Best/fastest way to remove body filler?

[Hazwan]

My car is basically made of body filler. They are everywhere and thick as fuck

Whats the easiest way to remove them all? Will paint stripper work? I'll post pics soon.

[1ajs]

took me 5 seconds to find this on google

Car Restoration Tip 20 - Bondo Removal

Every restorer comes across thick body filler somewhere on the car restoration project they are working on. Body filler can be sanded off, ground off or chemically stripped, but all three procedures are incredibly messy and two of them (sanding and chemical) are expensive.
Over our years of car restoration, we've experimented with various forms of removal and found one to be extremely cost effective and rather quick, plus there's far less mess. What you need is an ordinary propane torch with one of those "fan" attachments on the nozzle (every torch kit has one.) You'll also need a putty knife or drywall taping knife to do the scraping/lifting.
Crank up the flame and hold it against the painted/filled surface. Within seconds the paint and filler will bubble and burn. As soon as it does you can scrape it away with moderate pressure on the blade. As the blade gets hotter it will sink into the surface and help remove material. Flaming paint/filler will fall to the floor, so keep a spray bottle of water around or wet the floor. Cleanup is easy, just sweep the chips and flakes into the trash.
We've found removing filler up to 3/8 inch thick to take a couple passes, but an area of roughly two square feet can be removed to the metal in less than 10 minutes. As with all our car restoration processes, safety is a consideration. Do it outdoors if you can, or have an exhaust fan running. The smoke builds up somewhat.



i hope its not your 2gee your talking about :S

[mustard_madman]

screw the torch....


I use a coarse wire wheel on my 4 1/2" Dewalt grinder. It works fast, creates some dust, but gets the job done very effectively.

[MessyHonda]

we have this tool called the killer.....its a big 6-9 inch sander with 36 grit paper.

[2oodoor]

screw the torch....


I use a coarse wire wheel on my 4 1/2" Dewalt grinder. It works fast, creates some dust, but gets the job done very effectively.

sounds better, you are risking warping a panel using a torch on a Honda, you if you did you would have a hard time getting the beer can pop out of it or getting true planes when you reapply bondo.
I would not remove the bondo unless it is lifting crackng or has moisture or rust under it. You can use a 10 inch DA, with 36 grit, i call it a bondo buster. If you were workng on a 58 buick or a 71 Pontiac , yea use a torch to make tun loose. Of course if your are workng with a bottom door corner, rocker panel, or the lowest parts of quarter panel, a torch could be safe but dont let the heat get up on unsupported panels. Even the heat from a grinder could warp a door, hood, decklid, roof.... Ok, also the heat from the bondo cure can warp some of those panels.. that is one other reason why we opt to replace panel sections now rather than do a lot of mud work on late model cars. Mig welders and plasma cutters concentrate heat in a very small area so warp factor is minimal.
If you are reparing minor rust through, you would want to use some wire wheel anyway , you dont always have to remove all the cancer, you can leave a exoskeleton of the basic panel or corner cleaned out good and treat it with ONE STEP by marson, and then build it up with tiger hair or BONDOGLASS, It will last a good long time.

[AccordEpicenter]

lol if it has that much bondo on it i dont think id be worried about warping the panel hehe

[backhatcher]

and plus youd best be rmoving yer interior unless you wanna burn yer car down and yer garage and then the oxy/acetaline explodes and then you got yerself the great chicago fire all over again.

[baqnblaq]

If you have access to one, I suggest a sand blaster. I have one at work and it has no problem with removing bondo. It also does it very quickly.

[lostforawhile]

get a 3m strip disc,the one that looks like a plastic brillo pad on a wheel, get the one with two wheels stacked one on top of another,very effective at removing filler,and it won't cause the panel to heat up.

[2oodoor]

get a 3m strip disc,the one that looks like a plastic brillo pad on a wheel, get the one with two wheels stacked one on top of another,very effective at removing filler,and it won't cause the panel to heat up.

hmm, must be talking about the super hard ones, they dont gum up?
I have a wheel I never used, Im gonna try that..

[lostforawhile]

hmm, must be talking about the super hard ones, they dont gum up?
I have a wheel I never used, Im gonna try that..

i didn't have too much trouble with it,i mean the ones that look like a hard brillo pad. as long as the filler is hardened you should be fine,it just turns to dust