I need to remove some of the ThermoTec sticky backed mat from the floor pan of my Challenger to weld in some subframe connectors. What have you guys done to successfully remove it?

Good luck with that !!

Only way I know of is elbow grease. IE: heat gun, scrapers followed up with solvents. Might try calling Thermo Tec and asking them

Reminds me of a customer many years ago. Short version He had completely taken his 69 Chevelle down to the bare frame. He had the frame sandblasted but could not find anyone to paint it. Being paranoid about it rusting he had it completely undercoated. He wanted up to finish the car.
It was the tar based cr-p and was still gooey. I told him it has to be stripped. He asked how much? I said 1k Minimum + materials.

He thought that was too much. So I said, you go buy some tarps to catch the goo and I'll let you strip the majority of it off in the gravel area below. Once you have the majority of it stripped I'll finish it off with my steam cleaner. for 200 + supplies.

I did find that easy off worked pretty well and passed that info onto him. About 14 man hours later, a sh-t pot full of easy off, several pairs of gloves and about 7 tarps, he was done ( in more ways than one LOL).
He commented it would've been the best 1k he had spent in quite some time. I should also mention it was August, hot & humid but he was at least in the shade
if you do call thermoTec post back with their suggestion

I got a response from them after I emailed them yesterday.


Thank you for contacting us about your Suppressor Mat.

First, I will say there is no good way to remove this.

I would suggest trying to heat the mat to soften the adhesive and pull it up, using a putty knife or blade to help remove the adhesive.

It will be a very sticky mess. Once you get the mat removed you can use a good solvent to help remove the remaining adhesive.

Let us know if you have any other questions.

Good luck!!

whatever you do, don't use brake clean solvent to clean the area you are welding on.
when it gets heated, the solvent [even though it states it leaves no residue] creates phosgene gas, and if you get a big whiff of that, you won't be able to tell us how your project turned out.
look up "mustard gas". not very good stuff to be around.

Get a small amount of dry ice and lay it on a corner and see what happens.

Might be worth a shot, Different materials but it just might work. To the OP keep us posted either way

Thanks for this info. I had no idea that this was a serious issue. We use Kleen Flo 313 cleaner for all our parts cleaning!!!!.. I looked up the Safety data Sheet and it contains 70-80 % Tetrachloroethylene. When you heat this chemical > 315C creates phosgene gas!!!!! Deadly stuff!! Be very careful!!
Jim

https://www.envirofluid.com/articles/tetrachloroethylene-a-deadly-danger-in-brake-cleaner/#:~:text=Heating%20Tetrachloroethylene%20brake%20cleaner%20residue,presence%20of%20welding%2C%20creates%20Phosgene

Halt!
It is forbidden.

You are not permitted to find useful aspects of any form of
EVIL carbon dioxide,
be it gas, liquid or solid.

Take it from an “addicted” sinner.

You do not want to learn how to
clearance fit tight metal parts,
blast clean corrosion without gritty leftovers,
or heaven forbid - remove warts.

Learn from the Stromatolites,
never mix DNA, sunlight and carbon dioxide.

The seas of a whole planet turned from
beautiful Green
to evil Blue

very bad stuff indeed.
i don't know where i first learned about this, but i think it may have been when MSDS books were mandated in industry during my machinist career.
long ago, we used to clean the grease off our hands with tricloroethelene. that stuff worked great. then we found out it was a carcinogen, absorbed through the skin !
well, THAT practice stopped in a heartbeat........

UPDATE:

Yesterday, I removed the interior of the car. I found that I had used two different sound deadening products. The area that needs to be removed is covered with Cool It Insulating Mat. This is the resin-bonded silica blanketing insulation sandwiched between a mylar facing on one side and a foil facing on the other. I used contact cement to adhere it to the floor. I believe that acetone or lacquer thinner will remove it easily.

I used the sticky stuff on the curved areas because it conforms to it a lot better than the mat.

I had forgot that I had used both products. (CRS of a 70 year old).

I would still be interested in hearing if the dry ice would work on the sticky backed stuff. As an aside, I used some of Eastwood's sticky stuff, also, and it seems to have a lower melting point than the ThermoTec.

dry ice works amazingly well. i had a customer bring me a supra that had been stripped of seam seal that way and it was shocking how well it worked.

Lucky you