I'm sure this has to have been discussed, but I couldn't find it anywhere. The carpet on my interior plastics has faded pretty bad, and I was gonna remove it and clean up the plastics. Might leave the plastic bare, might by some repop carpet and fix em back up stock. Not sure. Regardless, the old stuff has to come off. Anyone done this before??? ...who knows what GM used to stick it on there!!! ....I'd like to avoid sanding, which may potentially lead to having to paint the plastics. They're in great shape.

Thanks,
-Boob

 

The only experience I have with something like this (and not this specifically) was unglueing the interior cloth on a conversion van. The manufacturer recommended brake clean. It worked well, and did not discolor the cloth.

However, that was over plywood, not plastic.

If you don't mind the carpeted look, have you considered trying to re-dye what is there? It would be a lot less work and expense than R&R, I would think, as it could be done with the carpet in place.

 

When I have removed it in the past it appears to be from a hot glue gun in a zig zag pattern. Both on front and back (back for insulation).
Sometimes it affects the finish and iirc sometimes the surface itself.

 

I don't wanna deal with the mess of dying the carpet, besides, not only is it faded, but it's worn pretty good too. It needs to go.

....yeah....I can imagine a GM hotglue "like" adhesive, and I can see it being fairly aggressive. ....putting NEW carpet back on to cover any blemishes wouldn't be terrible. ....and I design and install vehicle wraps, and I've thought about wrapping those carpeted sections too. With what color or pattern has yet to be determined!!!!

 

When I looked at the amount of time you've been a forum member, your post count, and that your a mod...I figured you were not a newbie, and had already considered this option. But since you didn't mention it, I had to ask.

If you end up wrapping them, I hope you post some pictures of that....I'd like to see the process and the results.

 

With my car being an 83, I was able to leave it sitting outside on a warm day (not hot, just 80's or so) and literally peel the carpet off like a sticker. Some of the glue behind it was hardened, some resembled an alien's snot. Easy clean up though with WD-40, just let it soak and then wipe, if you have a plastic scraper (gotta be plastic, or hard rubber) use it (metal ones will scratch the piece). soak, wipe/scrape, repeat. Finish it off with a shot of armorall. I don't have any pics but the results are fantastic.

*EDIT* I mention my car's year to show the fact that the carpet in question had been on there for a LONG time, with newerish panels it may be a little harder.

 

Have you ever considered using one of these kits from Thirdgenranch.
http://www.thirdgenranch.com/catalog...2071da329b4b15

 

I agree with getting it hot.Try using a blow dryer to soften up the adhesive and it should come right off

 

I have considered those repop carpet panels, but I'm not 100% sure I don't wanna keep em plain, and not have carpet (on the panels). I used to love the carpet, but I think it dates the car quite a bit. ...and not that it's a bad thing, I'm just not sure.

....and if I do wrap, of course I'll post pics!

 

I just painted some used interior panels for my pace car project today and had to remove carpet and insulation glue from the panels. It's not a hard job at all -- it just takes some patience.

The carpet, at least on my car, is hot glued to the plastic. Keep in mind, my car is an '82 so the process may have changed in later years. As someone pointed out, it looks like they used a zig-zag pattern from a glue gun and just stuck the carpet on the panel.

Since you are not worried about saving the carpet, just slowly peel it away from the panel. The glue is pretty sticky and will not come completely off the panels. Some carpet may be left behind on the panel where the glue bond is strong -- don't worry about it.

You will need a heat gun and several plastic razors. Gently warm up small sections of the left over glue (12" or less) that is still stuck to the panels and use the plastic razor to scrape it off. Do not use too much heat on the glue. If you heat the glue up too much it will just smear like crazy when you go to scrape it and will make a big mess. Less heat is more in this case. When you scrape the glue, it should just ball up as you scrape or it should come up in strips. Smearing is bad.

Start with low heat, heat up a small section and try scraping some glue off. If you do it right, it should peel right off nicely. If the glue does not come up easily, add a little more heat. If it just smears all over the place, you applied too much heat.

Even after scraping, some glue will be left on the panels. To get that residual glue off, go get some Goo Gone. I used the stuff they sell in the spray bottle with the citrus scent. Spray the Goo Gone on the left over glue, let it sit for a few seconds, then scrub it off with a terrycloth towel. It should come right up. If not, or if you have big globs of glue left in spots, you can apply the Goo Gone and then use the plastic razors again to scrape it up. The Goo Gone will soften the left over glue pretty easily.

Due to the texture of the panels, the razor won't get all all the glue off. You will have to use the terrycloth towel and some light elbow grease to get the glue completely off.

You can try hitting the glue with the Goo Gone and then scraping with the plastic razor instead of using heat, but I found that the Goo Gone didn't work very well if the glue was really thick. I used the procedure above. Heat, scrape, Goo Gone, scrub.

Once the glue is all off, clean off the panel with mild soap & water and you should be all set.

Good luck!

 

BE WARY OF USING GOO GONE OR GOOF OFF or similar removers if you aren't going to be repainting your panels. They will eat away the outer layers of the plastic and "fade" it out.

 

FormerL69, thanks for posting up. ....I think I'm gonna try that! ....I'm curious how the "painting" worked out as well ???

...also, any fading as Red Leader mentioned? I thought about that possibility as well.

 

As far as recovering them in your choice of material, just remember that ANY carpeted surface of the car's interior will help with sound deadening.

 

Yeah, I agree, but I'm not concerned with sound deadening. I'm not running any under carpet jute padding either. It's a weekend toy. Noise is kinda part of the fun, LOL

...plus most cars didn't have the carpeting on the plastics, and it wasn't much of a difference I'm sure.

 

I just recarpeted my plastic. You will need to get super stretch carpet with no backing on it. Google The Miami Corporation. It runs about $17.00 a yard.

 

The carpet on my rear plastic trim is in poor condition and I want to remove it and just have the bare plastic.

Is heat the best way to do this, how do you clean the residue?

 

I heated it up and scraped it off but make sure you don't dig into the plastic. You might also try WD-40 as someone else mentioned. If you apply heat to it I would use a heat gun. Just be careful and don't burn the plastic.

 

I decided that leaving the doeskin interior intact, carpet and all, and just purchased an entire new set of Medium Beechwood plastics without carpet.

Thanks for the replies though

 

Found a simple way to remove the carpet and hot melt glue from interior plastics.

Buy some Rubbing Alcohol (isopropyl alcohol) from the supermarket in a spray bottle. This stuff softens the glue and breaks it's adhesion to the plastic.

Start in a corner, lifting up the carpet and spraying the rubbing alcohol underneath.

Slowly and firmly pull the carpet back, spraying more as you go. Take it slowly to allow the glue to come off the plastic. If you do this properly 99% of the glue comes cleanly away.

Takes about an hour for each large piece of plastic trim.