Removing sound deadining/glue from interior floors
Discussion
Whats the best way of removing all the glue/tar/crappy stuff from the interior of a car.
Just taken everything out of the new track toy and want to clean it up a bit before fitting anything in it.
Are there any good products/tips/techniques?
Not frightened of a bit of elbow grease to get it looking good!!!
Just taken everything out of the new track toy and want to clean it up a bit before fitting anything in it.
Are there any good products/tips/techniques?
Not frightened of a bit of elbow grease to get it looking good!!!
brucie286 said:
thanks for the info.
right, just got to steal the other halfs hairdryer for the afternoon then!!!
Have a look at my track car build thread right, just got to steal the other halfs hairdryer for the afternoon then!!!

My advice would be get a putty knife (1.5-2in wide scraper) and a blow torch.
Heat gun would probably do the job. We found the blow torch worked well, dont underestimate how much heat to apply. There's a tipping point where it gets MUCH easier.
Really can't see a hair dryer doing much at all and definately use something with a wider blade than a screwdriver or it will take days.
Get a gasket scraper from Hlafords (like a big flat screwdriver) and a rubber mallet and use like chisel.
I'm going to go against the grain here but don't heat it up at all, this makes it tacky/sticky and bendy again. If you do it cold then it chips off in big flat sections and the job is much quicker.
I've just done it on my E30 Beemer project and it was much quicker after I stopped heating it up.
I'm going to go against the grain here but don't heat it up at all, this makes it tacky/sticky and bendy again. If you do it cold then it chips off in big flat sections and the job is much quicker.
I've just done it on my E30 Beemer project and it was much quicker after I stopped heating it up.
[quote=T89 Track & Race]Get a gasket scraper from Hlafords (like a big flat screwdriver) and a rubber mallet and use like chisel.
I'm going to go against the grain here but don't heat it up at all, this makes it tacky/sticky and bendy again. If you do it cold then it chips off in big flat sections and the job is much quicker.
I've just done it on my E30 Beemer project and it was much quicker after I stopped heating it up.
[/quote]
I agree
I'm going to go against the grain here but don't heat it up at all, this makes it tacky/sticky and bendy again. If you do it cold then it chips off in big flat sections and the job is much quicker.
I've just done it on my E30 Beemer project and it was much quicker after I stopped heating it up.
[/quote]
I agree
brucie286 said:
thanks for the info.
right, just got to steal the other halfs hairdryer for the afternoon then!!!
Needs to be hotter and more powerful. Buy a proper heat gun. You'll get a good one for less than £30, then get the scraper out, turn the radio on, and don't look at the clock. It's a horrible job, but well worth doing. right, just got to steal the other halfs hairdryer for the afternoon then!!!
When you're done inside, get underneath and remove the underseal too.
mat205125 said:
brucie286 said:
thanks for the info.
right, just got to steal the other halfs hairdryer for the afternoon then!!!
Needs to be hotter and more powerful. Buy a proper heat gun. You'll get a good one for less than £30, then get the scraper out, turn the radio on, and don't look at the clock. It's a horrible job, but well worth doing. right, just got to steal the other halfs hairdryer for the afternoon then!!!
When you're done inside, get underneath and remove the underseal too.
[quote=T89 Track & Race]Get a gasket scraper from Hlafords (like a big flat screwdriver) and a rubber mallet and use like chisel.
I'm going to go against the grain here but don't heat it up at all, this makes it tacky/sticky and bendy again. If you do it cold then it chips off in big flat sections and the job is much quicker.
I've just done it on my E30 Beemer project and it was much quicker after I stopped heating it up.
[/quote]
Car dependant that one. Chipping it away just was not working on our RS. Hence the blow lamp.
I'm going to go against the grain here but don't heat it up at all, this makes it tacky/sticky and bendy again. If you do it cold then it chips off in big flat sections and the job is much quicker.
I've just done it on my E30 Beemer project and it was much quicker after I stopped heating it up.
[/quote]
Car dependant that one. Chipping it away just was not working on our RS. Hence the blow lamp.
One trick I have learned after having been through this painstaking operation a few times over the years is to do a little at a time, you know, softly softly catchee Monkey style
. I tend to keep the necessary apparatus at hand and as I go through the car doing the required mods/upgrades, just spend 15/20 mins. at the end of each session and chip away at it bit by bit, you really will be surprised at how quickly and effortlessly it has seemed.
PS. Almost forgot! I use a hot air gun and a wide plastic scrapper and lastly remove the residue with PVCu window frame cleaner/thinners but white spirit will also work.
. I tend to keep the necessary apparatus at hand and as I go through the car doing the required mods/upgrades, just spend 15/20 mins. at the end of each session and chip away at it bit by bit, you really will be surprised at how quickly and effortlessly it has seemed.PS. Almost forgot! I use a hot air gun and a wide plastic scrapper and lastly remove the residue with PVCu window frame cleaner/thinners but white spirit will also work.
Edited by GTWayne on Friday 12th June 13:06
I managed to remove an unbelievable 20kg of just the sound deadening material from my E36 and that didn't include inside the doors. There are vast expanses of it! Likewise there were huge amounts on my E30.
I've found removing it depends on how long it's been on there, where it is and how well it was stuck down.
It never sticks well to curved surfaces unless it's been under a lot of pressure so chipping off usually works the best. Really old material usually chips off easily too without heat as the glue goes off over the years. It's always worth going around and trying prising it off with a paint scrapper to start with then bring in the heat if needed.
Where it is stuck fast just use enough heat to melt the glue UNDER the tar and not the tar itself (I use a blowlamp). Once it starts lifting up with a paint scrapper it's enough. It takes a while to get started but once one side can be pulled up, with carefuly fanning across of the heat you can usually pull the entire panel off. Don't melt the tar unless you want to spend ages cleaning up aferwards.
I've found if you do it this way it leaves behind the least amount of tar residue.
You can clean any remaining residue off with cheap Cellulose thinners.
I've found removing it depends on how long it's been on there, where it is and how well it was stuck down.
It never sticks well to curved surfaces unless it's been under a lot of pressure so chipping off usually works the best. Really old material usually chips off easily too without heat as the glue goes off over the years. It's always worth going around and trying prising it off with a paint scrapper to start with then bring in the heat if needed.
Where it is stuck fast just use enough heat to melt the glue UNDER the tar and not the tar itself (I use a blowlamp). Once it starts lifting up with a paint scrapper it's enough. It takes a while to get started but once one side can be pulled up, with carefuly fanning across of the heat you can usually pull the entire panel off. Don't melt the tar unless you want to spend ages cleaning up aferwards.
I've found if you do it this way it leaves behind the least amount of tar residue.
You can clean any remaining residue off with cheap Cellulose thinners.
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