Carpet issues!

[twoqu]

Anyone unfortunate enough to have to remove the carpet is faced with a few issues apart from the ballache of actual removal.
The earliest example will now be 25 years old and a 25 year old Audi carpet is not a pleasure to handle. There seems to be a few layers. The actual carpet itself on a latex ridged backing and then there is a further bitumen type layer @5mm thick which is backed by another layer, lets call that hessian although its probably a membrane of some sort.
This bitumen layer, depending on the environmental conditions either cracks or seperates from the actual carpet. Unfortunately it seems to be rather a lottery as too what falls off where, leaving a carpet with some firmily attached and bare patches elseware. The driver sides seems to suffer most.
So as a replacement is very unlikley and its impossible to effectively patch the bald patches, I was wondering what other have done or whether there is a technique to remove all the bitumen, leaving a rather shapeless carpet but flat on the underside which is preferable to my mind as it leaves the possibility of trying to make up the difference with a layer of something!
Certaintly water appear to effective but perhaps something like dry ice might work. Any thoughts?
Unless of course anyone happens to have a brand new 3B RHD carpet in their loft.

[UrS4boy]

I *think* the bitumen is sound deadening.

There are two kinds of sound deading beneath the moulded carpet.

1. cotton fiber nap deadening

2. heat moulded sound absorber

Might still be available. Otherwise use Dynamat (or the like)

http://audi.7zap.com/en/rdw/audi+cou...863-863020/#15

Example C4 UrS stripped of its carpet and cotton fiber nap deadening, exposing the bitumen-based heat moulded sound absorber.

[K Simmonds]

Yes the Bitumen on the back of the carpet is almost certainly there as a further layer of sound deadening, as well as perhaps help the carpet keep it's shape.

I removed all of the stuff from the back of my 3B carpet primarily to save weight but also I found it gives off a rather unpleasant odder once disturbed. My method was somewhat Heath Robinson but effective none the less. I removed it from the car and pressure washed off as much as I could, this removed at least half of it and got it spotlessly clean. Then I left the still wet carpet outside during a cold dry spell in winter so it froze solid at night and slowly de-thawed a little bit during the days, I left it out for a couple of weeks until it warmed up enough to use the hose and washed it again. That got rid of 90% of it, I was left with a couple of small patches under the seats and centre console which I figured I could live with.

A spell in an old chest freezer would probably be even better and I expect dry ice would work very well though is somewhat hazardous.

Whatever you do don't try to unpeel it by force as it will pull fibres from the carpet through resulting in visible bald spots, I made this mistake with my first one and ended up buying another.

As long as you keep the blocks of foam that help make the shape around the exhaust tunnel and the area just ahead of the front seats and stick them either to the car or back to the carpet you should be able to get it fit nicely again. Be careful not to damage them when removing the bitumen, their stuck to it so most just fall off but I found a couple put up a bit of a fight even after the freezing process.

All in all quite a performance...but as all 3B carpets are going to be in the same sort of state I figured it was worth the hassle. No more foul smell and the carpet went from 18KG's to under 5kg's.

[twoqu]

Well it is either to assist in the molding process or a sound deadener, either way after 25 years and an attempt to remove it, it either flakes of in little bits or is still stuck.
Thanks for rthe reply Kit. I have seen somebody make a slurry with dry ice and alchol which would have the advantage of being easier to appy. I guess it is because it has hardened that makes it brittle, so somehow need to duplicate this process.
I have tried previously and as you say sometimes the pile of the carpet is trapped and removal of the bitumen tears the carpet which is counterproductive at the very least.
It will never be as good as the OE carpet after but as you say its just making the best out of whats left!

[ljh61]

The Great Carpet Debate

Since I 've recently acquired a Coupe Q 20 V which has a pretty dreadful carpet I will also need to smarten things up in the furnishings department. There is now a hole under the driver's left heel.
My first thought was to replace it completely. Is there any reason why carpet from a later B4 Coupe can not fit into the B3?
There is also a huge number of B4 Cabrios being broken (which is criminal) and I wonder if cabrio carpet can be adapted fairly easily. I would expect the majority of it ie. the front part to be the same as for the coupe.
Something to do when the weather improves.

[K Simmonds]

No worries on the reply Robin, I hope you can find a less time consuming method of removing the bloody stuff, the dry ice/alcohol slurry sounds worth a try.

ljh61- You can use a carpet from a later B4 fronted Coupe as all except the 3B S2 share a floor pan, unfortunately for us 3B owners the carpet is unique to the model due to the large bulges in the exhaust tunnel that accommodate the catalytic controverts.

I don't think the Cabrio carpet will fit a Coupe as the floor behind the front seats is significantly altered to add strength to the shell, I guess you could give it a try and if the worst came to the worst just use the front section and have a join under the seats like a MK2 golf or Corrado.

I vaguely recall reading that a B4 Avant/Saloon carpet can be adapted to fit a Coupe with some trimming in the B-post area but I'm far from 100% sure of this...

[gripper]

Kitt, will I have any probs fitting a ABY carpet into a B3 fronted coupe (non Quattro) ?

[K Simmonds]

If it's from an ABY Coupe it should be a straight fit.

[twoqu]

They use dry ice blasting to remove bitumen from all sorts of things. So it sort of implies that it might be the way to go.
The critical issue is to get the bitumen brittle enough to crack of the carpet backing. You can buy relatively small amounts either in a block or pellets of various sizes. One of the biggest issue is going to be applying to something as floppy as a carpet. So some sort of recepticle caple of containing the dry ice and able to transmit the cold needs researching. It is supplied in a PP bag so that be an ideal application method. Or perhaps one of those sport injury ice bags as long as its vented it shoud be ok.

[1781cc]

Lakeland sell a product called Sticky Stuff remover, it's £3.99 a bottle.

That and a plastic scraper and heat fun are what I am using to strip the sound deadening out of the Track Slag TT

If very effective

[K Simmonds]

Heat and a scrapper works great for removing the bitumen sound deadening from the shell of the car itself, I stripped it all from my Coupe that way but it wouldn't be effective on the carpet. I gave it a go and if anything it made matters worse, due the the fibres on the reverse of the rug it needs to be shocked with cold to get it to separate without pulling the pile through...

I like the dry ice idea Robin, as you say it's a well recognised method for bitumen removal in industrial situations so it should work on the back of a carpet...just a case of working out the best way of going about it.

[bluequattro]

If you think that's bad you've not seen coupe gt carpet taken out
Like someone's dumped a load of liquorice in the footwells