I can see there is a LOT of bondo here. Normally one would sand or grind through it, but I chose not to do that. I figured that would take a lot of work, time, and create huge amounts of dust. Also, I could have just cut off the whole panel bondo and all, but I could see that major portions of the panel could possibly be saved. I wanted to get most of the bondo off so I could see where the serious damage was.
It is fortunate that I can get to both sides of the panel in most areas. I used a propane torch to heat the inside of the panel. This causes the bondo to soften and release it’s bond to the metal. Of course, I can’t heat the whole thing up at once, so I used cabinet shims to wedge the bondo off a little bit at a time.
Maybe there should be a prize for the biggest slab of bondo ever removed from a deTomaso:
This is what was underneath:
Be careful when using a torch to heat things; some will burn:
This filler panel between the A pillar and the fender panel I call a contour filler. I can see this was damaged and brazed back on in the past, but I have to be cautious here. The fit of the fender with the door was reasonably good, so I can say that this past repair, although ugly, was fairly well done. I may end up leaving it if I do not find any structural damage.
Next I’ll remove the rest of the bondo and see if the fender can be saved:
This part, I don’t think I can save:
This clue makes me believe this car has been hit at least twice here. Not only is the replaced fender damaged, but the original metal that it is brazed to is badly damaged also:
Here I am separating the fender from the contour filler:
I tried to melt off the brazing that holds the fender on (this is not original, of course). You can see I got it very hot in front of the head light opening, and near the hinge, but I was not successful. I decided to cut the panel off. I used a plasma cutter to cut in the bottom of the drain channel between the fender and the front hood seal flange. That way, I can hide the repair when (if) I put this panel back on.
If I have to use a new panel after all, I will have to cut away the remaining material also.
Here I cut off the area near the windshield channel and cowl:
And finish separating at the contour filler:
After cutting the panel away from the obvious areas of previous repairs (no pics), the panel finally comes off:
More damage is uncovered:
This piece near the windshield channel and cowl must come off:
This reveals even more work that awaits me:
This is going to be fun …. not.