Preparation for carpet installation?

[Crash513]

Hi all.  I've just reached the interior stage of restoring my '73 tii.  I've pulled the seats and just took out the ratty old carpet, which was installed when the car was last restored in 1990.  In fairness, the stuff held up pretty well, but it's about as decomposed and nasty as you would expect after 30 years.  Underneath the old carpet, I've encountered the usual sticky mess of old contact cement, decomposed jute padding, dirt, filth, and what appears to be one remarkably petrified McDonald's french fry.  I've vacuumed it pretty thoroughly, but as you can imagine there is still a lot of sticky gunk left behind. 

 

My restoration partner (who has rebuilt countless 2002's) is advocating that we just wire brush the floors to break off any remaining loose pieces, then just lay down the new sound deadening and carpet kit.  This is a well cared for California car that had remarkably little surface rust during the body work and respray operations.  So I'm not sure it makes sense to take everything down to bare metal before we do.  I'm not opposed to doing this to keep it simple, but I'm interested in anyone's opinion about taking a more aggressive approach to cleaning the floor panels before laying down the new sod. 

 

What I'm wondering specifically is:

 

1. Is it better to leave the existing factory tar in place, or is it necessary (or just better) to go all the way down to bare metal?
2. What method is best for doing a general cleanup of the surface if I don't go down to bare metal (what methods, tools and cleaners have people used for this)?
3. How important is it to go over the surfaces with a household cleaner (I'm thinking about Pine-Sol or Dawn with some bleach)?  My car does't stink, but it just seems like a good idea

 

Very interested in hearing any ideas and best practices, especially from anyone who has done multiple carpet replacements.   

 

TIA,

 

Crash

 

 

[Son of Marty]

IMHO all the tar should be removed and the floors inspected for rust this maybe a solid Calif car but heaters and windshields do leak and the tar will channel it underneath, the rest of the stick on sound deadening like the trans tunnel and rear bulkhead I usually leave alone, the residue from the tar will come off with mineral spirits, rags, and a little elbow grease and this will leave the floor clean enough for new deadening unless your product recommends another technique.  

Edited May 16, 2020 by Son of Marty

[esty]

if you know there is no rust, leave everything the factory put there, if it's still functional clean it using your favorite cleaner

[Son of Marty]

Esty, I don't disagree with you, but the only way to know there is no rust is to look, and look to find rust, over the years with these cars I have come to the conclusion that denial is the worst of all rust treatments

[albatcha]

On a low/ "no" rust car, I find that if the sound deadening is stuck solidly to the metal, there won't be any rust underneath. but if you can break off pieces where it's not stuck, like behind the back seat when the sound deadening covers a low point between two high points. That spot where its not stuck, and air and water are coming in and out, spots like that  could be hiding rust.

[AceAndrew]

I have a low/no rust car.... and one of the two places I found hidden rust was underneath the sound deadening.  It wasn't much, and didn't penetrate through.  However, if left alone, it would have become a problem.  Moisture got in via a couple of the angled metal surfaces, very easy to miss.

 

After doing about a dozen sound-deadening removals so far, I've found that a couple had nearly hidden rust, but with most it was obvious if there was going to be rust or not.  However, those couple have been high enough of a statistical probability that I make complete removal a standard practice. 

 

FYI, this topic was brought up recently a couple weeks ago.

[halboyles]

I always remove the old tar material if for nothing else than to eliminate the ancient odor accumulated in it over the years.  It is, after all, a petroleum oil based material that will absorb many other hydrocarbons-- oil, antifreeze, brake fluid, coffee, the odd urninary leak,... The interior definitely smells better with it removed and new soundproofing laid down.

[Conserv]

7 hours ago, esty said:

if you know there is no rust, leave everything the factory put there, if it's still functional clean it using your favorite cleaner

+1

 

I believe in leaving as much original fabric in place as you can. That’s my viewpoint. My ‘76 is 44 years old. There are no signs of floor rust from the car’s underside. There are also no signs of floor rust on the areas of metal visible from the car’s interior, with the carpet removed. My car has been garaged for the last 44 years — I did flood the floors one beery night, but the car had plenty of time to dry out afterward — and is still garaged. The car, going forward, like many classic cars: (a.) will probably be garaged for the next 44 years, and (b.) is generally not chosen for drives on rainy days, although it periodically gets caught in the rain. If there is rust under that wonderful cheap tarry sound deadening, and it’s not visible 44 years in, it is world’s slowest rust, and I’m not worrying about it!

 

Yes, many (most?) ‘02’s have histories filled with water leaks. But not all do. I put 100,000 miles on my ‘76 in its first 7 years, which included 7 Northeast winters of salt and snow (below, February 1977). I washed the underside religiously. And the car has no evidence of water leaks. My point? You can rely on visible evidence in judging how much sound deadening you need to remove, if any. On the other hand, if your goal is to remake your ‘02 with modern materials, and not to preserve the original fabric, have at it with the dry ice! The answer depends on (1.) your goals and (2.) your car’s facts.
 

Regards,

 

Steve

 

[Crash513]

Thanks all for the advice!   Really helps to get different perspectives.  I'm going do discuss with my restoration partner before deciding how far to go with cleaning it up.  I probably won't end up doing a full removal, but even before doing a thorough cleaning I will surely take the time to do a very careful inspection and dig into any suspect areas first.  I'd rather find and fix any hiding surface rust areas now than regret not doing it later.  

 

Thanks again all!

 

- Crash  

[Crash513]

Quote

FYI, this topic was brought up recently a couple weeks ago.

 

AceAndrew - I did a search but could not find anything current on this.  Sorry if I missed it!