Hi all -

Am I able to remove this black panel without weakening the floor (as it seems to be welded or glued to it and is pretty hard)?

I pulled up the carpet tonight for a replacement, scrubbed the floor with a nylon brush to remove surface rust, and was able to scrub a small hole in the floor which I don't appreciate. I want to see if there is more under this big black piece (circled in blue), but if it is there to strengthen the floor (as it is very hard), I don't want to start yanking on it.

Any ideas what it is?

8 hours ago, chaseincats said:

Hi all -

Am I able to remove this black panel without weakening the floor (as it seems to be welded or glued to it and is pretty hard)?

I pulled up the carpet tonight for a replacement, scrubbed the floor with a nylon brush to remove surface rust, and was able to scrub a small hole in the floor which I don't appreciate. I want to see if there is more under this big black piece (circled in blue), but if it is there to strengthen the floor (as it is very hard), I don't want to start yanking on it.

Any ideas what it is?

That is the sound deadening material, AKA "tar mat", that was factory applied to the floors by Nissan. Unfortunately they applied it to bare metal. It is safe to remove, search "tar mat removal" on this site, and you find lots of ideas. Like using dry ice.

If you plan to replace the tar mats later, and want close to original, see our downloads area, in the cad files section, I posted some tar mat templates there.

54 minutes ago, CanTechZ said:

That is the sound deadening material, AKA "tar mat", that was factory applied to the floors by Nissan. Unfortunately they applied it to bare metal. It is safe to remove, search "tar mat removal" on this site, and you find lots of ideas. Like using dry ice.

If you plan to replace the tar mats later, and want close to original, see our downloads area, in the cad files section, I posted some tar mat templates there.

Gotcha, thanks for the info. I was going to replace it with dynamat

5 hours ago, chaseincats said:

Gotcha, thanks for the info. I was going to replace it with dynamat

If you replace with Dynamat make sure you fix the rusty areas first.

1 hour ago, Mike said:

If you replace with Dynamat make sure you fix the rusty areas first.

Why for dynamat specifically?

I would think you should at least "kill" the rust. I used SEM Rust Mort on a 240 I bought then sold. It has some type acid in it and turns the rust a black, dark grey color. It keeps the rust from getting any worse is what I found from a lot of reading around the www.com.

28 minutes ago, siteunseen said:

I would think you should at least "kill" the rust. I used SEM Rust Mort on a 240 I bought then sold. It has some type acid in it and turns the rust a black, dark grey color. It keeps the rust from getting any worse is what I found from a lot of reading around the www.com.

I was planning on sealing the rust with por15 which works really well in a similar sense

You don't want to seal the area until you have neutralized the rust. This is a great product to kill the rust and leave a zinc phosphate protective coating before laying down the POR paint. You an get it locally at English Paint. Been there, done that!

POR-15

POR-15® Metal Prep

Restore rusted metal objects with POR-15's Metal Pep. This metal-etching rust neutralizer provides great adhesion for coatings on any type of metal surface.

1 hour ago, jfa.series1 said:

You don't want to seal the area until you have neutralized the rust. This is a great product to kill the rust and leave a zinc phosphate protective coating before laying down the POR paint. You an get it locally at English Paint. Been there, done that!

POR-15

POR-15® Metal Prep

Restore rusted metal objects with POR-15's Metal Pep. This metal-etching rust neutralizer provides great adhesion for coatings on any type of metal surface.

Thanks Jim!

This is what I'd used in the past whenever I found some sneaking around: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00Q0I62IU?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_2. Thoughts on this por15 offering?

You are correct in using this product to seal affected areas but only after the rust has been treated. From the product description:

APPLICATION - Remove grease, oil, and other foreign substances using POR-15 water-based Cleaner Degreaser followed with POR-15 Metal Prep to etch the surface and neutralize rust. Stir POR-15 Rust Preventive Coating thoroughly, DO NOT SHAKE. Always apply thin coats, minimum of two. May be recoated or top coated when dry to the touch, typically 2 to 5 hours. Topcoat when surface will have exposure to UV light.

On 5/20/2025 at 12:40 AM, chaseincats said:

Hi all -

Am I able to remove this black panel without weakening the floor (as it seems to be welded or glued to it and is pretty hard)?

I pulled up the carpet tonight for a replacement, scrubbed the floor with a nylon brush to remove surface rust, and was able to scrub a small hole in the floor which I don't appreciate. I want to see if there is more under this big black piece (circled in blue), but if it is there to strengthen the floor (as it is very hard), I don't want to start yanking on it.

Any ideas what it is?

Check the area under the cowl cover where the wiper motor is. The air intake tends to rust out under there allowing was to run down the firewall to the very spot where your rust hole is. If that is rusted through you'll need to repair that as well.

15 minutes ago, bpilati said:

Check the area under the cowl cover where the wiper motor is. The air intake tends to rust out under there allowing was to run down the firewall to the very spot where your rust hole is. If that is rusted through you'll need to repair that as well.

Do you mean pull the cowl plate off and look or looking up from the passenger footwell?