Super Project '71

Here is our collection of attachments from the hardware store. We grabbed everything that looked like it was designed to remove material from metal.

We started with 3M Large Automotive Paint and Rust Remover, an attachment for a power drill, basically, a round coarse sponge.

It worked for a while, but soon, the wheel heated up the undercoating and turned in into a swirling muck that gummed up everything, causing a severe drop in efficiency. And all that was removed was a small patch.

Next up is Vermont American's Coarse Wire Cup Brush, with brass-coated, hardened steel wires.

It worked well, but it was time consuming. This small swath took nearly 10 minutes, so you can imagine how long the rest of the car would take.

One delightful side effect to removing the undercoating is discovering a horrifying blemish to the body. Unfortunately, this hole is dangerously close to the pan and will have to be taken care of before we hit the paint booth.

This 60-grit Abrasive Flap Wheel from Columbian fits on any type of power drill and has an 23,000rpm limit. Sixty is a nice grit for removing paint, but what about undercoating?

As you can see, this is all we could remove with the Abrasive Flap Wheel, so off it goes to the failed pile.

Next up is this three-inch Nylon Wheel also from Columbian. Its 120-grit rating did absolutely nothing. It wouldn't even scratch the regular body paint.

This is Jasco's Premium Paint and Epoxy Remover, which is used "by professional" the can says to remove most anything from anything. We had some trouble applying it to a verticle surface, and it would have worked better had we been able to keep the remover in contact with the undercoating.

However, in a short time, this is the results, which is quite impressive considering how little time we spent applying the single coat. Three coats later and the fenderwell was almost clean.

Okay, time for the big guns. This is a 4.5-inch angle grinder from Ryobi, one of the least expensive of its kind on the market. With the supplied brass-coated steal wire wheel, we made short work of any undercoating left over (and paint).

Twenty minutes later, the fenderwell (that was first treated with the Auto Strip was free and clear of not only all of the undercoating, but the original paint and primer underneath. It was a lot of work to get it to look like this, but definately worth the effort. That's bare metal folks.

Okay, we heard about this method from a few experienced body men, but we weren't sure how good it would work. This is a Bernz-O-Matic propane hand torch that can be found at any home supply story for a dozen bucks or so.

Here's how it works: Heat up the surface of the undercoating and you'll also heat the metal underneath. The metal will get hotter quicker, causing the undercoating to gel. When it starts to bubble, scrape it away with a putty knife. The downside, it's smells bad and is probably toxic.

After a few short minutes, most of the major undercoating has been peeled off. Presto.

Here is the final result of our troubles. By using a combination of methods and a coat of primer, this is what the finished product looks like.