Removing Polyurethane On Fiberglass

[head4obx]

Hi. I recently purchased an 1979 Stowe canoe that has the mahogany strips inside over the fiberglass for decorative reasons (not structural). It looks like the previous owner used polyurethane over both the strips and the fiberglass inside. While I can sand the strips of wood, I am not sure the best way to get the old polyurethane (which is flaking) off the fiberglass without scuffing it up or using something that may damage the fiberglass. Any ideas?

thanks
Bill

 

[pklonowski]

I might try some paint/finish stripper on a samll area in an obscure corner (inside the stern?), to see if it'll peel the urethane without damaging whatever's underneath. Hopefully someone with more experience with this will chime in soon...

 

[Rob Stevens]

Or do a test in a hidden area using a paint stripper type heat gun.
I have no experience with poly, so don't know if that might work. At least it's not abrasive, and doesn't use noxious chemicals.

 

[head4obx]

Thanks, will try these

Thanks for the information, I will try these. Sorry about posting this question to the wrong site (which of course I noticed right after I posted it and could not change)....

 

[Todd Bradshaw]

Both Klean-strip (model AF384-1) and Interlux (Interstrip 299E) are strippers for use on fiberglass (and labeled as such). Sometimes you can find them at automotive stores for people repainting Corvettes. Otherwise, you can order them from marine stores like West Marine. Stripping is never a lot of fun, but these tend to be milder to work with than most of the typical chemical strippers and won't attack the glass, leaving it sticky the way typical strippers usually do.

 

[Andre Cloutier]

Thanks Todd

Was using the normal nasty stripper to get the poly off the wood deck of my IC and dripped some onto the glass, what a disaster. was going to tape off with some paper but now I'm going to try this stuff.