This is something that we have to do with the racecars and is a real pain in the butt. There are several ways of doing it. Basically it is a felt or fibre material soaked in resin and tar that is applied hot and self sticks to the metal when it cools, there really does not appear to be a seperate adhesive below.
You can use a heat gun and get it gooey again and scrape with a putty knife but you will get a lung full of some nasty smelling, smoky stuff that can't be healthy. Been there, inhaled that. Several people suggest that you let it get super cold and get brittle and chip off again with a putty knife or screw driver or bash it with hammer. Depending on where you are in the country and how cold your winter is, I have heard letting the car sit outside over night can work. I have done all of mine mine in the summer so I'd go to the local welding supply store and buy blocks of dry ice and let the stuff freeze the tar to make it brittle for chipping. Not as easy as it might sound but it does work. I have not found a chemical solvent yet that does a decent job however paint thinner or lots of brake cleaner will soften the small remaining smudges enought to be wiped away after the majority of the stuff has been removed by other means. Any way you do it, it is not easy work and takes many hours of elbow grease. Very slow going but you will get there. After doing four or five cars like this, I don't know any better methods. When done, the material is gone but you have lots of little scrapes in the paint below from the metal tools so you will need to repaint the floorboard. I have usually found that all that material is worth only about 6 lbs. or so of weight savings. I have never stripped the underside of the car but am told that under coating is a softer material and a very high pressure washer with hot water or steam strips it best. If anyone has any easier or cleaner way, I'd sure like to hear it. It is probably the most unpleasant parts of stripping a car. Lee ----- Original Message ----- From: "danny" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sunday, January 05, 2003 8:11 PM Subject: CRX: Removing black rubber mat? > Does anyone have any clue on how to take out the black rubber matting > underneath the carpet. Its an 89 si, and im trying to strip the whole > interior down to the metal, but that stuff seems like its cemented to the > frame. Any tips, thanx, danny. >
