Removing glue from aluminum boat

I have a 17 ft smokercraft that needs a little TLC. I am planning to put a new floor in and reconfigure some things. I want to paint the inside of the aluminum boat everywhere that I will not be putting vinyl or carpet. Right now it is carpeted everywhere. I pulled back some of the carpet and it was glued directly to the aluminum sides of the boat.

What are my options for removing this glue so I can prep it to paint? I really do not want to spend all winter sanding and scraping. Are there any chemical strippers that work well and will not harm the aluminum?

Re: Removing glue from aluminum boat

Maybe try lacquer thinner, depends what kind of glue it is.

Goo Gone works on alot of stuff, start with the least caustic and go up from there till you find something, it is glue though so it isn't suppose to come off easily.

Smokers are great boats by the way.

Re: Removing glue from aluminum boat

I love the boat, my only issue with it is that things need updated and some of the compartments are not very user friendly. The boat is solid even though it is 20 years old.

The wood is starting to get soft, not wet rot, just dried all out and stuff. So it is time to replace it. I have a few different ideas of how I will design and build it to my liking. I personally get tired of vacuuming it out. But the wife wants something soft on her feet. So I am compromising and only doing the decking in carpet. Everything else is getting painted or truck bed liner stuff!

I want to be able to spray out as much as possible after a fishing trip. I had a 14ft Lowe that was like that and and it worked pretty good.

While I am at it, I plan on putting a new sending unit in the fuel tank as mine gets a little hairy around half a tank. You never know how true a reading it is. ALso want to install new bilge and aerator lines and rewiring it. I may as well as the wiring and everything else is 20 years old too.

I consider myself pretty handy, but I have never dove into something like this before. So I am sure I will be asking a lot of questions from everyone when I get stumped. I have already done a lot of research into how to seal the wood for the decking and such. Hopefully it will work out just fine.

I am also planning on before during and after pics. We'll see how it goes.