First of all this pertains to an 1980 Sea Ray Express Cruiser that I
recently purchased in the Florida Keys. What I have is a need to tear
out all of the carpet and replace it. The carpet in the forward cabin
is of a sheet skin type material similiar to seat covers you can buy
from a auto parts store. This stuff is mildewed to a point that it is
probably a health hazard.

What I would like to know is what the best procedure for removing this
stuff would be, tools needed (such as a respirator) and etc., and what
is needed to prep the hull for the new carpet. Also, what would be a
good replacement reconmendation.

Wearing a respirator removing the hull liner is probably a good idea. Get a
good one you will need it later if you use spray adhesive to glue the new
liner up.

We have recently done this job in our boat and here is what we did.

Pull out all the old stuff and any loose bits and pieces. Here where I live
(Australia) we have a product called hull liner which is like very thin
nylon carpet. It is very flexible and can easily be stretched and pulled to
fit the hull contours. It comes in 2 Metre wide rolls.

To fit pick an area in the boat and roughly cut to size leaving some
overhang for trimming. Using spray contact adhesive, a standard spray gun &
compressor, spray the adhesive on both surfaces. Press and smooth the hull
liner into place pushing and forming it as you go to follow any hull
contours.

Trim with a VERY sharp snap blade knife and have plenty of blades on hand as
they dull quickly. Use masking tape where necessary to mask windows and wood
work.

Get some card for making trempates of difficult areas. You can also use the
card while spraying to protect some areas.

Its quite a big job.

"Twilite" wrote in message
ups.com...
First of all this pertains to an 1980 Sea Ray Express Cruiser that I
recently purchased in the Florida Keys. What I have is a need to tear
out all of the carpet and replace it. The carpet in the forward cabin
is of a sheet skin type material similiar to seat covers you can buy
from a auto parts store. This stuff is mildewed to a point that it is
probably a health hazard.

What I would like to know is what the best procedure for removing this
stuff would be, tools needed (such as a respirator) and etc., and what
is needed to prep the hull for the new carpet. Also, what would be a
good replacement reconmendation.

On Mon, 5 Mar 2007 14:11:38 +1100, "Grant"
wrote:

Wearing a respirator removing the hull liner is probably a good idea. Get a
good one you will need it later if you use spray adhesive to glue the new
liner up.

We have recently done this job in our boat and here is what we did.

Pull out all the old stuff and any loose bits and pieces. Here where I live
(Australia) we have a product called hull liner which is like very thin
nylon carpet. It is very flexible and can easily be stretched and pulled to
fit the hull contours. It comes in 2 Metre wide rolls.

To fit pick an area in the boat and roughly cut to size leaving some
overhang for trimming. Using spray contact adhesive, a standard spray gun &
compressor, spray the adhesive on both surfaces. Press and smooth the hull
liner into place pushing and forming it as you go to follow any hull
contours.

Trim with a VERY sharp snap blade knife and have plenty of blades on hand as
they dull quickly. Use masking tape where necessary to mask windows and wood
work.

Get some card for making trempates of difficult areas. You can also use the
card while spraying to protect some areas.

Its quite a big job.

"Twilite" wrote in message
oups.com...
First of all this pertains to an 1980 Sea Ray Express Cruiser that I
recently purchased in the Florida Keys. What I have is a need to tear
out all of the carpet and replace it. The carpet in the forward cabin
is of a sheet skin type material similiar to seat covers you can buy
from a auto parts store. This stuff is mildewed to a point that it is
probably a health hazard.

What I would like to know is what the best procedure for removing this
stuff would be, tools needed (such as a respirator) and etc., and what
is needed to prep the hull for the new carpet. Also, what would be a
good replacement reconmendation.


I did a folksel and headliner and found it very difficult to remove. I
had to do it an inch at a time with a chisel and mallet. Not fun. The
rotten carpet will probably just pull out. It's sometimes stuck behind
bulkheads as it was installed first and then the cabinets or whatever
were screwed in. Bag it as you go and have someone follow with the
shopvac.
To prep I used a rotary sander and knocked off the last of the glue
wads and fiberglass lumps, vacuumed and wiped it over with laquer
thinner. This works better with one person running a shop vac near the
sander with a long hose over the side.
You might check your insurance regs for fire retardation specs if that
kind of thing is relevant for you and pick your new material
accordingly.
I used a gallon of DAP rubber cement gell applied with a paint brush
and a half face respirator. I made paper patterns and transferred them
to the headliner material. This was a big job and took a long time. It
doesn't look perfect.
If I had had the headroom I would have got some tongue and groove
slats like the cheapo flooring from lows, costco etc. and done the
ceiling that way.
As a budget sailor I ended up with some foam backed headliner material
from Joannes Fabric at $11 yrd. 60" wide.
The deluxe stuff is he
http://www.garysupholstery.com/products.html
Maybe the red glitter vinyl?