whichwaysup Posted April 25 Report Share Posted April 25 I'm embarrassed to even post this, because I know how many times I've seen threads asking this exact same question. I just can't remember the BEST answer - i remember a million options people discussed, but not the solution that actually worked best. I've removed the old carpet from my gunnel rod holder area. The glue there is 24 years old, so most of it pretty hard. I hit the area with a pressure washer to clean the dust/dirt away and it knocked off some of the glue as well. The point is, this isn't "glue" anymore - it's hard residue. I am hesitant to try any sort of solvent on it, because I fear it will turn the residue into a worse gooey mess that will be harder to deal with than what I have now. I'm considering: 1) Sanding it - I will be covering this with a sea-deck like material 2) Trying a 3M strip off wheel: https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/p/d/b40065358/ 3) A heat gun and a putty knife 4) A solvent of some kind . . . The sea deck type of material is dependant on me getting this thing VERY clean, so want to make sure I attack this the right way - anyone who has done this have any really solid suggestions? I'd like to avoid damaging the gelcoat more than I have to in the event I decide to leave a portion of it uncovered. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greenbone Posted April 25 Report Share Posted April 25 I would try a spray bottle with mineral spirits and plastic putty knife 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HoneyB Posted April 25 Report Share Posted April 25 I think I would go with plastic putty knife and see what you could knock off. Then just sand with handheld sander. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whichwaysup Posted April 25 Author Report Share Posted April 25 Thanks all - I will definitely try that. I found this thread as well, so it sound like we've got some options! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Toeknee217 Posted April 26 Report Share Posted April 26 I just did this about a month or so back on my 1990 redfisher. Huge pain… Mine too was hardened to the point of no return and none of the solvents made a dent only made it messier. The only thing that worked for me was a hammer and a sharp putty knife. Good luck 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
whichwaysup Posted April 26 Author Report Share Posted April 26 7 minutes ago, Toeknee217 said: I just did this about a month or so back on my 1990 redfisher. Huge pain… Mine too was hardened to the point of no return and none of the solvents made a dent only made it messier. The only thing that worked for me was a hammer and a sharp putty knife. Good luck Wow - now I REALLY can't wait to tackle this! I suspect I'll find the same. At least its spring and not blazing hot or freezing cold! My current plan is to: - Start with heat gun and putty knife and see how the glue reacts - Move to a sander to see how much of the taller stuff I can knock off without damaging the gel coat - Move to solvents to get the remaining portion off - Deploy nuclear arsenal 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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