1969 Dodge Charger SE 383 4bl Project by Shawn!

[Mopar1979]

I had time this weekend to work some and I got the door skin off, and worked on the ever so fun undercoating. Can I say I felt like a coal miner when I came out from under the pile of crap I got off. I thought maybe a day would get it done, but iwas wrong. I found that the spots where the trans leaked was like butter, the other I had to use a needle scaler and a multi scraper tool from harbor freight. They worked well, but I still don't have full feeling in my right hand
Needless to say I am only halfway done. Has anyone tried oven cleaner on the undercoating? Thought it might soften the stuff. I will post pics tomorrow.

[Mopar1979]

Here are some pics of the fun last weekend

[Dino]

Is a soda blaster in the budget?  It'll make this a whole lot more fun.

[Mopar1979]

I am actually sending it off for blasting in jan. They told me that the medai blast will not work good without removing the undercoating?

[Dino]

I am actually sending it off for blasting in jan. They told me that the medai blast will not work good without removing the undercoating?

True, media blasting will not remove the undercoating, but blasting dry ice will make short work of it.  If you have a bit of land and are not really close to your neighbors, I'd give it a shot.

[Ghoste]

Thats one I haven't heard of.  What is involved with dry ice blasting?

[Dino]

Pretty much like blasting with anything else.  The beauty of dry ice is that it causes a rapid heating/cooling change to the undercoating which makes it vibrate and release from its substrate.  Dry ice blasting is used in mold removal of homes, you can clean up frame work in no time and get rid of all the mold.

There's also no cleanup to speak of as dry ice pretty much dissapears when it heats up a little.

[Ghoste]

Where do you get it?

[Dino]

Where do you get it?

Dry ice?  Most local supermarkets have it.  Walmart has it as well.

[Ghoste]

Seriously??  I have never ever seen that.  Never been looking for it either of course.

[Green71R/T]

welding supply stores sell dry ice around here

Where do you get it?

[Dino]

Seriously??  I have never ever seen that.  Never been looking for it either of course.

I know right?  I was a bit surprised first time I looked for it as well.   

[Mopar1979]

I bought some aircraft paint remover last night and i am going to let it soak and see what that does. I wonder if i can leave some for the media blaster to get off?

[Dino]

Some yes, but very little.  Media blasting is great in removing paint but that's about it, it can't handle the thick undercoating or bondo.  If you keep at it, eventually you'll get down to the metal but you will have wasted a lot of media and warped the hell out of the metal.

You know, there is another way to use dry ice without the need for a blaster.  First of all, if you do decide to work with dry ice make sure you are protected with some really thick gloves because if it touches your skin, best case scenario you get a slight burn, worst case scenario you get frostbite and that's all she wrote!

Simply throw a bunch of dry ice pellets over your floor boards, I like to throw a cover over the car as well so it contains the dry ice longer as it will evaporate into a gas rather than a liquid (think halloween drinks  ) but it's not necessary and I don't have the data to back up this really helps or not. 

After a few minutes all the undercoating shrinks on both sides of the floorboards and you can simply scrape it off or even hit it with a rubber hammer and the undercoating will just shatter.  I love this trick as the only residue left behind is the hard undercoating itself.  Your floorboards will be unaffected.

You can also use a heat gun or torch and scrape most of the undercoating off to leave the residue for the blaster, but it's messy, dangerous and labor intensive.  Try the ice, you'll be surprised.

[Ghoste]

I`m still impressed as hell about this whole dry ice thing Dino.  I don`t know how long people have been doing it but like I said, its the first I`ve heard of it and it just sounds SOOOOOOOO much better than the old torch and a scraper method. 

[Dino]

Dry ice scares people, I'm sure plenty have lost a finger tip or two by misusing it so it's a bit obscure, but if you follow the rules it is awesome, it does all the work for you.  You can literally throw in the pellets, go grab a beer, come back and see chunks of undercoating on the ground.

This is what dry ice blasting does to a car.  Just like soda blasting really but less messy.

[bill440rt]

Now that's REALLY interesting. 

So... what does dry ice blasting do for RUST???

[Dino]

Now that's REALLY interesting. 

So... what does dry ice blasting do for RUST???

Dry ice will remove scaling and flaky rust but it cannot remove metal itself so it will never get into deep pitting and leave a clean surface BUT imo that's the good part.  Media blasting removes rust, which is oxidized metal so you are effectively removing structure.  We all love to see rust dissapear with blasting but for many older cars it's opening up a can of worms as you lose metal thickness.  If you use dry ice and then coat the part in a rust reformer you will have the best of both worlds.  Kinda like dipping it in acid, but much better for you, the car and the environment.

Oh and it's cheap as well.  Win win!

[Mopar1979]

That is cool stuff!  :popcrn:I wish I had known more before I committed to soda blast. Anyway mine should be back in a few days so hopefully I can put some of this sheet metal in my garage I have had for months.
Mopar1979

[Mopar1979]

Off to blast!

[JB400]

Looks like your set to launch   Looking forward to seeing the results

[six-tee-nine]

Huh..... kinda looks like mine......

[200MPH]

nice progress

[Mopar1979]

Thanks. If the weather gets better hopefully he will be done this week. In the meantime I can practice playing with my new Eastwood mig welder!! And sorting thru my detail paint order. Eastwood has some good stuff

[gers1968rt]

I bet you can't wait to see it after blasting. Good progress, looking forward to seeing it, myself.