factory coating on the inside of the floor boards - what the $#@#! is this stuff?

[RPMClassic]

My car has the original floors still in it. After the rugs and sound deadening were removed - I thought I was looking at metal. However, there appears to be some sort of rubber hard coating about 1/4 " thick. i want to paint the floors......does this mystery coating need to be removed first? What different products/process have people used? Thx.

[feelyx]

I used a propane torch and a putty knife to scrape that crap off. then an asatone bath removed the rest. The (NO SMOKING!!) signs should be posted! ware rubber gloves and a fan running for venting. It removed about 30lbs.

Tim in Sac

[CamB]

I have used a heat gun, and alternatively a low-powered heatgun (also called a hair-dryer , shhhh don't tell anyone), both with a scraper. It should come off before you paint.

If sound damping is important to you it can be replaced when you have repainted. Dynamat works well (but is $$$$). Alternatively generic stuff works fine (eg http://www.mcmaster.com/ - search for damping sheet, then the adhesive stuff - cheapest one is probably similar to what is in the car).

Cam

[andyjboy]

I found that most of this (brittle) coating was removed fairly easily using a (blunt) scraper - it tended to come off in large chunks. Use some gentle heat to soften the last remnants before more scraping - this leaves only minor traces in awkward corners to attack with a suitable solvent (I used white spirit - don't know what name it goes by in the US).

Andy Boyle (UK)
'69 911E