I am trying to get my '79 E-150 ready for a new paint job. One of the things I did was take out the 2 leaky sunroofs and weld the original panels back in place. There are a few small dings that need body filler.

Before I sand any paint down to bare metal I first clean the area with Duplicolor Wax and Grease Remover. The stuff seems to dissolve paint as I am finding quite a bit of paint on the paper towels when I apply it.

I'm wondering if it is safe to clean the bondo with this stuff before I spray it with 2-part epoxy primer?

 

What is the condition of the paint? Is it original? If you still have original paint or a repaint that has started to fade and oxidize, I would expect any solvent to take off some paint, just as buffing out the finish would also produce some paint residue on the pad. I'm not a fan of Duplicolor products so I haven't tried this version of W&G remover personally, but absent those characteristics on the paint, I would then lean toward too strong of a solvent in their formulation.

 

It's the original 36 year old enamel paint. I haven't waxed it in a few years since I was going to do work on it and get it painted so it's tired but not badly oxidized.

I have never used wax & grease remover before so I don't know how normal it is to get paint on the rag. It just seems like it is more than what I expected. It must have a lot of acetone in it.

I think it might be worth trying a different brand.

 

Unless you have soft spots & smear spots from it , it may only be sanding dust on the towel

 

Unless you have goop and grease or adhesive on the metal do all your prep work and save the wax and grease remover for the pre prime and paint prep. If the surface is greasy and grimy we would always wash the vehicle off with dish soap first to get the bulk of the muck off first.