In a Dither over Interior Trim Removal

[rfs1957]

Stripping out the existing trim and feeling slightly vertiginous.



The PO who did the Evostick must have had shares in the stuff, no rust or horrors but what ghastly sight it all leaves.



Has anyone found a way of removing this or do I just get off the worst and "sweep it under the carpet" as it were. It appears to be impossible to remove without removing half the paint at the same time.

The perforated bituminious base-layer comes off OK, albeit leaving the same contact-adhesive mess - but is it now accepted that we replace this with one of the alloy-backed bituminous products that we're all using in one shape or form ?

And then do we smear contact adhesive all over our smart silver sheathing and glue on our underfelt and carpets, or is there a better / neater / more-easily reversible way of doing this ?

Any advice from experienced practicioners much appreciated.

[paulsco]

Hi Rory,

Have you tried paraffin; it's usually quite good at getting between the glue and the paint.

Those floors look in lovely condition by the way.

Paul

[rfs1957]

Blimey Paul, you were quick, were you watching over my shoulder whilst I typed ?!

No, and I don't even know what parrafin is over here, in 35 years I've never used any ! Perhaps a similar distillate to white spirit, which we French call "WHOUIYTE" ?

The car was restored in the late eighties and has been dry-stored and Med-Climate coddled since so I wasn't expecting any horrors, even if it's always a relief ; the beige is then 25 years old and as it's time for an overhaul we're going RED.

[chrisfell]

Hi Rory,

Have you tried paraffin; it's usually quite good at getting between the glue and the paint.

Those floors look in lovely condition by the way.

Paul

Paraffin = kerosene = domestic heating oil. Paraffin is slightly more refined and carries a perfume additive as it is often used indoors, but it is essentially the same stuff.

[Tbob]

I use mineral spirits (USA).

If you're not repainting the inside I would simply scrape off the loose stuff and re-glue the new interior underlayment.

[Gfhug]

Rory, a similar discussion is here:
viewtopic.php?f=3&t=6395&hilit=Ketone
MEK is the way Evostik is removed according to Evode, but there are other suggestions too

Geoff

[rfs1957]

There are some interesting propositions there, indeed, but with the exception of parrafin and tar-remover they would all seem to be guaranteed to remove the paint too, or am I wrong ?

I would have thought MEK and cellulose thinners were almost as violent as paint-stripper, certainly on my painted-in-the-late-eighties and non-lacquered shell.

Does everyone just re-glue their carpets in the same way as mine were done, and accept that the hard-earned nice-paint finish they got inside the cockpit is lost forever ?

[chrisfell]

There are some interesting propositions there, indeed, but with the exception of parrafin and tar-remover they would all seem to be guaranteed to remove the paint too, or am I wrong ?

I would have thought MEK and cellulose thinners were almost as violent as paint-stripper, certainly on my painted-in-the-late-eighties and non-lacquered shell.

Does everyone just re-glue their carpets in the same way as mine were done, and accept that the hard-earned nice-paint finish they got inside the cockpit is lost forever ?

Nope. Underlay/soundproofing is loose (I remove it every winter and dowse the floor sills and box sections with dilute waxoyl) and the carpets are held in place by plastic studs on the fllor and stucked under the central console around the gearbox tunnel. However, I cannot see any stud fittings on your floor pan, so loose carpets will remain loose.

[rfs1957]

And how do you hold the vertical stuff in place, Chris - is that glued ?

I used Velcro a lot in the Mini Van, self-adhesive tabs reinforced by extra adhesive, but the carpets are a lot more forgiving and there's a lot less of them.

[chrisfell]

And how do you hold the vertical stuff in place, Chris - is that glued ?

I used Velcro a lot in the Mini Van, self-adhesive tabs reinforced by extra adhesive, but the carpets are a lot more forgiving and there's a lot less of them.

A lot of the trim, especially that attached to card/hardura was attached with self tappers by a PO. Very few spring clips remaim, mainly as the card is no longer in shape and needs to be restrained. Vinyl is still glued to (for example) the sills and rear wheel arches. In this case only one face (the inner) gets washed with waxoyl each winter.

