The revival of 650143R, 1970 with TS.

[BDA]

Let us know what you did and how it worked out for you.

[Richard48Y]

Hand sanding is simply out of the question for my arthritic arm.
From what I can find the secrets of soda blasting are the same as any other media blasting, control of pressure, distance, grit size.
Too many folk use very high pressure and work too close, no matter what media is used.
I read all the links posted above, if soda is still present after paint the car was never pressure washed!

I have several fiberglass cars to build and paint.
So I will have plenty of opportunity to learn the fine arts of soda blasting.

[BDA]

A dual action orbital sander is your friend.

[Richard48Y]

"A dual action orbital sander is your friend".

I've used them for years and have to respectfully disagree.
My car has two coats of paint, DA's are hard on body lines and the very thin Lotus clear top layer.
I've chosen the Soda Blast with care.
Another Pro note found, "Fiberglass - Hold Tight 102 and possibly Salt Away and Salt-X. Also Fiberglass Surface Prep #YMA601 by Interlux".

https://holdtight.com/find-a-distributor/

[Richard48Y]

Tried out the soda blaster today.
Bottom side of the bonnet was flaking black paint, blaster cleaned it very well.
Also did the rear edge. "New" paint came off very quickly, the original is a bit more stubborn.
All cracks or loose fibers are now revealed.
Wish I had begun doing this years ago.
I will use this for the Alfa Spider and probably all of my other cars now.
Glad to learn that my regular supplier of blast cabinet media also sells the HT102 rinse agent.

Went through the first bag too quickly, need to learn to adjust the feed rate.

[BDA]

Glad it’s working out well for you! I guess the problems others had were technique related. I hope your satisfying results continue! 

Pictures?

[Richard48Y]

I believe the soda blasting industry has matured.

Finally taking delivery of my new workshop tents this week, concrete floor is done too.
Getting a shipping container or maybe a couple of truck boxes for secured storage.
Once the shop is up the real chore will be moving out of the current rented space. 

I must complete a custom kit-car build for income before I may concentrate on the Lotus.
To do that efficiently I have to keep the new shop tidy and uncluttered. 
Which unfortunately means the Lotus roller has to go into the storage tent for a while.
But first I intend to pull the engine/trans and replace them with the fixture I discussed in another thread.
That way the Lotus will be easy to roll back into the workshop when I am ready for it in a few months.

[Richard48Y]

Even tangent progress is better than none.
Shop tent is finally nearing completion and today I bought a professionally made vacuum machine to assist in laminating dash boards, at a local garage sale.
Only have a few to do, Lotus Europa, Spitfire, GT6, maybe the Jag XJ6 and possibly a Locost.

[Richard48Y]

Wanting to get something running right away that is not a truck.
I have a VW based Bradly GT with rebuilt engine so decided to work on it a bit today.
Only 5'10" and I do not fit in it!
Even with the poorly designed cheap plastic "Racing seats" removed and sitting directly on the floor I barely fit under the roof.
This is not a small car, the 'Glass body sits on a full length and width VW Beetle pan.
Despite this and other quirks the Bradley's had production totals almost equal to the Europa.

Seems almost comical as I am fine in the Europa once I get in.

[BDA]

That is funny! Who would think that you would have trouble getting in a car based on a VW bug!?

[SilverBeast]

Wanting to get something running right away that is not a truck.
I have a VW based Bradly GT with rebuilt engine so decided to work on it a bit today.
Only 5'10" and I do not fit in it!
Even with the poorly designed cheap plastic "Racing seats" removed and sitting directly on the floor I barely fit under the roof.
This is not a small car, the 'Glass body sits on a full length and width VW Beetle pan.
Despite this and other quirks the Bradley's had production totals almost equal to the Europa.

Seems almost comical as I am fine in the Europa once I get in.

Had to look up the  Bradley GT and found this https://www.facebook.com/jaylenosgarage/videos/1567212066644424/. I see your difficulty.

Richard.

[Richard48Y]

Jay was not sitting in the car properly, deliberate or not.
It is claimed that the original seats reclined enough to let drivers fit under the roof and doors.
For some reason the originals seem to always be missing, and the substitutes fit too upright for use.
I will probably have to cut the floors to lower a set of seats, wondering if the feeBay "Europa" seats might work?
But at $500 that is not a cheap gamble.
I think I will try my Triumph GT6 seats.

[Richard48Y]

With so much time going to completing and fitting out the new shop I have not been able to get any work done to cars.

Particularly frustrating for the Europa.
When you can do nothing else, take pictures.
So tonight I took several close-up shots of my engine compartment for reference before beginning to remove the head from the TS engine.

Also cut one of my luggage bins to clear the custom exhaust that is currently on the car.
Next I will create a mold for a bubble to clear the exhaust.

Tired of planning, want to begin wrenching!

[BDA]

Maybe in the meantime you can post some pictures of your shop and of your car you took, Richard.

[Richard48Y]

Shop is still a work in progress.
Lots of eqipment to be organized but at least the swamp cooler is in.
Eventually I will get the two-post lift installed.
Lotus is under the blue cover.