Paint removal question - please help!

[ubtripn]

I know this is our Chevy forum but this is the smartest group on the web I know of. I bought a 76 Rabbit that runs great and is straight as an arrow. This gal was towing it behind her RV for years and she wanted it to match so she painted to car with Latex house paint. You can see the brush strokes. The sad part is that when you pop the hood it has a pristine cherry red paint job.

Is there anyway of removing this amount of fully dried, thick latex paint while preserving the paint underneath? Maybe a chemical of some kind?

Thank you in advance.

[Cman60]

I would do a wet-sand and polish, and hope she didn't sand it before she applied the latex.

[rockyrivermark]

stripper or even lacquer thinner may do it.
RRM

[notsolo]

There are some latex removal products, Goof off and Citrus stripper, test sample, possibly dilute it. be prepared to rinse, also maybe as simple as a power washer. Good luck, let us know what works.

[OL SKOOL]

I've done it before with a hot water pressure washer. Came off in sheets.

[fatbass]

Originally Posted by OL SKOOL

I've done it before with a hot water pressure washer. Came off in sheets.

^This. Years ago, I bought a '50 Dodge pickup that was painted with orange latex and it came off quickly in sheets. It protected the factory green paint pretty well too.

[Cman60]

I really like the pressure washer idea.

[ubtripn]

Pressure washer it is to start with. I am keeping my fingers crossed, this is going to be a good little back up car for my sons, kind of fun to drive to. 60HP will surprise you when a car weighs the same as a kitchen table. Thank you all.

[davepl]

Years ago we were working on a '74 Pontiac Bonneville in a heated shop when it was -40 outside... I don't mean wind chill, I mean actual temperature. PLUS it was windy.

When we finally got the motor swapped we backed it out to run it in (can't really do it with the door open in -40). We pushed it back outside and a few minutes later ALL the paint on the back half of the car fell off, literally. Down to the primer.

I guess it had a cheap repaint for some collision damage, and the rapid shrinking of the metal when it went from 70F inside to -40F outside was enough to dislodge all that cheap paint!

May you be so lucky :-)

[nastety92]

You can also try straight gasoline.

[ubtripn]

All GREAT ideas, thank you!

[Alex V.]

Originally Posted by ubtripn

60HP will surprise you when a car weighs the same as a kitchen table. Thank you all.

To quote James May of Top Gear, "In contrast to the [Vauxhall] Nurburgring , what makes [the Fiat Panda] fun is, you can use all the power all the time."

[ubtripn]

LOL - indeed I do. I have to give it those engineers, this thing is 41 years old, doesn't leak a drop of anything and accelerates really well. It is even comfortable to sit in. I say I am fixing it up for my boys as their back up car but I think I will use it for my own back up when I'm not driving the 68. =)

[Foot Stomper]

Originally Posted by notsolo

There are some latex removal products, Goof off and Citrus stripper, test sample, possibly dilute it. be prepared to rinse, also maybe as simple as a power washer. Good luck, let us know what works.

This is the ticket! ^^
Pressure washer amy do the trick also.

Another option is to try a graffiti remover. Most will soften the paint and can be neutralized with water.

You may need to have it polished after but hopefully the latex is the only layer that comes off.

Best to test a small spot before going hog wild.

One last option that may or may not work is a heat gun and plastic scrapper with 120 solid hours of nothing else to do...

[ubtripn]

So I used the stripper and boom! New red paint underneath and nowI only have about 200 more hours to go =) Thanks again all!