Rob Roy

So I spent most of Saturday trying to get the tar paper off of the floor of the front passengers side. What a pain in the a$$. I tried scraping, sanding, and finally settled on paint stripper and acetone, but it would only take off a small layer at a time.

Well I picked up a cheap hot air gun yesterday and tried that - what a difference! A few seconds of heating and it just peels right up.

So if there are any other nuts like me out there fully stripping the car - I hope this tip saves you a ton of time and effort.

Cheers

bcdavis

Also, just as a general tip when dealing with tar, and asphalt:

WD-40 acts as a solvent, and will clean it right up.

Works if you get tar on your feet at the beach, from patching your roof, on your windshield glass, etc...
Might work for clean-up here, or you might use it to completely strip the tar, if you want to totally remove it...

Robert_H

Both are excellent tips!

Are you guys going to redo/install any soundproofing material or just go the clean route? I am doing this as well and have so far only gotten as far as the area behind the rear seats.

Rob

Rob Roy

With the heat gun, the tar appears to come right up with no residue so far - but I'll use the WD-40 tip if there is - Thank.

I will probably add back some type of soundproofing/heat insulating material back in, but haven't decided on brand (Dynomat etc) - I want to find the best weight to insulating properites I can.

bwebb77

Don't discount WD-40 for removing a lot of different adhensives without damaging what it's stuck to.