Roof Insulation Removal

Hey guys. Was trying to plan ahead on the roof insulation and was curious what and how the original stuff was installed. In my 69 Special Deluxe, there's this jute? or cardboard? type of insulation installed in the roof but it also seems to be pushed up behind some panels in the front behind the windshield, under the middle rib that holds the headliner rods, and into the sides that appear to be spot welded into the body that you can't behind.

I was thinking about removing this stuff and cleaning it up but was curious if you can even get it to it without drill out spot welds. Also, what/how is this attached and if it's adhesive, any tips on getting the roof cleaned before installing anything on top of it?

 

Man your roof looks good!

It isn't glued in my car which is a '68 Fremont built car. It's just layed in. I dug as much of it out as I could. including using a scraper to get between the skin and the skeleton.

I am going to be welding, so I'm hoping to avoid burning that stuff. I used a shop vac also. Most of it's gone.

 

Thanks! Ha I’ve set some insulation on fire doing some welding before so good call

Two other questions, did yours come out in chunks or did it just turn into a powder making a huge mess.

and is the whole thing laid in there as one big piece even up under the middle headliner now attachment point? It seems to be pretty well jammed in there and I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to slide in other insulation into that little gap after scraping it all out

 

Mine came out in chunks. I think yes, it was probably a full sheet and it was laid ontop of the skeleton of the roof before the skin was welded on?

This is just a guess, because Body by Fisher did this job, so who knows?

I asked about the areas you're bringing up in another thread and Adam Martin recommended a spray foam if I recall correctly? Something that doesn't expand too much, but fill the gap and stop rattles.

 

I removed it on my '66 about 15 years ago. IIRC it's some sort of pressed paper/fiber material. Most of it scraped off in chunks. Seemed to be adhered with asphalt type stuff.... not a glue but more of a (once) sticky tar like layer. The black adhesive was a mess to get off, I used a wire wheel on an angle grinder.
I didn't remove what was between the skin and supports.

For a replacement, I sprayed on Lizard Skin for heat/sound insulation. I'd highly recommend it as a high performance replacement. Then I added a layer of aluminized foam insulation before installing the headliner. This car doesn't have AC so my goal was heat insulation.

If yours is in good condition, consider leaving it there.

 

This is all great information! Thank y'all for the insight. Hadn't considered rattles either which would drive me insane if removing this stuff caused that.

I hadn't considered the roof when doing the pre-paint work so if I'm going to have to bust out a wire wheel, it probably is a good idea to leave it in place. I was mostly just concerned about a material like that trapping moisture and then me removing it only to see a nightmare of rust under it.

Only my floorboards in the interior were rusty and those have been replaced so I'm thinking I'll probably leave it in place and just do floorpan sound deadening and move on and just pray that there's no rust under that roof insulation