i just bought a hatch but the previous owner removed and covered the side moldings of the car and i want to put them back on, my question is what is the best and easiest way to remove that green putty stuff from the side moldings??

 

thats not a very good picture...either that or im just half asleep... so he "shaved" the moldings and painted it chrome illusions/chameleon? thats a pic of your door right?

 

yeah he shaved the moldings and that IS a picture of the right side, right now im in the process of replacing the front end (it was crashed and i'm going with the 00 conversion) it's also got some minor dings and of course i want to put the moldings back on before it goes to paint (red), i want the hatch to look oem again

 

chisel and a hammer!
or a grinder

 

No hammer and chisel unless you want to be putting more filler in there from where you dented the body from beating filler out...defeats the purpose. Definitely just use a grinder, I would suggest a pneumatic grinder with variable speed so you can set the speed you feel comfortable with. Good luck! Any pics of the whole car? You know, just for ***** and grins

 

i'd still use a chisel and hammer
just stay away from the body.. to get the bulk of the bondo out then grind/sand the rest down

 

it will still put impact on the body lol... what is the body filler connected to? the body. just dont want to see him get small dents, and waves in there, a grinder will be the best way.... but again, just my trained opinion.

 

Stay away from the chisel and hammer.....just put it down....there you go.

3m makes a purple sanding wheel which cuts through filler without damaging metal. Do that.

BTW, post a pic of the whole car! I want to see that paint job.

 

grinder, but if he shaved those moldings properly, your in for a surprise, if he just filled them with filler you should be ok, check the inside of the door to see if he welded the holes for the clips shut, if he did, your in trouble.

 

if that is the door get a new one!!

 

Again, I want pics of the car and even if he did weld sheet metal into the holes, just take a dremel and get in there grind down the welds. Problem solved.

 

here's what i'm working with, i've got alot of work ahead of me!!!

 

you've got some work in front of you lol... I love that color, just not on these cars. definitely got a good platform for a car though. but use a grinder to knock that filler out, or as mentioned above find that 3M wheel. and again if the guy welded in sheet metal into the holes for the moldings just take that dremel and knock off the welds if its just tack welded, if its fully welded do the same, and then hit it with a small spiraled cutting bit for the dremel(one that looks like a drill bit) and do what you gotta do. Good luck!

 

that car is bad ***! just leave it!

LOL

 

i'm already ashamed to be seen driving it like this!!!

 

sexiest car of all time!!!! i wouldnt buy that beat up car to begin with. so much to fix

 

you see it for what it is, i see it for what it could be. It's a diamond in the rough...

 

true. but im sure there are tons of hatches out there that could have been in way better shape than this, that you could start a project. if u find this challenge to be fun then do it and i would love to see how it end up. GL

 

i definitely know how you feel dude, i've bought so many POS's because all I could see in them was a lot of potential...then money runs short and I sell them haha...good luck though!

 

I found 2 hatches for sale in about 6 months of looking (and the other one was in way worst shape than this one, plus this hatch was way cheaper!!). I was about to go to L.A. To buy one, but Nevada makes it near impossible to register a car from out of state when the VIN doesn't match (which is the very first thing you have to do when the car is out of state) this one only needs work on the outside the interior is in very good condition and the stock engine strong (90k original miles) so the money i would've spent on an already built car is gonna go to rebuilt this one

 

i would use a die grinder.

 

I would use plastic explosives

 

Use a wire knotted wheel on a grinder. It will tear that body filler out in minutes literally and wont hurt the sheet metal. Looks like the QP on the passenger was pushed in better make sure you get on that rust before it starts to take hold to badly