RE: What did the factory put on these floor boards

[mlb79]

I am trying to clean up what's left of my floor boards so I can rust proof (corroless) and put in some sheet metal overlays. I am having trouble getting the floors clean, there is something like contact paper on the floor boards on both sides. It covers the entire floor pan. The factory paint is on top and unless this sticky stuff is pulling the paint up, there is virgin metal under it.

Anybody ever run into this? I am having trouble getting it off the metal, any suggestions on how to remove it without a die grinder, I thought maybe a heat gun, any suggestions?

 

[BlazerGuy]

I tried every chemical and paint scraper out there but I ended up using a wire wheel to get that $h!t off. It was quite a mess but it worked fast.

 

[MilpitasK5]

Yep... I did the wire wheel too.

 

[shane74]

wire wheel.....

 

[Blazer_Boy]

I believe the wire wheels have it. I wonder what the brain trust at GM was thinking on that. Mine wasn't glued fully and a few gaps and water got underneath it and I had a nice little rot spot. Apparently galvanized was to just too hard in the early days /forums/images/icons/tongue.gif. I believe in the early 80's they went to galvanized on some things. My '82 Blazer has that rubber, but an '85 'burb i use for parts have a galvanized pan, which is rust free, unlike the rest of it.

 

[mlb79]

Thanks for the replies! Although I had hoped for a magic potion to strip that garbage off. Sounds unanomous for the wire wheel. I wish I could find adhesive that strong for other applications.

I really would like to know what was on GM's mind when they pulled this one. The wife asked me why there was contact paper on the floor in my truck. Contact paper is for Kitchens!!

 

[KrebsATM02]

I would think it is most likely a heat and vibration barrier. Keeps the rattles down. I too used a wire wheel, it smells nice when you hit the body caulk with it!!!! and it makes some nice smoke too!! Make sure you wear safety goggles, it will spit crap everywhere!! - Doug

 

[Confederate9]

a tip from when i did mine: keep the wire wheel spinning so the stuff that is coming off the wheel well is shooting out the back of the blazer, if you do it the other way around you will be finding blaxk stuff for a long while.

 

[Qubit]

I successfully did it with a heat gun.

It came off fairly easily.