Sound deadener

So....what's the best way to remove sound deadener from the floor of a car? Without destroying the car obviously.

I've been told dry ice is the way to go. Freeze it in small sections and hit it w/ a hammer and it shatters.

I have used a heat gun and a putty knife in the past, but it still leaves a residue behind.

My experience is no matter what, there is always some clean up after.

I did part of the CMC car when it was just cold out, so it was brittle. I used a air chisel that I blunted the edge on. Just it started on one edge, and it zips across to the other breaking pieces off.

Then clean with acetone or whatever.

I also used a heat gun, still need to clean.

No matter which method you use, make sure to put a finish coat of Zymol on it ;)

I didn't have much luck with dry ice... ended up going the heat gun route. Paint remover wheel on the grinder worked great taking off the left-over residue.

Rob,

All the dry ice theories are worthless. I used an air hammer, and basically just chiseled it off the floor. But here's the thing: in my Mustang, it was hours of effort for barely two handfuls of stuff. And small handfuls at that.

Since then, whenever people have asked me about it, I told them to go find a quarter pound somewhere else.


-chris

Heat gun and a thick putty knife, about 1" wide.

I tried a thin knife but it was to flexible, the stiffer knife worked better.

Cleaned up with lacquer thinner

cold worked on the cars I've helped with - we didn't use dry ice though. Get those cans of compressed air used to clean computers, turn can upside down, spray cold liquid on the area, tap with a hammer, pick up the chunks. Easy cheese.

Heat gun, scrapper and elbow grease.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by cobra132

...scrapper...

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That's where Mitch comes in.

Heat gun is working pretty good for me. If you wait for the top layer to just start to bubble on top and then move the heat gun just ahead of the putty knife you can make some really good chunks. I hadn't though about the wire wheel but I tried it yesterday and it works great on the residue. I have gotten a ton of that stuff out already with a little more work to do today.

There is a sweet spot where the heat will soften the glue and it will just peal back in very long in tact strips.
Instead of a wire wheel, I've had much better luck and life from the fiber bristle wheels. Of all places, Harbor Frieght has them in 3 different grits and they hold up well. They also strip faster than the wire wheels when cutting thru paint and primer to prep for welding. The OEM uses a zinc dip bath as the primer. It is really hard to get off. The fiber wheels are the best at cutting thru it.

Also, too much speed will melt the fiber wheels. You will see a smear like deposite being left on the metal. Increase the load on the wheel or slow your wheel some.

I just finished the sound deadener on the red car today. Torch to perfection, scrape with putty knife getting as much off as possible, vaccum debris, spray/soak with mineral spirits for a few minutes, wipe up excess mineral spirits with rag, hit with wire wheel on the drill, wipe clean with a towel. Soaking with mineral spirits helped soften the residue and made for much easier removal. The car is off to the cage builder tomorrow, but may need a side trip to a media blaster as it came from up north, Indiana, and I may have underestimated the amount of rust underneath. I really hate working on a rusty car.

Dry ice definitely works on some cars. Every manufacturer probably uses something slightly different, so what works on one car won't work on another.

I used it on the 240sx we're building for LeMons. Break the ice up, spread it around on the sound deadener, cover it with a piece of cardboard, set some weight on it (a couple hammers is what I used), and wait 10 minutes. Clear all the ice off, and smack it with a hammer. The stuff popped right off. I'd guess we removed close to 20 lbs from that car, judging from the weight of the trash bag we tossed it all in.