Dry Ice blasting

Technical advice Q&A
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mark10337
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#1 Dry Ice blasting

Post by mark10337 » Mon Mar 13, 2017 9:41 pm

For those of you not familiar with the technique, dry ice blasting uses "dry ice" as the media, as opposed to sand / soda / shot etc blasting. The advantage is the media evaporates, leaving nothing behind apart from that which has been removed from the surface. It is also far more gentle to deal with and can take off paint in layers when done carefully and with the appropriate adjustment of the media throughput.

So I used it at the weekend to remove the layers of underseal from the boot area, boot lid and under the bonnet that a previous owner had thoughtfully applied...

Here is the removal of the underseal and undercoat down to the original factory primer below



and here from the boot lid



Interestingly, it also cleaned up the braiding on old cabling - so much the original colour markings were quite clear, Although where it is thoroughly decayed, it will strip it.

The footwells and interiors were also treated to remove adhesive residue. This worked perfectly without harming the paintwork. Even where there were big pieces of foil backed insulation, and green residue from glues and carpet backings, the whole lot came off simply and easily - and far quicker than the paint removal.
-Mark

1969 Series 2 OTS, Regency Red
'Life's to short to drive a boring car'

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288gto
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#2 Re: Dry Ice blasting

Post by 288gto » Mon Mar 13, 2017 11:03 pm

That's quite impressive on the boot lid Mark.

Simon
Simon
1969 S2 OTS

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abowie
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#3 Re: Dry Ice blasting

Post by abowie » Tue Mar 14, 2017 7:46 am

Seems pretty slow..
Andrew.
881824, 1E21538. 889457. 1961 4.3l Mk2. 1975 XJS. 1979 MGB (supercharged).
Adelaide, Australia

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#4 Re: Dry Ice blasting

Post by mark10337 » Tue Mar 14, 2017 9:52 am

Speed factor can be varied, ice throughput, psi etc. Because I didn't want to expose bare metal, the power blast was turned back which means the time was longer.

Still quicker than stripping, chemicals and scrubbing.

Just taking the adhesive off the interior cockpit areas was very fast as it came off much easier. No video unfortunately.
-Mark

1969 Series 2 OTS, Regency Red
'Life's to short to drive a boring car'

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JagWaugh
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#5 Re: Dry Ice blasting

Post by JagWaugh » Tue Mar 14, 2017 10:10 am

Mark,

Have I understood correctly, you were doing this yourself?

Did you rent or (gasp) buy the machine?

Could you give a rough idea of costs?

Last time I enquired there were a few places that rented machines here in CH, but the bottom line was that it came to about the same price as taking the car/shell/part somewhere to have it done for you.

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#6 Re: Dry Ice blasting

Post by mark10337 » Tue Mar 14, 2017 1:02 pm

This I have found to be the best solution for stripping, cleanly and quickly while keeping the car "on the road" - which really is the deciding factor vs sending it somewhere for blasting.

I rented a machine before here in CH. Was about 650 CHF for a week. That didn't work very well as the compressor I had available wasn't up to the job. (http://www.polarjet.ch/)

This time I got it done in Austria. I could have gone to his premises or he also has a mobile service. Turns up with a van towing a big heavy duty compressor and does the job. About 1,000 CHF for the full day - and yes I did some of it myself. http://www.trockeneisstrahlen.tirol/

There are also some in Switzerland.
http://www.trockeneisstrahlen.com/ (mobile & rental).
http://www.baumann-automobile.ch/trockeneisstrahlen.htm
http://www.eisstrahltechnik.ch/
-Mark

1969 Series 2 OTS, Regency Red
'Life's to short to drive a boring car'

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richard btype
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#7 Re: Dry Ice blasting

Post by richard btype » Tue Mar 14, 2017 9:13 pm

Now I've got it from your signature image, hold the revs at 4k dump the clutch and let the ice do the work! :bigrin: :bigrin:

Seriously interesting method - is the blasted surface affected by flash rust - being water based?
3.8 FHC Chassis no: 860403
DOM - 11th April 1962

Also

4.2 FHC Chassis no: 1E32173
DOM - 12th December 1965

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SEJohnson95
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#8 Re: Dry Ice blasting

Post by SEJohnson95 » Tue Mar 14, 2017 9:21 pm

"Dry ice" is frozen carbon dioxide which simply sublimes and disappears into the atmosphere, should be no rust involved.
Simon Johnson
E-type Club magazine contributor
Chasing the dream of a S1 4.2 OTS, but plan on getting an E ASAP!
Lucky passenger in a 1962 FHC - See restoration thread

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