I would try a heat gun, heat it up to soften it, just be careful of setting it alight with too much heat.
franc123,
Feb 16, 4:38pm
Propane torch, it softens it up nicely and it will scrape off far easier. You will find it might try to catch fire from time to time but a large wet rag on standby soon sorts that out.
kenw1,
Feb 16, 4:42pm
Do not let the hot stuff drip on your skin, it will burn like nothing else.
Good reason they used to pour hot tar from the castle in olden days.
tony9,
Feb 16, 4:52pm
On my old Mini, I found it better to just keep chipping while it is cold, it came off cleanly like that. Heating it needed further cleaning with solvent.
A gas torch and a wire brush used to be the ultimate method when all else failed. It would rain fire into your armpits a bit when you did it overhead but we were considerably tougher in those days.
m16d,
Feb 16, 6:01pm
If it's that hard to remove, then why would you want to. ?
grangies,
Feb 16, 6:12pm
Have you tried the flappy type rotary wheels, that kind of flick the goo off as you work them? . The tool spinning them needs to be high speed though.
An MBX tool is a good example, though it's an expensive outlay.
Panelbeaters often use MBX tools with wire wheels to rip off urethane seam sealer to expose spot welds, on places like where boot floors are welded to rear panels etc.
gtrb26,
Feb 16, 6:18pm
Found dry Ice to be the go, comes off in big lumps and doesn't make as much mess.
grangies,
Feb 16, 6:24pm
Does the car have to be spun upside down for that method, to let the dry ice sit there and freeze it off?
I'm genuinely interested in this method?
grangies,
Feb 16, 6:37pm
You're welcome.
In a DIY situation where it's not being used all day for hours on end, a genuine MBX tool should last you your entire DIY life.
They do require a decent sized air compressor though. Although in a DIY situation where the compressed air is ALL YOURS it shouldn't be an issue.
grangies,
Feb 16, 6:45pm
Hmmm . I suppose so. As long as the freeze is cold enough to penetrate what's on top, and then through the sheet-metal floor and then freeze what's underneath enough to snap it off.
Dry ice is dangerous too. It can seriously freeze your skin off, upon instant contact. . I think it's similar to liquid nitrogen in a solid form.
socram,
Feb 16, 7:01pm
I'm an advocate of the heat/fire method, but you do have to be well aware of the dangers.
Assuming the car is a runner, the fuel pipes/system would be a potential danger area when using heat/fire.
Someone had painted underseal on some fibreglass panels on my car (no, I don't know why!) and fire was the speedy way to strip them. No probl3m at all. You don't need to remove every last trace if you use kero or something similar to wipe off any residue, as presumably, you'll be coating it with something.
exwesty,
Feb 16, 7:57pm
if you're putting dry ice inside the vehicle, why not use liquid nitrogen and freeze it instantly if it drops off when cold?
robotnik,
Feb 16, 8:11pm
Be careful. Sometimes underseals on old cars contained asbestos. If it has asbestos sanding it would be a very bad idea.
darryl,
Feb 17, 7:25am
I have done this job on my Falcon Coupes entire underneath, back to bare metal. As you have - I tried everything to make the job easier, and faster.
I found out two things .
1) It is a slow, messy annoying job no matter how you do it. 2) Heat gun and scraper worked best to get the major stuff off. Then I let the newly uncovered underseal dry off a bit and used a strip it disk.
There is no easy quick way. It just sucks.
rsr72,
Feb 17, 7:49am
One of those Renovator vibrating tools ?
afer_daily,
Feb 17, 8:59am
how about sticking it up on a hoist and getting stuck in with a serious water blaster or getting a mobile sand blaster to come round and do it ?
richardmayes,
Feb 17, 11:46am
Underseal:
A product that admits water through cracks and chips in the surface, then traps the water against steel bodywork, causing accelerated rusting of the bodywork.
neville48,
Jun 14, 2:05am
On to PB Vauxhalls ?
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