03-09-2010, 02:25 PM
OK - after getting goofed on last year for leaving the rug in my car I figured I had to rip it out, even though it provided needed weight in the right place. At the end of the day if there's a fire I don't want to breath burning foam and rug.
Many folks had warned me that the germans were very liberal with the glue....that is an understatement! Also, many folks have stated that all old german cars smell the same - some truth to that also. The smell is the rug without a doubt. Ripped that nasty crap out and it did have old car stink ingrained into it.
But the glue - that was brutal. Laid on about an 1/8 inch thick throughout. It took at least 12 hours of slave work to grind that crap off. I used wire wheels, plastic wheels you name it. Finally found that a grinder brush made of thick wire cables would do the job. It would heat up the glue so that it formed into blobs and get flung around in the car. Then I'd pick them up, vacuum repeatedly and keep grinding. I used a heat gun and a scraper. I bought a pnuematic scraper - none were as good as the grinder brush which is not unlike the Snap On Crud Remover tool that costs $490. The grinder brush was $5. Attaches to a high speed grinder and is way better than a wire wheel on a drill.
Then to get the last glue film off the car. Kerosene does the job great but the smell will kill many brain cells. Mineral spirits were best and took the crap off.
I got most of it and gave up and painted over the last 4 hours of crap removal. It looks damn good but not perfect. Has to be the worst job I've ever done. The closest I can recall was chiseling glue off a floor to get it ready for tiling. Actually - this was worse.
Another tough job - repositioning the seat lower and moving my head further from the cage. That took a ton of time also but thankfully worked out great and the car is safter for it.
Now I just need to add another 50 lbs of ballast to the 100 lbs in the footwell that's already there
Car is ready for New Hampshire Pro IT and the Granite State National STU race.
Many folks had warned me that the germans were very liberal with the glue....that is an understatement! Also, many folks have stated that all old german cars smell the same - some truth to that also. The smell is the rug without a doubt. Ripped that nasty crap out and it did have old car stink ingrained into it.
But the glue - that was brutal. Laid on about an 1/8 inch thick throughout. It took at least 12 hours of slave work to grind that crap off. I used wire wheels, plastic wheels you name it. Finally found that a grinder brush made of thick wire cables would do the job. It would heat up the glue so that it formed into blobs and get flung around in the car. Then I'd pick them up, vacuum repeatedly and keep grinding. I used a heat gun and a scraper. I bought a pnuematic scraper - none were as good as the grinder brush which is not unlike the Snap On Crud Remover tool that costs $490. The grinder brush was $5. Attaches to a high speed grinder and is way better than a wire wheel on a drill.
Then to get the last glue film off the car. Kerosene does the job great but the smell will kill many brain cells. Mineral spirits were best and took the crap off.
I got most of it and gave up and painted over the last 4 hours of crap removal. It looks damn good but not perfect. Has to be the worst job I've ever done. The closest I can recall was chiseling glue off a floor to get it ready for tiling. Actually - this was worse.
Another tough job - repositioning the seat lower and moving my head further from the cage. That took a ton of time also but thankfully worked out great and the car is safter for it.
Now I just need to add another 50 lbs of ballast to the 100 lbs in the footwell that's already there
Car is ready for New Hampshire Pro IT and the Granite State National STU race.
