mgmidget72
Petty Officer 3rd Class
- Joined
- Sep 30, 2009
- Messages
- 99
Hi All,
I have a minor repair question about my new-to-me 1999 Sea Ray 180 bowrider O/B. Can you replace captive nuts in seats without removing all the upholstery? Here?s some background -
Underneath my back-to-back seats on the port side, there are some aluminum rails that hold the bar which locks the seat into place. Many of the stainless bolts holding these rails to the seats have come loose or fallen out because the non-stainless nuts inside the seats have completely deteriorated. It?s the same case with the bolts on the hinges between the seat sections. I can?t see them, but they appear to be some special type of nut that?s held captive by the plywood seat bottom/back so that the bolts can be installed blind. I imagine that they would be easy to replace if I took the seat cover off, but that?s more work than I really want to get into right now. What options do I have?
A similar situation also exists on the forward ski-locker cover. This is the cover that is screwed down to the floor. Two pieces of wood were bolted on the aft edge to create a lip for the removable cover to sit on. So that the floor is smooth, these bolts came up from below, through the cover and into, what I can only guess, were some recessed non-stainless captive nuts (still all below the carpet though). I say ?can only guess? because these are completely gone. Only the bolts remain, but I can see a shallow square pocket around each bolt hole. Luckily in this case, I can get to the other side of the wood. Any thoughts about what type of nuts these were, or how I can reattach the lip to the cover?
It?s frustrating that Sea Ray scrimped on non-stainless nuts after they spent the money to use stainless bolts.
Thanks!
Scott
I have a minor repair question about my new-to-me 1999 Sea Ray 180 bowrider O/B. Can you replace captive nuts in seats without removing all the upholstery? Here?s some background -
Underneath my back-to-back seats on the port side, there are some aluminum rails that hold the bar which locks the seat into place. Many of the stainless bolts holding these rails to the seats have come loose or fallen out because the non-stainless nuts inside the seats have completely deteriorated. It?s the same case with the bolts on the hinges between the seat sections. I can?t see them, but they appear to be some special type of nut that?s held captive by the plywood seat bottom/back so that the bolts can be installed blind. I imagine that they would be easy to replace if I took the seat cover off, but that?s more work than I really want to get into right now. What options do I have?
A similar situation also exists on the forward ski-locker cover. This is the cover that is screwed down to the floor. Two pieces of wood were bolted on the aft edge to create a lip for the removable cover to sit on. So that the floor is smooth, these bolts came up from below, through the cover and into, what I can only guess, were some recessed non-stainless captive nuts (still all below the carpet though). I say ?can only guess? because these are completely gone. Only the bolts remain, but I can see a shallow square pocket around each bolt hole. Luckily in this case, I can get to the other side of the wood. Any thoughts about what type of nuts these were, or how I can reattach the lip to the cover?
It?s frustrating that Sea Ray scrimped on non-stainless nuts after they spent the money to use stainless bolts.
Thanks!
Scott
