Removing Glue

[johnar]

I have a Morgan and when the boat was made the used some type of glue to aply the vinal wall cover on the inside of the hull.

What options do i have to remove it?

grinding takes so long and a big mess, I have never hand any luck with solvents to remove glue.

What I am trying to do is recover the hull with a Wood grain vinal tile but after I put the new glue on the tiles do not hold.

I really had hope this would not turn into a big job.



Dutch

[barnakiel]

Hard glue - tapping it out, and if it is very hard - grinding it off. Use sanders/grinders that suck in the freed material.

Soft glue - try some paint removers, they may get rid of the stuff.

If the glue still sticks very well to the substrate, why not just glue over the old stuff.

b.

[SteveHoiland]

Try applying heat using a heat gun. You might be surprised how often this method works. Just start off slow and easy.

[David M]

Chemicals, abrasives and heat are the three options. First experiment with all three in a place where it does not matter if something goes wrong and then see which is the most effective. Its really hard to say without being there to see what you are up against.

[svHyLyte]

Having gone through the same business when replacing the overhead liners in our boat, I found that the most effective adheasive remover was 3M General Purpose Adheasive Cleaner #08987. It can be obtained in a spray version or in bulk from most NAPA and similar auto supply stores. In bulk one can paint it on and, after awhile, use a small wire brush to remove the loosened adheasive. Note that this solvent is very agressive and it is important that you thoroughly ventillate the space you're in (I used a box fan) and that you used a very good quality mask rated for VOC's. Without you will do serious irreversible damage to your lungs, liver et al. The stuff proved to be the only material that actually worked out of everything I tried over a period of several weeks.

FWIW...

[jackdale]

Acetone may work, but it can be really nasty stuff. I am not sure I would use it on fiberglass.