I getting ready to start my winter project. I'm going strip and repaint my car. My friend who is going to paint and do most of the work (I will be helping and learning)originally wanted to chemical strip my car. Now he thinks I should have it blasted (walnuts). I heard soda blasting was a good way to remove the paint. We are going to disassemble most of the car. Opinions please.
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My vote is to soda blast.

 

Go plastic media. Walnuts might be a little harsh. Soda gets everywhere and into places you cannot see...It is very corrosive if not removed and can cause you a lot of grief down the road. Impossible to get all of it out.

 

Ok. So 1 vote for Soda blast. 442 Scotty say's no and that walnuts my be to harsh. So do I just chemical strip?

 

Soda X 2 - you can mask things that you don't want powder in, it leaves a rust-inhibiting finish, and doesn't warp the metal!

 

Soda is not compatible with some epoxy primers.

 

I have done chemical strip on a couple of cars. You will need to use aircraft stripper. It is nasty and you will need plenty of ventilation and lots of rubber gloves. It is time consuming but it works. I have heard good things about soda blasting but have never used it.

 

Soda requires some sort of special cleaning afterwards - prior to applying any primer. You need to find out what is required or you risk adhesion problems with the first coat which means the whole effort was a waste of time and $. It may be as simple as scrubbing the car with soapy water and a scothbrite pad....I don't know the specific requirements so find out if soda is your choice. Of course, you have to neutralize chemical strippers so plenty of cleaning will be needed there as well.

The whole car (after whatever stripper cleaning steps are done) should be sanded with a DA sander and 80 grit pads prior to your first coat. Probably easiest to do this a panel at a time so you don't get strung out with a bunch of bare metal panels and run out of time, daylight, etc.

Make a "game plan" and follow it on each panel.

Get the P sheets (paint info sheets) for each type of coating you are using and FOLLOW THEM. Some epoxy primers call for a metal prep application, some don't so there is no "generic, one-size-fits-all" method for all primers and paints.