The advantage of dealing with Austec is the fact that both George & Enzo are coach builders and panel beaters by trade. George has been operating his own panel workshop 'Berlina Body Works' working with exotic cars for over 33 years.

This is a crucial advantage, as many others in the sandblasting industry are unfamiliar in working with metal once it has been blasted with certain abrasives.

It is difficult to find a method that both safely removes paint while leaving the metal with a new-looking, clean sheen, Yet we believe that we have found the answer, in Plastic Media Blasting. Among the many advantages, a few stand out:

• Will not remove existing rust protection
• Operates at a ow pressure
• Designed for high-tech substrates - light aluminium, carbon fibre & fibreglass
• Completely dry process
• No chemical waste

Below is a quick summary of the alternative methods of paint stripping, followed with a comparison with Plastic Media Blasting.

SANDBLASTING
Using garnetor other high pressure abrasives can warp panels out of shape, cause pitting, and removes all of the metal's protective coatings, such as galvanisation. One of the biggest problems is the metal becomes hardened, making it difficult to work with.On a good note Garnet blasting is the only method that removes rust, at Austec, we use Garnet only on specific rust areas.

SODA BLASTING
Soda Blasting is a process that we use but it is not effective at removing thick primer and body fillers as other methods and it is a wet process. A problem arises when the bicarbonate soda is hosed off afterwards – I guess you could ask yourself – what happens when you hose down bare metal? At Austec when we use Soda we do it completely dry. Unfortunately because of the small nozzle required, it covers little area, and the result can be inconsistent. Soda blasting strips paint off original old panels quite well, yet is surpassed by other methods of stripping now available.

DIPPING
A good method of cleaning up car bodies, but unfortunately it removes protective coatings from all areas of a panel, including those areas that are impossible to access again. It is a wet process which uses chemicals and acids that remain in the crevices and affect the protective coatings in the metal. The biggest question I always ask is “HOW DO YOU PROTECT THE AREAS YOU CAN’T GET TO AGAIN”?

CRUSHED WALNUT SHELL
This product does a great job as well, but when it impacts the panel or surface it turns to dust, therefore the only way to keep the job consistent is to increase the pressure. So in actual fact you lose the advantage because you are not using a low pressure on the bodywork anymore.

Is the ultimate product available today. Designed for low pressure use, it removes paint and body fillers without fuss and will NOT warp or pit the metal. Better still, it won't remove rust protection such as galvanisation. “You must see it to believe it!” The clean up stage is extremely easy - using air, the light, small plastic particles are just blown out, MEANING IT IS EASY TO REMOVE FROM HARD TO GET PLACES, and is a completely dry process.

Plastic media was developed in the USA for safely stripping paint from miliatary aircraft. Panels that have been stripped with plastic media appear glossy and new, as if straight off the press. It is perfect for light gauge aluminium and high tech composites such as carbon fibre and fibreglass.

Unlike other mothods of paint removal, because there’s no chemicals or solvents involved, there’s no toxic or hazardous waste to worry about.

CALL THE GUYS AT “AUSTEC” FOR SOME ADVICE TODAY AND AS WE ALWAYS SAY - DON’T JUST TAKE OUR WORD FOR IT, SHOP AROUND FOR YOURSELF AND WE’RE CONFIDENT YOU’LL CHOOSE AUSTEC.