soda blasting

[hard_y_rd]

Just wondering if you can soda blast with a regular media blaster (ie. glass bead, glass grit etc.) I was talking to a body shop guy who said you need a special $8000 dollar machine. I'm pretty sure you don't but I want somebody's input on this who tried it.
I bought a bag of feed grade soda bicarbonate for $20 dollars so if it doesn't work, i'm not out too much.
I just want to clean up the gasket surfaces first with soda than cover up all internals and mating surfaces than bead blast it. I have the engine completely tore down so that is not an issue.

 

[Downeaster]

I would think so. There are several examples of home made blasters on Google and Youtube. I made one using the gun off an old Craftsman sand blaster.

 

[hard_y_rd]

Will the soda clog the machine. I'm new to blasting so i do not know much about it. The guy I was talking too said you need some kind of plunger to prevent clogging?
I tried using the permatex gasket remover for the 30 year old gaskets but you have to apply it several times to get the old gasket to soften and peel off. Not to mention it's brutal on the hands and skin.

 

[grepper]

A few rounds of paint remover works too, softens them up to where I can get them off with a razor blade.

 

[cra-z1]

Take a look at this site, they offer a soda media with a additive to prevent clogging. You may get buy with your glass bead nozzle, maybe they can help. You probably will just have to take you time at the gaskets. Don't rush and damage your surfaces.

www.eastwood.com/soda-blast-media-maintenance-m-50-bags.html

 

[hard_y_rd]

Ya you need the patience and time for the gasket removal. I use a dull utility knife and permatex and go ever so lightly. It's awesome for stripping paint as well. My engine must of been rattled canned cause it comes off pretty easy.
I'm going with the bare aluminum. Will the glass beads take off the stains off the aluminum. Some of the pictures on here looks as if it gives it a frosted look to it.

 

[5twins]

Yes, the glass beads will remove staining, something the soda may not, and even remove that rattle can paint job. Here's some "before" and "after" shots of a rattle canned head I did. The freakin' guy even painted the spark plug, lol .....

I'm quite impressed with the job glass beads do. I could never get parts cleaned up this good before. I also have a small soda blaster set-up but can only fit little things in it like carbs. It does a wonderful job on those. It's just a normal blasting gun and little cabinet. I plan on building an external, total waste set-up for larger items. On a u-tube vid I saw, I was really impressed at how well it removes carbon on pistons, heads, etc. No more scraping for me, lol. Here's a carb set I soda blasted. They came out looking like new .....

 

[hard_y_rd]

Beauty 5twins, That's exactly the look i'm going for. Aren't you supposed to paint the spark plugs? Just kidding. Mine were painted by the po as well. How did you cover the cam ends?

 

[hard_y_rd]

Did anybody see this vid?

I know we are all trying to cut some corners and save money but this is a bit ridiculous.

 

[Seattle51]

I built one of those in the video, and for an extra $10 at harbor freight you can get a little hand held hopper blaster that works 100% better and you can use just about any media you like in it. For my money the harbor freight blaster is the way to go if your trying to do this on the cheap.

Link to it here
http://www.harborfreight.com/1-liter-abrasive-blast-gun-92857.html

 

[5twins]

Oh, I like that. I was going to build a bulk one as I said, but not anymore. I like this one even better, it has adjustable media flow .....

http://www.harborfreight.com/21-oz-hopper-gravity-feed-spot-blaster-gun-95793.html

For covering all the openings prior to bead blasting, I cut block-off plates out of scrap plywood .....

 

[hard_y_rd]

No harbour freight in Canada sadly. I don't even think they will ship here. There's one on ebay made by Eastwood. Check it out. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Eastwood-So...ls&hash=item53ebec9de7&vxp=mtr#ht_2292wt_1396
Looks not to shabby. Good shipping charge as well.

 

[wherearewe]

I also have a small soda blaster set-up but can only fit little things in it like carbs.

5twins, do you soda-blast the carbs assembled or in pieces?

 

[5twins]

Dissassembled and stripped. Float bowls separate and bodies separate. The beauty of soda blasting is that washing afterward in hot water simply melts any soda away. I then blow all the passageways clear to make sure. The soda will plug small holes like the air jets and mix screw.

 

[thelowlife]

I went to Princess Auto here in Canada and just got a hand held media blasting gun and it works great for soda.

http://www.princessauto.com/pal/product/8140709/Siphon-Blasters/Gravity-Fed-Sandblasting-Gun

 

[hard_y_rd]

Thanks thelowlife, that looks like a good start for what I need. Right on budget too. I was looking on the Princess Auto website (the US guys are going to have fun with the name) and i really couldn't find anything for soda.

 

[hard_y_rd]

Here's a before pic of my engine when I got it. Who likes candy? I will provide a pic later on when it is finished being blasted.

 

[hard_y_rd]

Here's an after pic of the engine blasted with glass grit. Not as shiny if done with glass beads. They weren't available where i'm at.
What's a good way to get all the excess glass dust and shit out of the cases etc?

 

[SolidLex]

Seriously a heaven to earth difference. I'm almost done taking my engine completely apart so I can start blasting everything.

 

[Limpy]

I just did some soda basting to clean out 30 years of baked grease out of the fins on my head. I modified a gun my Dad used for spraying down the old Bultaco Matador after a ride, I think he used gas as a cleaning fluid back then. Considering the time and effort, I spent trying to get it to flow and breaking clogs, etc. I would just buy a sub-$50 unit from Eastwood or HF and consider the money spent much more valuable than the time lost to an inefficient backyard special.

Great idea using plywood to block off holes. I found tennis balls fit nicely between the studs of the exhaust and stay in place pretty well. Not a secure fit though.