[Hugo]

Acetone will get that mess off, and probably leave you feeling even more vertiginous! I don't THINK it will take the paint off, but don't sue me if it does. That doesn't look a ghastly mess at all to my eyes - at least it's paint not rust like mine! And now we all know where your isolator switch is :-)

[mgcjag]

Acetone will take the paint off.....at least if did when i tried on a small area to remove old glue...only one liquid i found to get it off but could be dangerous and explosive.....wont list here but sure you could guess....or pm me

[Heuer]

There are some interesting propositions there, indeed, but with the exception of paraffin and tar-remover they would all seem to be guaranteed to remove the paint too, or am I wrong ?

MEK is dangerous stuff, you should only use it in a (very) well ventilated area and you must wear gloves as it is absorbed through the skin. It should not however remove paint but worth testing on a small area first. 'Panel Wipe' is my choice as it is relatively cheap but Tar and Glue remover is also a good substitute - both available from car paint suppliers. Don't expect any of them to work immediately but they will soften the glue and make it roll up into balls when rubbed with a cloth.

[chrisfell]

Am I the only one thinking, bugger the glue residue, where can I find a car with such rust free floors and sills as that?

[rfs1957]

Keep it up Chris, those sort of comments make it feel worthwhile.

If I had known how much botching of the details had been carried out by the PO I would probably never have bought the car, nearly 15 years ago.

Like the lower windscreen tie-bar anchorage :



or the half-stripped UJ bolts on the diff (supplied "painted and overhauled" by a well-known specialist, complete with invoice) :



or "tapered-entry" torque-plate fasteners :



or lower wish-bone components inverted L - R :



But I've only discovered them drip-by-drip over the years as I go in all the nooks and crannies, and they were detail botches rather than underlying ones so quite easy to overcome ; time rather than money, and I suppose quite rewarding for an OCD sufferer.

Interestingly, Jack at BAS recommends DynaMat Extreme too - which BAS retail, too, alongside all the original trims - and he says just get the glue-lumps and rough-stuff off, and do the DynaMat over the whole lot.

Do people do the sills as far as the threshold too ?

Pity the poor sods who try and get this stuff off our cars when they next get re-built !

[neil4444]

When I mucked up my first attempt at fixing foam to the hockey sticks I softened the impact adhesive with methylated spirits which enabled me to remove the glue without peeling the underlying paint. The glue was only a couple of months old though.

I used Koolmat on my car and Dynaliner over the top - per Chris Vine's approach. I applied it up to the sill threshold and used closed cell foam on the sills themselves.

Any slight undulations of glue won't show through by the time you've lined & carpeted it.

Lots of useful interior stuff on Chris's site here...

http://etype.chrisvine.com/2015/04/inte ... nyl-ambla/

[abowie]

Leave it all there.
You're just going to cover it all with glue again, and breathing hydrocarbon fumes especially methylethylketone is no good for you.

[Mich7920]

Hi Rory,

The problem with this glue it that it is flexible and all the chimical products dissolve also the paint and are really bad for our health.

The less bad solution is to used a freeze spray to make the glue hard.
You'll can sanding it without touching the paint.
You'll get a surface nearly flat better than you have. But be aware that you never remove the entire glue.

If you decide that you want to remove absolutly all the glue used a heater air gun, the glue will become more flexible as well as the paint and you'll remove all. Scrape the glue... and the paint with a wood chisel.

In any case it's not a pleasant job specially for the back...

Mich

[JagWaugh]

Just leave the glue as it is, you're only going to glue some more stuff on top of it, and your floors are in fine shape.

If it really does have to come off, then the easiest way to deal with it is to wait until winter and the Bitumen is hard and brittle. Then you can chip it off with a hammer and wood chisel quite easily.

When I have to remove contact cement I usually soak it with Terpentine, then leave it to evaporate for a few days, then rub the bit with margarine (yes, margarine). Even 50 year old rubber cement rubs off reasonably easily, the terps doesn't affect the paint, and you can get the part clean again with soap and water. This works well for small trim bits, but your thumbs would be kind of sore if you tried to do the whole floor this way.

[mark10337]

I will be trying the dry ice blasting treatment at the weekend to remove the worst of the glue and residue on the interior. Also to get rid of the underseal on both the bonnet and all over the boot. Fingers crossed it won't reveal anything horrendous underneath.