52 olds paint rubbery

[Guest slyhog022056]

Started some of the stripping of the paint on my 52 olds, just 1 really big problem, this paint seems to be rubber based in some way. Tried blasting and the paint just balls up in a big mess like rubber. tried sanding with 60, 80 and 120 grit and the same thing and clogged up a 7" pad in about 3 minutes. Tried using a wire wheel and no better there. Had a local media blaster come look at it the hood i started on and they quickly told me they wouldnt touch it for less than $800, exterior only no frame or underneath. There also seems to be a red oxide primer underneath. I only have 1 dent in the entire car to mess with but many scratches and places where the paint has peeled or chipped off over the years.

What did they use when they painted this car originally?? This is the original paint as i have tried several areas with the same results, even the paint between bolted together panels. Where there are scratches and peeling paint i can clean out the minor rust but cant figure out how to feather it out.

This is beating me up, this is my 5th repaint and never had this problem before.

[D Yaros]

I suspect the original paint was enamel? Sounds about right for that vintage. Perhaps a chem dip process is in order?

[Guest slyhog022056]

Well i found out why the paint was balling up on me. I talked to the original owner and he told me he parked the car in 1975 and in 1978 when he decided he wasnt going to get it running he did an old farmers trick to try and store it, he wiped the entire car down with used engine oil several times to keep it from rusting out. Evidently since this is straight enamel it soaked it up over the years. I pulled it out of the garage and sprayed it down with an industrial alkali we use at work, let it work for about 15 minutes them rinsed it off really good. Now it sands off real narmally with 120 grit. I usually use the alkali for degreasing frames and engines but never thought i would have to do the paint on a car also. Oh well its a clean slate to start with now.

[D Yaros]

Interesting? Glad you got it all figured out and are able to now proceed in a more normal fashion. Thanks for letting us know the cause/solution.

[Guest slyhog022056]

Interesting? Glad you got it all figured out and are able to now proceed in a more normal fashion. Thanks for letting us know the cause/solution.

Whats strange is I knew about this old farmers trick from back in my childhood (1960's) because my dad used to do it with his old race cars he kept, just didnt think about it.