Don't do it...

[TonyJohnson]

I just spent the better part of Sunday with a wire wheel on my drill motor cleaning up the composite foam (home) carpet padding the previous owner glued to the floor of my blazer.

What's bad was the foam was glued to the bed and to the carpet, but over time broke up and eventually detached itself, leaving the carpet loose. I pulled up the carpet, but the foam was very firmly attached to the bed. I ended up taking it down to the metal in some places and it was really slow going. I can't imagine it would be much worse taking off old gator guard...

I'm going to go back with sand paper next weekend and finish it off really well and coat everything with POR. There are a few rusty spots around the wheel wells that I've got to decide how deep to go on, but at least the bed will look somewhat acceptable.

If you're ever tempted to use home carpet padding and glue, JUST DON'T DO IT...

[Frizzle Fry]

You think a heat-gun/scraper would have worked better on that stuff? I used that followed by a wire-wheel on an angle grinder to de-undercoat a hood.

[TonyJohnson]

Possibly, but it was almost fused and there wasn't really any remaining sign of the glue. The heat gun might have had to melt the rubber. I didn't have one, but it would definately be worth a try. Because of the ribs in the bed, it actually worked best to use different wire attachments for the different angles. The wheel on the flats and a straight on the angles. but of course the challenge was keeping the tool from walking out of position. It was like wrestling a rat... lol.

[special-K]

The glue most likely cause the padding to deteriorate.What a muckin`fess,huh?