The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Panels 'N Burbs 55 panel wood floor

hey guys I have a quick question has anyone had the wood floor of their panel covered by a tar like substance ?

I have tried scraping it off and only got a short bit of progress . if the panel sits outside in the sun it gets warm and harder to scrape off. I am thinking that sand or walnut blasting wouldn't work because it heat up and gum up .

I was gonna dry using dry ice to make it cold and brittle .. easier to chip off .

anyone else have this issue and have any suggestions .

thanks in advance

mike

Or am I better off just removing the floor I think it's in fairly good shape but dont really have a good way to lift the body to get the wood floor out .

if you can't lift the body, how will you replace the floor? the 2nd series floor is a single piece of plywood [oversize] that bolts up into flanges on the bottom of the sides, the body must be removed to replace the floor .... if the 'tar' is on the underside, just clean it as well as you can and leave it, noting will preserve the wood better, and who's going to know it's not just undercoating?

Bill

Sadly the tar is on the top side of the wood floor . Honestly looks like crap on the inside of the truck . I kinda figured it might be the only way to remove the wood floor , but sometimes through the years people find inventive ways to do things .

Thanks for the info

cut some 1/4" ply to recover the floor, with or without the skid strips, use a full 4' sheet between the wheel tubs and smaller pieces to fit in front and behind the tubs - might even be able to spread the tar fairly even and heated up use it to 'glue' down the new ply

Bill

I was trying to refinish it versus covering it . has anyone had to remove a tar like substance from the wood floor on the inside of a panel ? i will try and post pics if it helps

Have you tried using a paint stripper/finish remover on it?

you might try this style scrapper, easy to put good pressure on, blade gets dull, turn it around for a fresh edge

Bill

A little bit and it got pretty smeary

yup and it bent it ... its not an even layer of "tar " some parts are paint thin some are near a 1/16" + of the hard "tar " stuff

Mike,

Maybe one of the post-55st panel owners will educate us on what that material might be? From 47-55st, the panel wood was covered with a black paint (or coal tar and maybe linseed oil, or a black paint?). Suburbans were covered with linoleum (which is a pain to get off).

Good luck,

if the one you got bent, you need to look for a good one, or maybe you're trying to 'push' rather than 'pull', if you need to chip down really thick areas use a hammer and chisel to start, then use the scrapper moving toward you .... the one I have has never had a problem other than needing dull blades replaced

Bill

well I hope one of the 47-55 guys will chime in .. until then I will look to try and find a sturdy scraper and give it a whirl

Mmmm, it looks like someone was delivering some of the old time roofing tar in the cardboard buckets and one spilt out and they just painted the floor??

That will be extremely hard to get off.
IDEA: do you know some hard wood flooring guys that have the small "planer" they use on floors. If so, take up the skid rails and let them run the "planer" over it with the steel blades. It may cut it before the stuff has time to get gooey.

do you think taking some dry ice to it to make it brittle would help ?

...Mike, I have no idea about that and don'tknow the cost of the ice. If COLD will help can you wait a couple more months till winter sets in up in Ill. (no pun intended pal)

haha ah yes this might be the one time i won't love my well insulated and heated garage . I guess buying a small amount and using one the better recommended scrapers cant hurt too much

If you are sure it is tar,Paint stripper may not be the best thing to cut it. Have you tried a differenet chemical?

I always thought that stuff was black paint, but someone may have used bed liner or a bucket of tar may have spilled at some time.

Have you tried REALLY heating it up, like with a heat gun or propane torch? That might soften the heavy spots enough to scrape it. You may also want to think about finishing with a belt sander or even a floor sander.