Removing Sound Deadening Foam and Glue from Cowls

[olboatman]

I have done this before but the foam and glue was in bad shape and falling off. This cowl has very sound foam! Does anyone have any ideas that may help before I start thrashing on it this weekend? Thanks Gary

[Bodhi]

It will depend on the glue used in the cowl you have, but I've successfully done the same task on older evinrudes with acetone....too much and it will get messy on ya

[olboatman]

It will depend on the glue used in the cowl you have, but I've successfully done the same task on older evinrudes with acetone....too much and it will get messy on ya

Thanks much! It is a late 80s OMC V4 cowl. I started pulling at the foam tonight and I think my Fein Multimaster with the thin scraping blade my get it down to the glue which looks like contact cement. I will try the acetone on the glue after that and keep ya posted. Gary

[WillySteve]

Knock the foam off at a car wash....just get somebody to hold it!!!! :D

[delawarerick]

I used acetone and had to brush excess areas but it worked. Having troubles with decals any suggestions?

[olboatman]

Rick I scraped off the foam with my multimaster tool and a thin strait blade for removing caulking. The decals are a different story. The fastest way I found to remove them is with a single edge razor blade on a strait holder ( so you can hold the blade at a low angle) behind a heat gun on low very carefully. The finish on the cowl is hard enough that I have not scraped or gouged it at all. Then I removed the remaining decal adhesive with Goo Gone and after that denatured alky before sanding. Hope this helps Gary