Hi all what are peoples thoughts on sandblasting a mini shell as the company that is currently carrying out all the bodywork on my deluxe is now saying they want to sandblast the mini. they have already sandblasted the bonnet and bootlid and both came back with holes and dents in them. both of which looked like they had no rust and no to very small dents in them before sandblasting. the finish after they were sandblasted was very rough. would the sandblasting be causing any of this damage.
Cheers Hayden

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Present
- 1968 Morris Mini Deluxe- resto
-1979 Leyland Moke
-2007 R56 MINI Cooper
Past
-1964 Morris Mini Van
-1965 Morris Mini Van
-1961 Morris Mini 850

I prefere soda blasting ...as its less damaging to panels ,doesnt damage glass or plastics or rubbers,but still rips paint off
Ive got a soda blaster and Im using it to strip my shell and its awesome , but I mainly only use it in the hard to reach areas

Just youtube "airboy soda blaster" and it with show you how good it is

How much do you pay for a load of blasting soda booy?

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.

You do need to make sure that the Sandblasting company knows what they are doing and how to treat blasting of a car without causing any damage . I have had a few minis blasted but only after I have chemically stripped the paint and have then asked for the edges of panels only to be blasted. Also note they don't use sand but Garnet.
Once the car has been blasted it is then necessary to make sure all of the sand is cleaned and removed from all of the crevices otherwise it will come out at the time of painting.
Here is one I prepared earlier, before and after


I definitely think that having a body shell blasted is much better to remove rust than any other method but do your research first.
Good luck

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1969 Cooper "S"
1967 Mini Deluxe
1973 Clubman Van (the fleet spare)
1978 ex 1275 LS ("Wizard" Eaton Supercharged)
2015 HSV GenF GTS(occasional drive & tow car)
2019 MINI F55 Cooper S

Ebay sell it for like $10-$35 (20kg)
But I scammed super cheap as they sell it for like $35 for 5kg ...but I was desperate so I bought a tub of it but it scanned at $12 lol needless to say I cleaned them out of it lol

I have been told to be careful of certain types of soda as its corrosive and will destroy your car ...but im yet to come across it

I Soda Blast any cars I do, it costs a bit of cash but I feel you make it back in savings through the labour time saved in rubbing it back at the panel beaters.

I always hear people say that it blows out the rust and makes the holes bigger, and that's right, but isn't that what you want? get rid of all the rust so you never have an issue again.

Like MichaelB said make sure you go to a good company, I use restoprep in Newcastle and they do a great job, never had a warped panel yet.

Ryan

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Ryan

LS1275 - Hi Ho Silver
Moke 1981 - Mokee
Moke 1981 - Project
Moke 1978 - The Yellow One

<plug>
Bunnings now has sandblasting cabinets for $199 and 10 kg Garnet based media for $29.95.
I don't know whether this is good value or not. Any comments?
</plug>

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'68 Morris Mini 1310 A+ (Now Sold!)

Thanks for all your replies well the mini has already been sent off to get sandblasted in selective spots such as floor, engine bay and the scuttle panel I hope I will be ok. just have to find another boot for them
Cheers Hayden.

_________________
Present
- 1968 Morris Mini Deluxe- resto
-1979 Leyland Moke
-2007 R56 MINI Cooper
Past
-1964 Morris Mini Van
-1965 Morris Mini Van
-1961 Morris Mini 850

Yes, make sure they know not to go to agressive. The garnet will etch the steel rather harshly, and the heat generated will warp the panels.

I much prefer glass or plastic media, and where cost is no object then soda blasting. None of these will remove good metal. They knock off the paint and corrosion, and then polish the metal that is left clean.

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.

I've noticed that the soda media is much more expensive - but if you're hiring somebody else to do it, does the cost of the media make that much difference? I would have thought that the labour costs would outweigh the material costs (as do most car related jobs).

Or is it that soda blasting is also slower?

Yes, last time I checked it was about 2000 dollars for soda compared to 800 for glass/plastic with the same end result.

I think you will find the soda breaks down into dust quicker leading to higher consumable material costs, and the weight of the media is less meaning it takes longer to wear away the paint or corrosion. So its actually both which raise the price.

The gains are few, apart from the fact it can be washed away with water leading to less environmental cost to the workshop, and the experience is that the metal resists surface corrosion better for longer prior to painting if you leave it bare. Plastic and glass media blasters will coat your car in primer on completion anyway. It also leaves factory chalk or ink markings intact on the metal which is a nicety if there are any on the car.

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SooperDooperMiniCooperExpertEngineering

All garage work involves equal measures of enthusiasm, ingenuity and a fair degree of irresponsibility.

Maybe the sand blasting removed bog which had filled the dents and holes.
The rough surface is ok, it'll give a good mechanical bond for the paint.
This biggest problem with sandblasting if not done very carefully, heats up the panel and distorts it.
As long as your panels are not distorted or warped, they'll be good.

Yes I hope they do a good job and not distort any panels in the process.
Cheers Hayden

_________________
Present
- 1968 Morris Mini Deluxe- resto
-1979 Leyland Moke
-2007 R56 MINI Cooper
Past
-1964 Morris Mini Van
-1965 Morris Mini Van
-1961 Morris Mini 850

how much soda (kg) would it take to do (for example) the underside of the floor of a car?

and the soda is single-use, can't sweep it up, sieve the bits out and re-use it, right?

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did I tell you that I won a trophy?

Simon I tried it on the underside of the floor ,and to be honest is was useless ,as the tar on mine was soo thick it didn't do squat ,so I stopped as I didn't want to waste it ....I found I had to use paint stripper to remove most of the thick tar for it to remove it ....if I did it with the big $$$ equipment than it probably would do it , but my soda gun basically looks like a brake fluid sucker gun lol (its only for small jobs) but fine for a mini ...but use this gun to remove paint it tears it off with no issues at all

I reckon to strip a mini completely inside and out inc underneath easy 100kg of soda ....but u need a good compressor , with a good water trap , coz if any water gets in the bottle it sticks to the soda a creates havoc....but if it cost you $800-1000 inc buying a compressor and all the gear , I believe its worth it as you get to do it all by yourself and you gain a compressor (usefull tool lol) from it

If u ebay search soda blaster you can pick up a real good machine for $300 , which you can do the job with , and if you dont want to keep it after , you can sell it , or rent it out to a fellow mini restorer lol