[mlr]

I have a 79 camaro and someone put a layer of bondo on the front fenders to fill in all of the lines where the panels come together. Now there are some parts that are cracking and some that are bubbling. Is there an easy way to get the bondo off without having to sand the whole fender. <img src="graemlins/boxing.gif" border="0" alt="[boxing]" />

[TurboS10]

Nope.

[Kevin45]

Ditto on the NOPE!!!!

Kevin

[tlambert]

notta chance

[willys36@aol.com]

No. And if you want the no-seam look, you will need to weld the seams B4 adding the filler or it will break out again.

[mitmaks]

umm thought maybe with some hard solvent? umm actually u know what PAINT STRIPPER and better get AIRCRAFT STRIPPER, that stuff takes everything off to bare metal man, burns right off, hope this helps, then maybe sandblasting with some special media?

[Will's41]

Grinder.....fastest way, 24 or 36 grit. Stripper is not so good on bondo, costs too much and takes too long.

[dinger]

try a putty knife where the bondo is lifting, pop chunks off that way, it'll save a little time. Dan

[stonedchihuahua]

An angle grinder with a wire brush on it... it is crap like that that gives bondo a bad name... too bad people can't just do thing properly instead of filling stuff with bondo... just like dents everyone thinks that if you use bondo on a dent you just fill it in... i just use it to smooth the surface out after I pull the dent

[F-1Rodder]

I agree that a grinder with a coarse wheel is the least risky. However, you can carefully use a propane torch. Bondo is fairly flamable and will release from the underlying metal if you heat it. Since you are working in an area where the metal is pretty rigid, this may work, but I would not try this method on a large flat panel. The problem is that you run the risk of creating some heat expansion on the underlying metal. You can fairly readily peel the bondo off using a metal putty knife after applying the torch heat. You can hole a wet sponge or rag on the reverse side which will protect the metal.

[Weimer]

Looks like a little blood,sweat and elbow grease should take it right off.
Later,
WEIMER

[HARRY A. PATTERSON]

best bet sandblasting.if you dont have access to that,then the wire brush idea works great,cheap too.

[tm454]

Just repair the crack and bubbles. The metal was dirty under the imprefections. Use an old stype can opener with the V cutter to scratch out the crack and a dremal tool to grind down to the metal the bubbles will scratch off with a knife then dremil down to the metal. Acid etch the metal after scratching it, 60 grit and PATCH the blemishes then sand and repaint. Removing ALL the old mud is a BIG JOB and why bother, fix the blems and leave the rest alone. Be sure to remove the sanding DUST off the repair area before patching and keep your fingers off the repair, you will leave oil that will cause the mud to lift.


Todd

[ December 01, 2002: Message edited by: tm454 ]</p>