Two questions in one post:

What's the easiest way to remove decades old seam sealer. We're getting ready to attack the firewall and need to remove old sealer before smoothing and resealing? Seam sealer after priming?

Second Q: Dash hole for ignition switch is a bit mangled. I tried hammer and dolly to reshape but the metal it pretty thick for that. Is there a die available that will reshape opening? Other suggestions.

Tks

I don't know about the ignition hole, but I did just do my firewall. I used a very small wire wheel on the end of an electric drill. It took the old sealer out like butter. I found sealer all over the place, even where there were no seams, as if the builder was just slapping it on wherever they wanted to. Anyway, I ised the wire wheel, and it worked great for me. I put on brushable seam sealer (3M #08656) with a 1/2 inch wide brush, (I modified the brush by cutting the bristles in have so it would be stiffer for the brushing)
and it looks exactly like it did from the factory. I was very happy with the results.

Did anybody besides me notice that that decades old seam sealer put on by the factory is tough as nails and a serious pain to remove....one would think it would have sealed nicely...but I have found rust behind every bit of sealer I have removed.

Can't help on the ignition hole either, but on the seam sealer, I had real good luck with a heat gun and a putty knife. Once I was able to get under it at an edge, I found that due to its strength I was able to pull up long 'strings' of it. Then I used a 'dental pick' to get some of the small pieces out of the crevises.

I'm with Brackneyc, the wire wheel took the stuff up like butter on my firewall. JHunter's method seems like a good idea too!

I didn't have a problem with removing any of the seam sealer from the interior or exterior. It all came off like it was barely adhered to anything. Most of it practically fell off. I just used a good paint-scraper/putty knife and peeled it all off no problem.
I hit those areas with wire wheels or cups to clean up the residual, and removed any rust that lurked in the nooks and crannies.
Hit the cleaned areas with a good primer (zinc based works well for protection) and re-seal.

There are black silica embeded Nylon wheels that you can buy that work amazing at stripping everything from Paint to bondo to seam sealer. You can get them at Home Depot or Lowes with a post for slow speed use in a drill (I drilled out the post and put it on my 4.5" grinder) or 3M makes some as well. I cant express how much better than wire wheels these work, and since they are nylon, they dont mar the metal up at all. I've got them for Die Grinders as well that I use to get into the tight spaces.

Two questions in one post:

What's the easiest way to remove decades old seam sealer. We're getting ready to attack the firewall and need to remove old sealer before smoothing and resealing? Seam sealer after priming?

Second Q: Dash hole for ignition switch is a bit mangled. I tried hammer and dolly to reshape but the metal it pretty thick for that. Is there a die available that will reshape opening? Other suggestions.

Tks

Well, here's two answers in one post:

Use a wire wheel and eye protection. The wire wheel also works on the seam sealers on the inside edges of the door skin. A lot of the seam sealers inside my car were easily removed with a putty knife or screwdriver. If the wire wheel starts wearing down, reverse the rotation and it will clean like new again. The bristles bend over and the edges of the wire become dull and reversing it gives you new edges on the wires to do the work but it does want to break the wires apart so that's why you need safety goggles.

It seems to me I've seen dies to straighten the holes but I think it was for trunk locks that had been pried out.
Here's an idea, take some thick washers that fit on the backside of the hole and then run a 3/8" or so bolt through the washers and bring it up from the backside leaving the threads sticking into the interior. Put some thick washers on the frontside and then thread on a nut. Tighten the nut and bolt to reform the metal or to give it more support while you are hammering on it. Thin washers would probably bend and if you don't have thick ones, stack up a bunch of thinner ones.

Jim

Tks. All...I like the washer idea for the ignition switch. I'm pulling the subframe this weekend to start full bore on the firewall.