fabric hull liner

[popeye]

I have looked at several used compac 23's that have hull liner fabric/carpet that is just a mess.   Much of it mildewed and falling away from the hull.  For sure would need to be completely removed.  Am trying to get a feel for just how big/awful a job that would be.  Can the stuff (the stuff that is still in OK condition and still firmly bonded to the hull or deck) be removed without a jack hammer?  Any tricks for doing that?  Don't want to buy a boat and discover that I have to spend the rest of my life scraping old carpet.

Popeye

[Salty19]

Not sure?  Goo gone with light heat? Acetone?   Can't be that bad.  It's probably just adhesive spray holding it on, so any solvent (safe for fiberglass) should loosen it.
Gotta be something about it if you search around. Sorry, that probably wasn't much help.

Edited to fix horrendous spelling errors.

[brackish]

I did that job twice on a Columbia 8.7 that I owned for 16 years, then gave the next owner enough non woven fabric to do it a third time after the boat was about 25 years old.  The original material on the Columbia was foam backed perforated vinyl and it fell off of its own accord.  I replaced it with the same non woven fabric that is still used on Com-Pacs and many other new boats today.  I used the most aggressive 3M spray contact adhesive.  After the first time, the boat developed some deck and hatch leaks and I was living a thousand miles away so i couldn't deal with them in time to keep the water from staining the fabric so I replaced it again.  It did not fall off, but it was not that difficult to pull it off by starting at a loose corner and just peeling it away.

I bought the fabric directly from a mill in New England after researching it with a boat manufacturer who used it.  Buying a whole roll directly caused the price to drop from about $10/yd, to $2/yd (1985 $s).  I still have enough to do my 23 at some time in the future when it might need it.

putting on the new is not hard but requires patience.  Cut the piece, dry fit it, spray both surfaces with the adhesive and wait the required cure time, carefully press it in place.  Have good ventilation, the adhesive has very strong fumes.