Rubber undercoating removal

[Mercmarquis]

I'm starting body work on my green 77 F-150 soon. Its getting a rustoleum roll on paint job and I need to get a good spray/roll on bedliner. Right now my bed is slathered in rubberized undercoating. Redneck Rhino Liner. Its flaking off in some spots and I would like it removed. It difficult to scrape off, and a wire brush doesnt work either. I tried scraping with a heat gun and it doesnt work too well either cause it takes the paint underneath it off. I dont think sandblasting would work to well cause its rubber and it would bounce right off.

Any of you guys had experience with removing rubberized undercoating? Any chemicals?

[85crownHPP]

I know gas will take it off pretty quick (from seeing different gas leaks) but that could be dangerous...

[FastGallopingPonies]

could be dangerous...and expensive lol. I had success removing the stuff with a sandblaster and course sand, I used black beauty media, it's black slate sand, don't think it would make a difference if it was course regular sand though....

[Enigma]

Have you tried some spray on paint stripper.??? The aircraft stripper I got from Autozone did a great job taking my vinyl woodgrain off, and barely phased the original paint underneath. From my experience with it, if it's newish paint, it'll take it off. If it's old factory paint, it'll barely touch it.

As for rollering it with rustoleum, I'd suggest using a cheap auto paint. I stopped using rustoleum years ago, because it is basically crap. As one example, I have metal railings on the front porch of my house. I painted them with white rustoleum. After 2 years, it was crappy looking, cracking, faded, and rusty. The next time I wire brushed it all, and this time applied some standard cheap white fleet paint from the auto paint store. The stuff is twice as shiney as anything rustoleum has, and after 8 years, still looks pretty darn good. And it only costs a few dollars more than rustoleum. Oh, and the other plus, it dries in like 10 minutes, whereas rustoleum takes forever to dry.

[1987cp]

One method that definitely works is heating the undercoating with a propane torch until it softens and bubbles (I usually went ahead and caught it on fire) and scraping the softened stuff off with a paint or gasket scraper (try something plastic if scratches are a concern). Once the bulk of stuff is removed, you can use a wire wheel, 3M Bristle Disc, or related product with a high-speed air motor to take it down to metal. It's a little time consuming, but possibly no more so than any other method.

[GoodSamaritan]

Well, in my experience rustoleum and rubberized under coating don't go well together. I put some spray on undercoating in an area I had treated with some rustoleum a month or so prior and they wrinkled up. You might try finding out what solvent the undercoating uses, or else try some mineral spirits (what rustoleum is thinned with iirc) on it.

As for using gasoline. It may be expensive as a fuel, but I can't think of any other solvents that can be had for less than 4$ a gallon. If it works good.... Just make sure you don't create any sparks and keep a pile of rocks handy to toss at anyone foolish enough to approach you with a cigarette in their mouth.