C-Forum

im going to re-outfit my boat, i bought it used, and had some pretty shady knee pads which im replacing, but i was unsure on the best way to take the foam out was. I was thinking of simply cutting the foam pads, and then trying to take out the glue with acetone, if anyone has a better suggestion, please inform, thanks.
-isaac

I am engaged in exactly the same re-outfitting issue. Having no experience with plastic, I asked a very experienced friend for advice. If i remember correctly he suggested starting with mineral spirits, & gradually working up the scale of aggressiveness if/as needed.

He wrote me a long email which I think I have saved on my computer at home, if so i will summarize his wisdom & post.

Just thinking about fussing with a plastic boat makes me nervous, so I cannot speak as yet from personal experience....

I'd avoid solvents, especially heavy duty ones like acetone. Polyethylene might withstand it (might!), but I'm pretty sure royalex won't. Mineral spirits, maybe. I usually carefully peel the minicell up, leaving only the glue and maybe a thin layer of the minicell. Sometimes you are lucky and more of the glue comes up - it's typically a contact cement not unlike rubber cement. You can sand or rub that off. Surface prep for your next knee pads is important, however, I've had good luck just sanding the residue without removing it completely and gluing over it. The knee pads are not being pulled or subjected to major shear forces, so the bond is less critical than for a D-ring.

That's my $.02.

I bought my Viper 11 factory oufitted, big mistake. Anyway, I had to pull the saddle and knee pads up. The boat wasn't trim for me. I used a sharp knife to cut as closely to the hull as possible, once the foam started to separate from the hull, for the saddle,I pulled real slowly. I couldn't get the knee pads to seperate from the hull so I just cut them off and sanded by hand until it felt like part of the hull surface. I wiped the surface with MEK before gluing the new knee pads, which overlapped some of the area. Acetone wont disolve minicell, or if it does I'd hate to see what it would do to the hull, so I would use it cautiosly, priming the surface for gluing, or it can be used to dissolve some glue residue.

Good luck
Bill

Just a note of caution. I never apply MEK directly to the boat, I put it on a paper towel and wipe the area to remove small amounts of glue or just before applying glue, MEK does dissolve ABS, and I wanted to ensure no misuse. As soon as you wipe it on the hull discolors in the area, so use it carefully- I wipe it down minutes before applying glue or vynabond (for drings)

Another note of caution, you might want to get a respirator and good chemical gloves.

Bill

I highly recommend using "M-1 Remover" for cleaning up old contact adhesive on a Royalex hull. It will not dissolve the vinyl or underlying ABS like acetone or MEK. I have a friend who has let M-1 Remover soak into a large area covered with glue and traces of old minicell. The hull was not damaged at all, even after allowing the it to soak for several hours, and he was able to easily scrub the hull completely clean.

I first started using M-1 Remover to remove highway stripe paint from my car's finish. This stuff will remove dried paint from a car without damaging the paint finish. I have since used it to clean everything from contact adhesive to 3M 5200 polyurethane sealant from the inside of Royalex hulls. I buy it at Home Depot and some larger hardware stores.

I'll have to try that- I've outfitted several boats, but I'm still learning lots.

Sorry it took an extra dayto get around to this.

This info is due entirely to Mike McCrae, whose articles you may have seen occasionally in Paddler etc,. Mike has a lot of experience in renovating boats of every description
.
####Quote:

It kinda depends on exactly what the old adhesive is.

If it's plain old contact cement the remover is....contact cement. Just brush
on a coat of fresh contact cement, allow it to get tacky and start rolling it
around into a sticky, gooey ball. It will act like a big eraser. You may need
to repeat the process once or twice, but it works as well as anything I've
found yet for removing old contact cement. (Um, wear rubber gloves).

If the adhesive is something else I'd suggest starting with the least
aggressive solvent or loosener you can find. I'd try plain old mineral spirits
and lots of elbow grease. Soak it good with mineral spirits, let it sit for a
bit and try scraping with a putty knife (round off the corners of the putty
knife so you don't cut the hull). Sometimes steel wool and gentle solvents
will work, especially for the last little bits.

If mineral spirits doesn't seem to be cutting it move on to something more
aggressive (I've variously used Coleman fuel, naptha, various Goof-offs and
whatever-offs...sometimes a healthy soaking with WD-40 does it). With the more agressive solvents be careful, test a small area first and be very certain to wipe away all leftover solvent as you work.

But start with mineral spirits and then, if necessary, experiment.

####End quote

Avoid using acetone or other harsh cleaning chemicals. They will have little effect on easing the removal of minicell and glue residue, and they may do harm to the hull (you did not say what material your hull is.)

Just cut, scrape, and coarse sand until the old loose pieces have been removed. Note: this is manual labor with little reward and usually involves a bit of flesh removal from ungloved fingers and knuckles. When you have had enough "fun" doing this, and most of the big pieces are gone, you are ready for the next step.

Clean the area real good with water and/or isopropyl alcohol. When everything has dried out, apply a new layer of glue and outfit as needed.

Just think about it: If it is too dam difficult to remove with a scraper, knife, or putty knife, then it is plenty tough enough for attaching new knee pads. Why bother removing what is already very well attached to the hull? Just glue the new outfitting over it.

Make sure the surfaces are roughed up and free of loose bits of material and dust before applying the new glue.

its a royalex esquif vertige,
thanks for the advice
-isaac