C-Forum

Hi, Ive recently bought a barely used zephyr and am having some troubles, the previous owner removed the foot pegs and glued chunks of foam in everywhere as ankle supports and cut out most of the seat.

Can you please recommend for the following problems I've encountered.

• What is the most efficient way to clean up the glue left behind?

• I quite like the esquif seats, but are there any other good pedestals out there?

• The knee pads are only thin blocks of aftermarket foam, is there a glue/method ideal for replacing them? Or can this only be done by esquif under a vacuum?

If I knew how to link pictures i would

Thanks a lot! I appreciate your help

--->

Assuming that the foam was glued in with contact cement, I have had pretty good luck removing the residue of adhesive and minicell left behind after removal using mineral spirits. The key is to be patient. Let the solvent soak in and keep slowly working it into the residue by abrading it with a mild abrasive pad (like a Scotch Brite pad) or scraping it carefully with a paint scraper. Sometimes gently warming the glue residue with a heat gun or hair drier and then rolling it off with your thumb works.

As for the saddle, I would just use the skeleton of what you have left and build it back up by adding layers of 1" thick (or so) minicell to it with Weldwood contact cement, and shaping the foam to your satisfaction using Dragonskin (a Red Devil product), Stanley surform tools, or 3M Sandblaster sandpaper. You can build just about any shape with minicell, and it will probably be cheaper to add to your existing pedestal than it would be to buy a new one.

Foam adheres to Twintex with contact cement. The ankle blocks and knee pads that I put in my Zephyr 6 years ago are still holding just fine. All of the factory-installed vinyl anchors failed. Not a big deal, since my boat has a bulkhead. I hear that Esquif's newer Zephyrs with straps are doing better. Goo Gone works well for removing the adhesive residue.

A very easy way to remove glue residue, at least from royalex, is to dampen a rag with varsol and just leave it on the patch of residue overnight. Go back in the morning and it should come right off with a single swipe, no scrubbing or elbow grease required. asssume this would work on twin-tex as well?

DJ

Another option - get a mini cell "skin" and put it down over the top of what's there. You're covering it up, not removing it, but I'm a big fan of having that thin skin of mini cell between me and composite fibers. I like to put the "outside" (typically darker grey) up as sand etc... brushes off easily. It also makes slipping in and out of a C1 easier... but you don't have that problem in an OC.

http://www.northwater.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; for saddles and knee pads. Great stuff.

Lots of work to remove stuck foam. Try different things and techniques. Be patient. Keep working at it.

And Good Luck.