Sanding mysterious paint?

[TheWagoon]

Hello, All.
When I bought my Malibu, I noticed the bottom paint job was off looking ( thought nothing of it). Anyway, So I've been thinking of sanding it all done with a Hand Sander if that's possible? As I'm almost 100% certain whoever did the job did it to cover surface rust. One side of the wagon seems to be at least a penny thick and then the other paper. What I'm asking here is what is the substance that surround my poor car and can I hand sand it down, or is there another way around it?

 

[Ribbedroof]

That's filler....AKA Bondo, mud, "bodyman in a can" and many other names

 

[TheWagoon]

That's filler....AKA Bondo, mud, "bodyman in a can" and many other names

I have heard of that stuff.Is there a way to get it off? so I can see the rust damage.

 

[Ribbedroof]

Quickest is to grind it, sanding might be a better choice for a novice. A stiff putty knife will scrape/pry off the really loose stuff.

Be prepared for bad things under it, collision damage, rust/rot, holes, etc. There will definitely be rust, you can see water has been getting in where it has already chipped away.

 

[pagrunt]

Be prepared for bad things under it, collision damage, rust/rot, holes, etc. There will definitely be rust, you can see water has been getting in where it has already chipped away.

You might even find a new to you pair of Levis jammed in to a repair patch.

 

[Ribbedroof]

Or "historic" newspapers, or window screen, or steel wool, or chicken wire, or spray foam, or towels!

All real "finds" from years gone by

Gee, I miss living in the rust belt!

 

[Wageslave]

Don't feel too bad, when I got my EC it had so much bondo that you could not even see some of the body lines. Chip off what you can and sand down the rest. Not terribly hard with a random orbital sander but somewhat time consuming.