Who here is an expert at removing bondo?

-
J

Judge Mills

1971 Plymouth Duster
Joined
Jan 6, 2009
Messages
1,123
Reaction score
12
Location
Westport, Washington
I have a thread over in mopar general discussion, basically where I'm shouting about my disdain for my car's 8 or so layers of paint....

There are areas on the car that have bondo, and from what I can tell, the last time it was painted someone put bondo in areas so the last paint job would match up with the other 8 layers... i found some bondo that was between 1/8 to 1/4 thick!!! IT HAS NO DENT OR RUST BEHIND IT!!!!! Freakin' ridiculous....

anyway, what's the best way of removing the bondo? sanding? thousands of layers of paint stripper? :confused:

dusterfender7-11-2.jpg


dusterfender7-11.jpg


duster.jpg
 
Chemical paint strippers will usually soften it enough to scrape off. Heat will do the same but take care not to go too hot.
 
Yeah, I noticed the stripper was making it softer.... What a pain in the *** this is! I've had this car for years, and thought it was straight and relatively rust free........ there's not TOO much rust.. very manageable,... but all this bondo is making me one mad monkey!
 
As long as there`s little or no rust then things are workable. I can`t tell you how many times I`ve bought "mint" body parts that turned out to have all kinds of Bondo under the paint. I guess we`re lucky to get many of these cars and parts at all nowadays.
 
A propane torch works well (with care) on thick stuff without overheating the metal. It will crumble away with a little persuasion from a putty knife. A 36 grit disc will clean the rest.
 
70Duster440 said:
A propane torch works well (with care) on thick stuff without overheating the metal. It will crumble away with a little persuasion from a putty knife. A 36 grit disc will clean the rest.
Click to expand...


Awesome idea! thanks!



Yeah, most of this car is okay..... however i do have to put a HUGE patch in the roof where someone in the 70's or 80's put one of those JC whitney sun roofs in :angry7:
 
if its really deep might want to skim the area with a die grinder with sand paper. i'm helping my friend redo his paint job on a '66 stang and the previous owner put 1/2"-1" of bondo on a quarter to fix the mild dent.
 
I remember reading here on the forum not long ago where somebody had a car that had a dent in it so deep that it kept the rear quarter window from rolling down. It wasn't even pounded out, just filled with bondo!
 
That is a nightmare. DA with 40-80 grit will take that crap off in no time. You may as well take it to bare metal at this point just to be sure. Pretty much agree with 70duster440 at this point.
 
They have those paint stripping discs for your grinder. They kind of look like a sponge and they work really well for stripping bondo also.
 
if you go to your local paint shop and get the longest hard foam block they have and a roll of their 80 grit so as to tear it into the correct length to fit said board you'll be down to bare metal in no time. Always sand in diaganol lines while stripping , it just makes it easier to see where you've been. You'll also use this same board with other grits as you bring the body "back to shape".Went to the garage to see what boards I have and scratch the "longest board" part,lol, I have one that's three feet long that I've only used on roof lines. Not an expert just what I've learned along thwe way
 
I lightly heat it up with a propane torch and then it peels right off with metal putty knife.
 
I've always used a heat gun and a putty knife for the thick stuff ( use a respirator in an enclosed area fumes you know) and a wire brush for the light stuff 9or wire wheel. Let the heat gun blister the patch and gut the knife under it and it should pop right off, work in little spots. a torck will do the same, but most bondo is flammable and I wouldn't suggest it 'cause the fumes are toxic, and I wouldn't want you to toast your Mopar. Get a heat gun. Kipper.
 
http://www.forabodiesonly.com/mopar/showthread.php?t=20895&page=5


I used 80 grit on a velcro sanding pad that fits on my plain old grinder from wal mart. I picked up the 5" pad at Harbor frieght. Strips through 9 layers of paint very fast! I see you must have been using a D/A. Thats what I was doing with 80 grit and I too was getting nowhere fast. Thats supposed to be a link to my resto thread. Dunno if its gonna work. Anyhow you can see my latest results using that method. Good luck!
 
70Duster440 said:
A propane torch works well (with care) on thick stuff without overheating the metal. It will crumble away with a little persuasion from a putty knife. A 36 grit disc will clean the rest.
Click to expand...

When I worked in the rod shop we got a 68 Fireturd convert in that was in flat black and looked ready for paint, all the guy said was "I want to win trophies."

I started in with 80 grit on a DA sander, went to 36 on the big sander, went to a cut off wheel, then used the torches and a wire brush. The car had been T boned and rear ended and someone redid the whole car with bondo they even reproduced the seams and factory spot welds in the door jambs out of bondo, whoever did it was a friggin artist!
The torch and wire brush are the best way to strip any mud out of a car. I hate using aircraft stripper, I have stripped too many cars and burned off too many layers of skin with that messy crap.

That same car was invited to the Seattle rod and custom show and got a spot on the end of the isle. :-D
 
360scamp said:
When I worked in the rod shop we got a 68 Fireturd convert in that was in flat black and looked ready for paint, all the guy said was "I want to win trophies."

I started in with 80 grit on a DA sander, went to 36 on the big sander, went to a cut off wheel, then used the torches and a wire brush. The car had been T boned and rear ended and someone redid the whole car with bondo they even reproduced the seams and factory spot welds in the door jambs out of bondo, whoever did it was a friggin artist!
The torch and wire brush are the best way to strip any mud out of a car. I hate using aircraft stripper, I have stripped too many cars and burned off too many layers of skin with that messy crap.

That same car was invited to the Seattle rod and custom show and got a spot on the end of the isle. :-D
Click to expand...

The one in the Exhibition Center at Qwest field? Which year? I probably have a picture of it :D
 
I want to say 2001? If you have any pics I would love to see them. It was blue with a Jim Green built blown 400 and it was by the north stairs.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top