How To Eat Away Silicone

[daveh]

Hey guys,

The previous owner replaced the floor pans on my 71 Challenger. He installed the full floors over the old floors (Stupid I know). Anyway he only tacked them every 5" or so. I'm going to remove them and reinstall them correctly. After the previous owner installed them he ran silicone around the seam to seal it up ( I know stupid again).

QUESTION: Is there anything I can use to eat this stuff away quickly. Silicone is so stretchy that it's a PIA to get off. Any suggestion you have will be appreciate.

Dave

[Alaskan_TA]

You need one of these;

[Alaskan_TA]

Seriously though, a sharp wood chisel & / or window scraper with a razor blade works pretty good.

You may have to try & find some sort of solvent to clean the residue off for clean welding & paint adhesion.

[wagesofsin]

isopropyl alchohol will dry it up, then you can manage it better.dont use anything that turns it mushy, youll just have to work harder, and get more frustrated. after you get the bulk off , wd40 is a cheap adhesive remover. above all, its gonna be an elbow grease deal.

scraping, and more scraping.

wanna get crazy, get some dry ice, it will freeze it hard as a block, and you can just knock it off.

best of luck in whatever you decide.

[moparmaniac59]

Seriously though, after having to try and remove Permatex Ultra Black with everything, (it's a silicone base) I have found the best thing to assist in removal (using a razor blade or scraper) is laquer thinner. I have tried everything from acetone to oven cleaner, even methyl ketone (which is a stong paint remover) and the best thing is laquer thinner which won't remove it, but is the best to assist in the project!!


                                                  Matt B.

[wagesofsin]

Seriously though, after having to try and remove Permatex Ultra Black with everything, (it's a silicone base) I have found the best thing to assist in removal (using a razor blade or scraper) is laquer thinner. I have tried everything from acetone to oven cleaner, even methyl ketone (which is a stong paint remover) and the best thing is laquer thinner which won't remove it, but is the best to assist in the project!!


                                                  Matt B.







like i said, dont use anything thats gonna make it mushy.

methyl ethyl ketone is about as close to muriatic acid as you can get, i used it for years in the printing industry. got any nasal hair youd like to remove? this is the stuff. clean out your sinuses in a hurry.
laquer thinner will only soften the silicone, and make a mess, also creating more work, and alotta words you didnt think youd say just removing sillycone.

seriously...

dry it up with alchohol. scrape it off, and use mineral spirits, or wd-40 to remove the remains.


do as you wish, but please do it safely.



seems i couldnt escape matts quote, haha

['Cuda Hunter]

I use a wire wheel on an air grinder.  That will take it off immediately.  Works great.  Nothing compares.

[Bullitt-]

I use a wire wheel on an air grinder.  That will take it off immediately.  Works great.  Nothing compares.

   once you get the floor pans out of the way,,,,If you get desperate try a propane torch to heat up the stuff while prying , you just might get lucky. 

[wagesofsin]

i was under the impression he didnt want to make a mess while doing this,

hell, just spray carb cleaner and some gas on the chassis, whip in a match, go have a coupla beers, and when you come back viola!!

no more sillycone. as for the car, well, hey.....

you wanted to start from scratch , didnt you??


whatever you decide to do, please be safe.

[Mike70]

If the car is apart enouh to replace the floorpans, I don't think a propane torch is going to make more of a mess than anything else. It should reduce the silicone to ash, or close to it. Just don't catch any undercoating on fire. It needs to be removed before cutting and welding anyway.

[Bullitt-]

No respect..I tell ya I get no respect...   

[duodec]

We used the caulk remover sold in bottles (at the hardware store, usually right next to the kitchen and bath caulks) did a great job softening up and un-adhering 100% silicone caulks around our house.  It also helped remove some very old high-temp red sealer from my car's valve covers that had been stubborn.  However I had to let it soak, covered with saran-wrap, for about 24 hours to get it to come off easily.  And it was a bit messy.

[BIGSHCLUNK]

I used my small map torch when I was cleaning the old seam sealer out of NIKKI. Just use common sense, you wont burn anything up.

[4drbrnko]

wanna get crazy, get some dry ice, it will freeze it hard as a block, and you can just knock it off.

Get a couple of cans of dustoff computer "air in a can". Turn it upside down to spray it in liquid form. It will freeze just about anything. Be careful with it though.