Hi all, I was going to start the body tear down on my 68 FJ40 but before dropping money on various products I was hoping to hear opinions on the best tools for removing paint and bondo. I thought about flapper discs, wire wheels on a drill or angle grinder, etc. Would it best to apply anything to the body to help break the paint and bondo down prior to removal from unyielding power tools? The goal here is to identify all areas of rot and then eventually deciding on fixing or trying to locate a better tub to work with. I did get an estimate from a local sandblaster of $500 to blast the tub but they cautioned about possible sheet metal warping. I would hate to put $500 into it only to find out there is not enough left to preserve. Thanks in advance!
Starting a tear down (paint & bondo removal)
- Thread starter Drake2
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Have you looked into Dustless Blasting? It doesn’t create enough heat to cause warping.
- Thread starter
- #3
Well, it's a cool video and process for sure......makes me think I'm in the wrong business too! $1,000 for 54 minutes......hope that not the average price for an hour's worth of work.
If you think there’s that much bondo, I would hit it in several rust prone places with a fine flap disk on an angle grinder first and then blast if you’re going to save the tub. Once blasted, IMMEDIATELY prime with an epoxy primer.
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- #5
Splangy, I appreciate your input....but....how do you apply an epoxy primer immediately after blasting when the body work will likely take days or longer? Am I missing something here?
Do the body work after. Or, do the sheetmetal work before blasting.
The epoxy is only there to prevent rust on the freshly stripped steel. Then you can take your time and do the body work. Also use fresh epoxy after metal work especially if you'll be putting plastic filler on (Bondo) to prevent moisture from getting at the back side of the filler. Some would say more epoxy on top of Bondo to protect the front side - I do this. Then when all your bodywork is done you have to use 2K urethane primer, sand then paint.
To your original question remove old Bondo with a 36 sandpaper disk on a grinder but be careful when you hit metal so as not to remove too much. Then a chemical stripper or media blast for the remaining stuff. It's all time and money any way you look at it. Materials and labor.
BTW it's just internet here say but I've heard that dustless blasting leaves a sludge of abrasive and water in every possible cavity and crevice. Maybe there's a better and worse way to do it I don't know. Regular blasting leaves abrasive all over but it can be vacuumed and blown out.
To your original question remove old Bondo with a 36 sandpaper disk on a grinder but be careful when you hit metal so as not to remove too much. Then a chemical stripper or media blast for the remaining stuff. It's all time and money any way you look at it. Materials and labor.
BTW it's just internet here say but I've heard that dustless blasting leaves a sludge of abrasive and water in every possible cavity and crevice. Maybe there's a better and worse way to do it I don't know. Regular blasting leaves abrasive all over but it can be vacuumed and blown out.
We use the 3M Scotch-Brite Clean & Strip disks for bondo removal. They'll take the paint and bondo off without harming the metal when you get to it.
