The Ford Custom And The Glue From Hell

The Ford Custom came with a wooden board covering the cargo floor. It had clearly done real work. Gravel, dust and building material had collected underneath. I did not want to build a camper over dirt I could no longer reach.

I wanted the dirt out before it became a home for mould or anything with legs. I also wanted direct access to the metal so I could watch for rust. The board itself had a plastic smell, and it was never going to remain part of the camper conversion anyway.

The board came out. Underneath it was the glue from hell: black, sticky and apparently permanent.

I bought one bottle of thinner, said 'we're good' and left. By the end I was parking outside the hardware store because I had stopped pretending to know how many more bottles I would need.

I started by hand with steel wool and a scraper. Both clogged almost immediately. Then the drill came out with wire brushes. I kept going back for more steel wool and more solvent.

Some thinners smell less offensive than others. All of them are harmful. Apparently removing something that sticky requires equally aggressive chemistry.

Then I discovered that the thinner was removing the paint too. I thought: okay, there is no point stopping now. We are going all the way. The glue was coming off, some factory paint was coming off with it, and now I also had to repaint the spots I had scraped.

The chemical and paint smell took roughly a month to subside and closer to six months to disappear completely. I kept the van empty with the side and rear doors slightly open while it sat down the street. That arrangement probably only survives unattended in Switzerland.

I can now inspect the metal, watch for rust and eventually build the camper on a floor I actually know. I also know far more about thinners than I ever wanted.