Who's used dry ice to remove undercoating?

[fastbacker]

I did a search but didn't come up with many details.

Do you break the dry ice blocks up into crumbs and then spread on top of the floor (or undercarriage if you have a rotisserie)?

Do you use a rubber mallet to break it up or a putty knife? Or both?

Thanks-
Craig Backer

[V12man]

Use a small Angle Grinder with a grinding cup (super heavy duty wire brush) - wire is about 1.5 mm thich for each strand. Very messy but very effective - takes off rust scale underneath the undercoat as well - wear tight fitting safety goggles and a respirator/dust mask. Cover everything in your garage, or take it out - don't let the missus know what you do with her vacume cleaner afterwards... ;-))

I rigged my shop vac to my angle grinder with duct tape - helped a lot, but place was still way dirty afterwards - and ear plugs needed too...

Best regards

Guy

Enjoy the dust....

[NoLift911]

I used a torch - came off like butter. Work a small section at a time.

Bonus - if you heat of the inside floor enough to get up the tar floor mats, the bottom undercoating will get soft also and peel right off at the same time

Use a mask as I am sure it is toxic.

-Jeff

[buster73]

See below older thread on this issue:

Dry Ice Blasting - a solution finally ?

[herman maire]

I will give a quick opinion on this DRY ICE .

My brother and I have both worked on a bunch of striped bmw projects and the interior tar mat stuff came of easily in huge chunks with a screw driver ect..

My 2 70's 911 that tar mat stuff was bomb proof. I tried in summer and -20c in the winter with a hammer and every other tool possible and it did not budge.

The I used my brain and used a HEAT GUN and slowly I got every thing off easily without breaking a sweat...

Forget the DRY ICE and get a electrin heat gun.

[fastbacker]

I've got a heat gun. I read a post where someone hose clamped a scraper to the heat gun so as to heat the soundproofing/undercoating up as you scrape. Thinking of trying this

I also have an undercoating removing air tool New Undercoating Removal Tool
This works moderately well but pits the metal pretty good - doesn't bother me for a track car's interior and undercarriage but I wouldn't get it near an exterior painted surface.

I also have a wire cup and wire wheel for ues in a 4 1/2 angle grinder. Haven't tried the hd wire wheel yet as I just purchased it. The hd wire cup doesn't work as well as the air undercoating removal too.

Lastly, I have aircraft stripper and met which I have yet to use.

All this said, I was hoping to find the quickest route for doing this and hoping it was dry ice. I guess I'll have to try that if I give up on the other methods.


Thanks-
CB

[randywebb]

did a search on dry ice find anything - can't be that many posts w/those terms

another idea I've had, but not tested, is to use one of those Fein multi-tools - they are amazing tools, based on the cast saws that are used to remove broken limb casts but not cut skin

[herman maire]

Originally posted by fastbacker
I've got a heat gun. I read a post where someone hose clamped a scraper to the heat gun so as to heat the soundproofing/undercoating up as you scrape. Thinking of trying this

I also have an undercoating removing air tool New Undercoating Removal Tool
This works moderately well but pits the metal pretty good - doesn't bother me for a track car's interior and undercarriage but I wouldn't get it near an exterior painted surface.

Thanks-
CB

I think if you have a scraper clamped to a heat gun you are spending alot of time really heating up sounds awkward also.

I just attacked it with a 2'' chisel in one hand and the heat gun in the other and as soon as it was soft enought to peel I got to work. Also there was no dammage to the metal VS your air tool.

I was surprised how fast it went.

[RallyJon]

Or liquid nitrogen. Another earlier thread:

Removing underbody asphault from the car...

[fastbacker]

I've been working more at removing the undercoating and soundproofing. Where I'm having the most problems is with the seam sealer. That stuff doesn't want to let go.

Anyone have any ideas?


Thanks-
Craig Backer

[randywebb]

Inside or outside of the tub?

[SLO-BOB]

Did a bmw with dry ice. Worked very well and leaves no residue like heating will. Get the dry ice in pellets. Pour it on the floor. Let it sit awhile. Take a rubber mallet and start banging. The stuff just shatters. Then simply dry vac it out. I can only imagine those who say to skip it haven't tried it. There will be some stuff left. I used a wire brush on a drill to remove the seam sealer. That really sucked but it worked. My final step was kerosene to dissolve anything that was left. Lots of brain cells floated away that day. Do it upwind on a breezy day.

[felix_browne]

can/t say about the dry ice but i used a blow-drier and a putty knife and it came up in huge pieces (8x8 or larger). wire wheel on the sealer etc,etc. a little lacquer thinner for the residue and you are ready for the rustoleum. a great little project if you have the interior of the car out.

[Dennis Kalma]

I haven't tried it yet, but my '89 will end up getting stripped of its paint with CO2 blasting. Talked to a local company who has a mobile service, they say they have no problem removing paint and stuff, better than plastic bead blast as there is no beads to come out of nooks and crannies for 10 years afterwards (I know....they still are coming out of my '75 and it was plastic bead blasted in 1991!). I gather from them that the cold CO2 also helps with undercoating due to the freezing effect.....sounds reasonable from what they are saying....

Dennis

[Zeke]

CO2. That's a new one for me. AFA the stuff on the floors, the older the car, the easier it is to remove. I did most by hand, then the nasty cupped rotary wire brush to finish up. I've had more problems with the glue for the engine sound pad than the floor stuff.

Oh, and the seam sealer gives up with a propane torch easily. That's the only place I really needed serious heat. More than a stinkin' hair dryer.......

[DUK]

I used a heat gun and propane toech on the seam sealer as did milt. Tried the dry ice thing but I couldn't get it to stay on the vertical surfaces. lol.

[Jeff Alton]

Are we talking inside the tub or outside? Or both?

Cheers