Seat installation

[dirtdevilnc]

Hi everyone, got a quick question concerning refitting the drivers seat in my 1995 Stingray 556 18ft.
I was out this weekend and through constantly changing positions in the drivers seat the mounting plate worked its way lose from the floor I am pretty confident that the floor is fiber glass and was pretty surprised that the screws worked themselves out of the floor the way they did. It appears that the holes they are in are stripped out.
Would the best bet be to rotate the mounting plate a few degrees and re-drill in the screws ? This is my first time I have attempted to drill into fiberglass and I am not sure if I should actually move the plate backwards a bit to a different location as opposed to attempting to mount in the same general area. Is it a good idea to drill pilot holes first when dealing with fiberglass ?
Any input is greatly appreciated !

 

[Cadwelder]

Re: Seat installation

Are you sure it's just fiberglass and not wood underneath? If it's solid fiberglass then just shift it a little and remount.....if it's wood you may have some soft wood underneath that will need some additional attention

 

[Woodonglass]

Re: Seat installation

Welcome to iBoats.

Your deck is constructed of plywood that is covered in resin and fiberglass cloth. If the screws have worked themselves loose then it is likely caused by water intrusion into the inner plys of the wood causing the wood to rot and the screws coming loose. Is your boat carpeted? If so there may be more water issues going on below the carpet that needs your attention. Further investigaton is needed. Pics would really help us to help you. There is a link in my signature line that will help you to post em.

 

[dirtdevilnc]

Re: Seat installation

The more I have read around the more it sounds like this is fiber coated plywood...
I can certainly take a few pics and post up when i get home.
Thanks !

 

[dirtdevilnc]

Re: Seat installation

So got home yesterday and pulled up the seat and sure enough the floor is nice and crumbly below the seat. I just purchased the boat last week and didnt notice the floor issues at all. In fact the only place the floor is even noticeably soft is below the seat I certainly wouldnt have paid what I did for the boat having known this, hind site is 20/20 of course.
So looks like I am looking at a new floor. If I am going to do this i would obviously like to do it the right way and possibly make it even better than new. I have been looking into some composite materials such as expanded PVC for the flooring. Its obviously slick as can be it is UV stable and paintable. I would likely use a no slip paint on surface on top and skip the carpet all together. Anyone have any experience using this material, i have seen a few people reference it in the forums but no one has any documented builds that I could find.

 

[saltwaterbluefish]

Re: Seat installation

I actually looked into the PVC type material for my boat. Two major things with it. 1) fiberglass doesn't like to stick to it and 2) you need much more support underneath because the material is much more flexible. If you have the money to spend on PVC, you may to check out bluewater from coosa composites. Bluewater is a type of fiberglass board that has much more strength than PVC (http://www.coosacomposites.com/bluewater.html).

If you are from NC I believe the closest place is in Norfolk Virginia (http://easternburlap.com/).