Soda Blasting Paint Stripping Rear End Work
Soda Blasting Paint Stripping Hidden Bodywork
Here’s an area that the soda blasting uncovered. Apparently there was some very light bodywork done to the car over the years, but nothing major. We were just glad there wasn’t another gaping hole here.
Here’s an area that the soda blasting uncovered. Apparently there was some very light bodywork done to the car over the years, but nothing major. We were just glad there wasn’t another gaping hole here.
Soda Blasting Paint Stripping Under Damage
Here’s something else the blasting revealed, some very strange-looking damage to the driver-side fender. The ideal way to repair this would be to replace the fender or have a fabricator build a patch panel; we’re not sure how we’ll address it yet, but it’s nice to know it’s there so we can see it repaired on our terms.
Here’s something else the blasting revealed, some very strange-looking damage to the drive

We were leery about the bodywork and paint on our newest project car, a ’63 Nova we’ve dubbed “The Hellion”, but we really didn’t want to take the car out of its running condition before we absolutely had to. Getting it sand blasted would require us to pull the glass and the trim and basically render the car undriveable for a while before we could afford to get it painted, so we made plans to drive the car to Cal Blast, get it stripped, and drive it with its metal and old dents all exposed until we had the scratch to paint it. We bought the car knowing there were about seven rot holes in the body, but it was relatively straight. Also, when we pulled the interior out, we were glad to see the floor was solid and lacking any rust holes. Still, we wanted to make sure there wasn’t any other hidden, worse rot under the paint. We originally were going to use good old-fashioned elbow grease to remove the paint ourselves using Aircraft Stripper and power tools, but it turned out our elbows didn’t have as much grease as we thought.

In one day we went from a curdled cream–colored Nova that had us wondering how much of it was made of Bondo, to a clean all-metal project ready and begging to be worked on. Follow the next few pages to see how it’s done—maybe Cal Blast can help you with your next project.

  • Soda Blasting Paint Stripping Sodium Carbonate
    The material used is called sodium carbonate, and it gets fed into a hopper as it gets used up. Sand, plastic, copper, walnut, and other media is also used for various blasting tasks, but Cal Blast uses soda and copper exclusively. The copper process is done after the soda blast. It removes rust (unlike the soda), the invisible layer the soda leaves, and it can also leave a very, very slight etch to the metal that helps primer stick more effectively.
    The material used is called sodium carbonate, and it gets fed into a hopper as it gets use
  • Soda Blasting Paint Stripping Soda Aftermath
    Did we mention the soda gets everywhere? Well it does, just know that you’ll need to wash it thoroughly afterward, especially if you don’t want to breathe in the carbonate for weeks to come.
    Did we mention the soda gets everywhere? Well it does, just know that you’ll need to wash
  • Soda Blasting Paint Stripping Nova Side
    Here’s how the Nova looked right out of the booth. As you can see, the car had various dent repairs over the years. Something to keep in mind when getting your old car blasted is the radiator. The blasting process must’ve removed an old patch job on our radiator because a pinhole leak in one of the fins had us scrambling for some J-B Weld. We fixed it and had it home before dark.
    Here’s how the Nova looked right out of the booth. As you can see, the car had various den
Soda Blasting Paint Stripping Rear
The soda carbonate media will leave an invisible film on the car that prevents it from developing surface rust. Yes, we did drive it for about a month with it all metal, and it still held this cool, wet metal look. If the body had less dents we’d probably just clear over the metal. Albert De Alba Sr. says you can actually have the car like this for a couple rainy days without any serious threat of surface rust; just remember to wash the exterior with soapy water before you plan on shooting primer, because it can potentially cause issues with the paint sticking.
The soda carbonate media will leave an invisible film on the car that prevents it from developing surface rust. Yes, we did drive it for about a month with it all metal, and it still held this cool, wet metal look. If the body had less dents we’d probably just clear over the metal. Albert De Alba Sr. says you can actually have the car like this for a couple rainy days without any serious threat of surface rust; just remember to wash the exterior with soapy water before you plan on shooting primer, because it can potentially cause issues with the paint sticking.
SOURCE
Cal Blast
909-949-9505
www.calblast.com