Dry Ice Blasting in the GVRD
 

Hi RS,

I'm looking to see if anybody here has experience with dry ice blasting to cleaning the underbellies or engines of their cars/trucks etc.

Looking at some potential options to learn about experiences, costs, and any lessons learned. Use case is for a vintage vehicle over 30 years old.

Hoping someone has experience with a shop local to Vancouver / Burnaby / Richmond, but open to traveling over to North/West Vancouver and the Fraser Valley. Thanks in advance!

bcrdukes

Honestly thought about doing this as a business for awhile, main thing that stopped me was the cost of leasing or having space in the lower mainland.

The machines are pretty expensive upfront and it takes a lot of practice. I'd be scared to do it on a vintage car tbh, be pretty easy to blow off a lot of metal if it's rusty at all and older cars especially unibody have a lot of old/cracked/piecemeal rubber pieces underneath as well you could pretty easily destroy.

Seen super amazing results on some 1st gen NSX's though and it's very OCD satisfying to watch videos of it being done.

I don't know of anyone doing it locally though.

Chris isn’t the whole point that it’s not as abrasive as sand/soda/walnut blasting? I don’t think you *can* blow away metal etc

The body of the car I am pursuing is pristine. It's the engine bay that's got all sorts of gunk, dirt, debris and I'm not sure if dry ice blasting is a feasible solution (from what I'm reading, it is) as opposed to shampooing the 30+ year old engine bay where God knows what could go wrong and will likely go wrong. I'd like to simply explore my options and know what I'm getting myself into, for good, bad, or worse (probably worse.)

Pressure washer and degunker? Can’t be that bad.

When I think vintage, I’m thinking old old. Not much for electronics in those things.

I'm thinking pressure washer and degunker might work. But this car is European. Think carburetors and coil-based ignition. And 80s.

It's the valve cover that's dirty AF that I want cleaned out. I want it spic and span and look like a show winner.

If it's just the valve cover can't you just remove it, clean it, and put it back? Rather than having the gunk running down or getting blasted elsewhere in the engine bay during the cleaning?

Poor choice of words on my part saying “blast” but technique wise it’s easy to overdo an area and cause damage

I use to be paranoid about washing my engine bay, now I just giver. If your really worried, unplug wires at block, wrap the distributor/wires in plastic then go nuts. Think of how wet the highway is during a crappy day. Obviously cover any inlets to the cylinders through the carbs etc.

Working at BMW before washing engine bays we would always bag the alternator too after some mishaps.

bcrdukes: Any local dry ice blasting options?
RS: no, no, no, do it this way. (I kid, I kid)

I too would like a local dry ice blast connection. I saw a clip of SR Auto talking about it and using an 70/80's Porsche they had on a hoist as an example of the result. The guy talking said it was about $2500/$3000. It sounded like they just had it done so there's gotta be a local solution. I honestly haven't looked that hard, but since there's thread about it now...........:Popcorn

haha all good

I think the idea is neat and a bit novel, but for the right candidate and use case, it will work and I have only ever seen great results. It is quite popular in Toronto among the aircooled Porsche crowd and even some of the newer watercooled variants nowadays.

I'm all for it. Seeing 30+ year old nuts/bolts, engine bay plastics, and suspension bits come out like new is absolute ASMR to me. I'd like to get my ISF done since it spent its first 3 years in Quebec and there are some cosmetic bits that could use some attention.

@bcrdukes - out of curiosity how much does this cost to in Toronto?

Costs vary depending on how large the surface but as an example, a gentleman I know with a 997 TT paid somewhere between $2500 - $3200 (wide range, I know but I forget the exact figure.)

Case in point - https://rennlist.com/forums/rennlist...l#post18346334

Edit: Shameless plug for the OP of the Rennlist thread. I've seen the car up close and personal over the past few years and know the owner well. Meticulous owner and super clean car. Here's a chance for you 1%'ers to pick up a TT Pcar. Inflation and interest rate hike? What's that? :D

that 997 TT is probably the first super beetle that actually turned my head when they came out. The first porsche that didnt look like a fat guy sat on a beetle... sort of.

We use these for cleaning off the surface protectant on machined surfaced for large mechanical equipment, we bought the machine years ago. I'm sure there is fancier new ones, but what we have does the job for the times we need it.

There is a lot of nuance to it, and you need a big air compressor, if you only need to do a bit a 185cfm will do you, but if you have a lot to do we've often rented the huge 300+cfm monster compressors.

The one that I want to try, but i've never seen it in action or had the chance to play with is those lasers. That looks far more interesting, cause you dont need to buy and store the fucking dry ice. The dry ice from Air Liquid or Praxair isn't expensive, but the problem is whether you use it or not, after a few days its going to disappear on you. So it's not like you can buy a tote and use some of it now, and some of it in 6 months.

https://www.vancouverdryiceblasting.com/

My car restoration friend suggested these guys.

Not sure if you're still looking but I'm in HK and got quoted for 15000-25000HKD for undercarriage. And this is not from the most expensive place where you guys probably see their videos floating about (Contempo). So if 2500-3000CAD seems very reasonable.

Why do they use dry ice specifically?

I heard it's less abrasive than lets say, sand blasting. and it's ice so it melts and doesn't get clogged up in cracks etc like sand.

However I'd have to say after hearing more about it I'm still not a firm believer, which is why i didn't go for it. It maybe good for a showcar, but even if it is less aggressive than sand blasting does it not remove some of the gunk/protective coatings under the car? Think earwax/nosehairs/boogers. Sure it's nice and clean but sometimes you need that shit there as a layer of protection

Project Detail has a dry ice machine now. I might give it a shot during the winter months while my car is off the road.

Wow, that's great news!

But sadly, the vehicle in question I was pursuing, I've decided to pass on it as I lost the parking spot. It was a Euro-spec 1988 Alfa Romeo Spider Quadifoglio. :okay:

^:ohgodwhy::ohgodwhy: WHAT!?!?!? awwww that would have been most excellent

https://thumbs.gfycat.com/PastelWhir...restricted.gif

That would summarize how I feel.

I did think about it thoroughly and it was a roller coaster of emotions.

1. I saw the car. It is nice in photos, but in fairness, it is also a 34 / 35 year old car. It has its imperfections. Overall, immaculate car and well restored but would still need a bit of work to get it certified for Collector plates.

2. Owner has strong emotional ties to it. This was his sons car and he is getting married next year and wanted to drive it for his wedding. I understood because I was getting married the same month I saw the car (September.) They owned it for over a decade and had imported it into Jersey (UK) where they lived from Belgium and drove it across Europe, including Norway.

3. My father-in-law hasn't gotten rid of his vehicle despite taking over the Yaris. I don't want to force him or put him in a position to junk his car (if you remember my thread) and then show up with an Alfa Romeo.

4. This was a tough pill to swallow but what good would it be for me to own it and rarely ever drive it?

5. Finding help to work on these cars is tough these days. Very few people will touch it. They aren't necessarily difficult but they have their odd quirks. The fact that the 2nd gear sycro is shot makes it difficult to drive in Vancouver (I know from experience of my 78 Spider.)

I could go on but those were the top five reasons I passed on it. As the saying goes, Alfa = Always Looking For Another.