removed carpet from ski locker.....advice on surface finish
 

I removed the glued in carpet that lined my ski locker. I dunno why they ever put carpet in a boat, especially in a place with poor ventilation. Anyhow, I bought a can of gel coat and was going to gel-coat the area, but to my surprise when i ripped the carpet up it is gel-coated, not a beautiful finish, but gel coat never the less. I have 3M adhesive (yellow snooty stuff) remaining over some of it. I used acetone and scrapper and got some of it but the process is slow and painful. Any ideas types for removing the rest of the adhesive? After a couple hours and lots of acetone fumes I am about ready to say "good enough for a ski locker". At this point I think if I painted over it with new Gel-coat it would magnify the surface imperfections and look worst.

Next question, I also want to add some type of rubber pad/liner to protect things when they bang around in there. I see West Marine sells Dri Dek, but it is ~7/sq ft there and I need quite a bit. I can buy it direct for ~4.50/sq ft. and I might go with that. Before I buy it, does anyone have any other options I should consider.

Thanks in advance.

I use Drideck under the back seat of my Black Thunder and in the console of my Concept. Works great.

Googone works better than acetone for adhesive remover.