speaking of ..
Be sure to cover your motor exceptionally well, or you will end it with
> blast media in the rear main.

Had a goofy friend a long time ago, loved his new sand blaster setup ..
thought he'd be real clever and sand blast the inboard front disc brake
rotors on his Citroen , right in place on the car.
I suppose that worked..
but a month later the starter didn't  - it was packed with sand.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Jack R." <jack007@COMCAST.NET>
To: <vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM>
Sent: Wednesday, September 15, 2010 2:10 PM
Subject: Re: Soda blasting question

> Soda Blasting cannot remove rust as soda is very soft and does not have
> the
> abrasive qualities of silica or other hard abrasives.  Remove the paint
> with
> the soda... and then hit the rust areas directly with a regular blast
> media.
>
> Be sure to cover your motor exceptionally well, or you will end it with
> blast media in the rear main, as I did!  See photo.
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/77623993@N00/1262992204/in/photostream/
>
>
> Also, when you re-paint, prime with a good epoxy enamel primer to provide
> an
> air-tight seal over the repaired rust area.  I did my "Michigan" van 4
> years
> ago, and NO rust has returned.
>
> Good luck!
>
> Jack R.
> 84 Westy Wolfie.
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Vanagon Mailing List [mailto:vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com] On Behalf Of
> Jim Felder
> Sent: Wednesday, September 15, 2010 4:16 PM
> To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
> Subject: Soda blasting question
>
> I want to finally address some bubbly paint and light rust where a
> body panel was welded in place way back before I got the westy. The
> rust has not gotten any worse in the last seven years, but I want to
> finally get around to taking care of it.
>
> I could take care of it with an angle grinder. I thought about sending
> it out to have it sandblasted. The other day I saw a soda blaster. Do
> the actually remove paint (seems like a great way to clean up a part,
> but will it take out rust?)?
>
> If anyone has any experience with any of these methods on Vanagon
> seams, I'd like to know.
>
> Jim