Driver's seat screws stripped out

[R&T Babich]

We have the standard aluminum 6 screw pedestal base on our driver's seat. The screws pulled out of the floor today. There was what looked light wood bits in the threads. Does anyone know is the floor plywood? I thought only the stringers were wood. What is under the seat section of the floor? It looks like a stringer alongside the fuel tank, but it's not under the seat and prevents accessing under the seat. I was thinking I could cut a 3" diameter hole under the seat pedestal for access. Then get some SS tee nuts under there to reinforce the holes and use machine bolts instead of screws to hold the seat down.

[dogbert]

I had to replace my seat pedestal with a different one. While the pedestal base was the exact same size, the screw holes didn't quite line up. So I just shifted it a few degrees and started new holes. My guess is that it's glassed over treated plywood. I would not cut a hole. If you worried about it, then fill the old holes with a silicone sealer so water won't collect in there.

[jwanck11]

Can the current holes accept SS Molly bolts? Those with washers (if needed) will not pull away especially if you use a bit of blue thread locker. What dog said will work great as well though...

[spharis]

Your floor is resin over plywood.

[R&T Babich]

Your floor is resin over plywood.

That's sure what it looks like from the edge - 3/4" ply with resin all over.

When I pulled out the fuel tank panel there is a short piece of 1/2" plywood stapled under the floor to support the front edge of the panel. However, the non-SS staples are rusted and the support board was lying on the fuel tank. I think I'll peel back the carpet, put in a new polyurethaned board with SS tee nuts and use flat-head machine bolts thru the floor to hold a new support board. A little spray adhesive under the carpet and better than new.

[dogbert]

Mine had aluminum brackets on which the fuel panel rested. The screws they used to attach the panel to the supports were rusted, so I just removed them. I'm not sure what good they did anyway, other than discolor the carpet where they were.

Any ideas on removing rust stains from carpet?

[R&T Babich]

Ours has aluminum brackets on the sides to support the fuel tank panel, but the panel wasn't attached with anything. The panel just sits in there. The front edge had the piece of 1/2" plywood. Maybe I'll use a piece of 1/8" aluminum plate for the front edge instead of wood.

Don't know anything to remove rust stains. Might try WD40.

[dogbert]

Ok, sounds like yours and mine are the same. Mine's never come off and I tow it about 200 miles a week.

[R&T Babich]

Finished the seat base re-install today. After boring holes in the floor panel to get access for the tee nuts everything was polyurethaned. The carpet was trimmed so there was none under the pedestal, just a thin edge of the backing. Used 3M spray adhesive under the carpet. The carpet was allowing the pedestal to rock a little, even when the screws were well tightened. Using the pedestal base as a template the original screw holes were drilled out for the 1/4" x 20 SS tee nuts. With a bead of wood glue around the tee nut and some duct tape wrapped around a finger to hold it, the tee nuts were pushed into the holes from underneath and set with a longer bolt/spacer. Put the seat in and it is solid. There is a stringer visible in the center hole (top of pic is right side of boat). There was some foam sprayed in the chamber, some had to be removed to clear out under the mounting holes. If I did this again I wouldn't drill the large center hole, but it did make vacuuming easier. I would go with just the 3 holes, but a bit larger than 1 1/2". I couldn't reach the mounting holes from the center hole and the stringer got in the way of 2 of them. The floor panel is 3/4" 7-ply plywood with a thin layer of fiberglass & resin on both sides.

By the way, the fuel tank panel is 1" plywood routed around the bottom edge to 3/4" which allows the carpet to be wrapped around the edges.