old filler, keep or remove

[70bee]

Did a little sanding on the door of the car and found some bondo. Its probably 10 to 15 years old, no cracks or anything, should I keep it or not?

[Ranchero_65]

If it was mine I'd take it out ! I'd want to know what was behind it and if it could be fixed or made better with out so much bondo. Looking at the pic it looks like it could be right thick to me .. Also why do all the hard work of stripping it down and leaving something that just might let go shortly after you get it painted ?


Take Care
Earl

[Mooch]

If the rest of the door was fine I would leave it alone. But since it isn't I would strip the complete door. JMO Mooch

[Phil V]

The right thing to do for a quality restoration is to strip that door to bare metal, including stripping off all the old bondo. If its 15 years old and the old bondo hasn't cracked then the thickness of that old bondo is a non-issue.
But - there could be rust starting in areas between the bondo and the metal. The only way to find out for sure that there is no problems being hidden by the bondo is to grind it all out. I see red oxide lacquer primer and the old Nitrostan lacquer spot putty. Thats all gotta go too. By the time you remove all the lacquer primer and lacquer spot putty you're going to have to fill and block the existing bondo so its not much more work to remove all the bondo and start over, secure in the knowledge that the door is being done right and that it won't give you problems later after the job is all done.

[70bee]

thanks guys, will take it out.