How to remove heavy stuff under carpet
 

OK, anyone know whats involved in removing the heavy sound deadening crap under the carpet? What do I need to remove? The bolts that hold the plastic trims onto the carpet along the door? The front seats (if so then just the main bolts to remove the seats?)? Any tricky parts in getting the carpet out? I have read the threads on the way to remove the sticky black stuff and I will tackle that stuff after I have the carpet out. I don't work on cars so this could get messy but I am hanging to do this! Any help would be hugely appreciated!

I have heard that dry ice or liquid nitrogen (from welding shop) works well

Sorry, what I mean is that I only want to know about how to get the carpet out and what is involved with that to begin with. I have heard about the sticky stuff and there is plenty of info about that. I just need opinions on how hard it is to get the carpet up. Is it a hassle getting it from under all the plastic bits and around the pedals and seats and stuff?

Remove the carpet by pulling off all of the little plastic snaps, Then remove the seats, but technically you have to remove the dash to take the carpet out, or you can do just like i did at cut it as high up as possible. then when you put it back in just glue those corners with a strong glue.

Also, to remove the hard sound deading stuff, I just used a screwdriver and a little time, and a lot of language, it gets the job done though.

thanks, thats what I wanted to hear. However, when its all done, is the carpet really loose everywhere? Also, did you notice any weight loss advantage? Obviously it won't be a great deal but personally I noticed the performance gain when I removed the spare wheel, jack and mat in the boot. If the carpet trick helps a similar amount I consider it worthwile.

YEa, it sould but i never actually put it back in, It just sits in my room in the floor.

great sounds, and more racecar feeling.

Road and Track had an article several years ago and it covered this.

They used a 1st gen as a SCCA racer, and they removed all that sound deadening stuff. They said it was really hard to remove, and it was an asphault-like black stuff.

I would say it was a project car for them around 95-96

cool thanks, here goes! By "Yes it should" did you mean that it will make performance difference or that the carpet will be loose?

mines a road car - anyone think this is a bad idea?

It will at least make your exhaust sound louder

It souldn't be to loose, that stuff is thin, yea, it makes a difference, But i don't know how much with it back in, i just left it out= Alot of difference.

ponykiller, I don't really see that as a great thing, its pretty loud as is really (for a turbo), but if it makes it perform better I'll put up with it.

If you were a rally crosser, then I would say that it is worth it, but as a daily driver, it is going to make the exhaust sound in your car quite a bit louder. I cannot give you anyidea for performance gains, though. What other mods do you have?

Kris

no mods, basically stock. My mate is going to do me a decent exhaust (one day!) so that will get the ball rolling as far as mods go. I am so eager to start modding the car that I am resorting to doing stuff that I am able to do myself (not much) such as basic weight reduction. I really should just be patient and wait until I get more power rather than rip my car to bits and drive without a spare wheel, but you know, its a disease isn't it? Any suggestions as to easy mods I could get done?

weight reduction is good.

Things commonly removed: A/C, power steering, air pump, beltdriven fan (replaced with electric fan), cats, EGR.

Do you have to pass emmissions? If not then definately pull your air pump and cats and EGR.

If you are feeling bold, you can try removing the vaccuum line mess that is under the intake manifold. There are about 20 lines, you only need 4 of them if you do not have emmissions.

If you are doing a full exhaust, then you will want a fuel cut defenser. That leads to a bigger fuel pump. That then leads to a fuel controller (S-AFC), which then leads to larger injectors. After that you have arrived at the point of wanting a bigger turbo.

Do the reliability mods now, such as upgraded radiator and E-fan. Summit Racing sells a HOWE universal radiator that will fit with minimal effort into our 7s (that is what I am using). The core dimensions are 19X22X3, so it is good size.

Well, that should keep you busy for about a year.

Kris

thanks for all that Kris. I just had a look at the prices for all that stuff and converted to Aussie dollars its big bucks! The FCD is $219 here so I will get that just incase, but I am realistically only going to be able to afford to get the exhaust done (my mate is going to make it from scratch so it will be practically free!). We will only do enough of the exhaust so that we get a decent raise in the boost without going so far that we need to upgrade the fuel system or port the wastegate (S4). Question for everyone: How much boost do you think we should aim for so that we don't reach the point where other stuff needs upgrading? I was thinking 9psi would be ok?????

I found a sharp 2" wide putty knife to work well in conjunction with a big screwdriver.

as for upgrading the radiator - there is no way I could bring myself to spend $1,000Aus on that! There is so many other things I would prefer to spend that sort of money on. Please tell me I don't really need to do that considering that I am only lightly modding!

To remove the carpet, the RIGHT way, you've basically gotta pull the dash. If you want to pull out the tar insulation on the floor, get some dry ice, about 20 lbs worth, and spread it out over the tar. Let it get good and cold (listen for the cracking to stop) and bust out the rubber mallet. The stuff will come off in chunks. If you're fast, you can get rid of a lot of undercoating from the bottom as well, that stuff should flake right off as well.

PaulC