anything else. This is
supposed to remove the soda that is embedded in the metal as if I left it
the primer would not stick. Well I did that and to my horror, the panels
started to rust immediately. Luckily, I had some metal prep around which
creates a phosphorous coating and neutralizes and removes the surface rust.
I used lacquer thinner to clean that off, leaving nice clean metal.
The soda does have several pluses though, it won't heat up the metal and
warp it like sand does and it is way less dangerous to use.
I would be interested to hear anyone else's experience and instructions for
prep for primer after soda blasting.
Thanks,
Dave Connitt
'67 TR4A
http://home.fuse.net/davestr4a