Upholstery "Buttons?"

[md-lucky]

I think that is what these little fellars are called.

I'm looking for the plastic "buttons" that go through the seat cusions. You can see 3 of them in this picture, in the middle of the seat:

I cannot find them locally, so I figured that if I was going to order them online I should spend wisely and get a higher quality product.

Anyone have a good experience with a place that offers these things? Am I giving them the right name?

I want to get them in black if at all possible.

Thanks in advance!

 

[md-lucky]

Re: Upholstery "Buttons?"

And so I can actually derail my own thread...

While I'm asking questions about upholstery, can anyone tell me how to get the seat backs in that picture off a 1987 Thundercraft?

I'm guessing they are either glued in place (damn it) or there is a bolt that I am somehow missing. I don't have any idea how you would tighten it though... so any help is greatly appreciated!

 

[Brokenjaw]

Re: Upholstery "Buttons?"

Yes they are buttons and you can get them from your local canvas/vinyl guy.

As far as the seat backs, they are probably screwed through the back, access is probably under the steering wheel for starboard, and through the glove box on port. Most likely there are threaded nuts in the wood backing of the seat with Philips head screws through the fiberglass.

 

[calvinman]

Re: Upholstery "Buttons?"

Hi Md-Lucky,


The Buttons are simply button blanks with the material of your choice stretched over them. The back of the button has an eye on it that you put a thread through and use a long needle to feed the thread through a hole in the bottom of the seat, the thread is then stapled in place with the proper tension on it to make the seat look good.

I am not that experienced with boat upholstery, but would think the seat backs are held in place with push through clips somewhat or identicle to those used in the automotive industry to hold on door skins etc. They should just pry off, though dont quote me on this.

Although my wife redid the upholsery in our friends Baja and it did indeed have T-nuts in the seat and a bolt through the back of the fiberglass to secure, but if it is in an area where you cannot get to, then I would suspect it is clipped in.

Hope this helps,
Calvi

 

[md-lucky]

Re: Upholstery "Buttons?"

I was able to find the buttons a Wallyworld! Thank you VERY much for the help guys!!

Here is a picture of them installed on the front seat. I'm doing the rest of the front of the boat tonight.. hopefully..

But, I'm now 100% convinced magic gnomes built thundercraft boats. I tried like hell to figure out how to get back behind the seat backs to loosen them up.

It can't be done. Period. Unless you pull the entire cap off the top of the hull, there is no way to get back there.

So I went after the front seat back first. Here is what I found:

There ARE screws holding the backs in place. However, the only way you can get to them is if you go through the vinyl:

Pulled all of the vinyl off so I could see what I was working with:

Ah HA! there's what I'm looking for:

May as well get all of the stuff out of the way:

 

[md-lucky]

Re: Upholstery "Buttons?"

Once you can get to the screw heads, it all comes off. Not a problem at all once you can see them!

The backside of the board:

These are the little nuts that hold the board to the fiberglass. How in the name of all that's holy are you supposed to get to them without taking the vinyl off is beyond me. Anyone else deal with this? Once again, there is NO WAY to get back there with the cap on the boat.

Going back together, I decided to just use the Thundercraft plate to hold it to the fiberglass. The only problem is that the other 2 seat backs don't have these plates.. So, I have to figure out a way to make them stay! Any ideas are greatly appreciated!! I'm thinking about hiding a few screws behind the buttons, but that could be a little tricky also.. So, please chime in and let me know what you think!

 

[SG Goobacks]

Re: Upholstery "Buttons?"

Looks great but also what a pain. would suggest either a z clip type of hanger or through bolting it in a location that is accessible under the helm and through the glove box.

 

[jaxnjil]

Re: Upholstery "Buttons?"

lucky; don't know how they got the screws under the vinyl. looks like hiding them under the buttons as you said is the only way to get to them.
what you have done sure looks nice.
here is a sight that has a bunch of different fasteners and odd ball stuff. if its not to late you might find something .
http://www.wclco.com/Plastic_Components/Plastic_Fasteners.php

the strike and latch? then you could pop it off any time you wanted

 

[calvinman]

Re: Upholstery "Buttons?"

Wow looks to me like the bolts were put on first, then the seats where upholstered and the seat cushions were insalled before the top of the boat was attached to the bottom.

If you go to a marine upholserer, or a place that makes bimini tops and mooring covers etc you can ask them how they reatach the seats when they run into this type of thing. I would go to the back of the shop if it is a bigger bussiness, and see if you can talk to someone working back there. Most likely the person you talk to will be more than happy to give you some tips.

If you cannot find any answers let me know, and I will give an aquantence of mine a call, he has upholstered many many boats and should be able to shed some light on this.

Calvi

 

[calvinman]

Re: Upholstery "Buttons?"

I gave my friend a call who works in the marine upholstery bussiness and he says that "Z" brackets are the way to go(as stated by SG Goobacks).

He usually has to get them custom make from a metal fab place out of 1/8" x 1" SS flat stock. I think he just has them bent into a "j" type profile with the radius of the bend being equal to the hull thickness. He then drills a large enough hole to be able to accept the short part of the "J" into the hole(make sure you allow for the amount the clip will slide down into the hole here)

I did a quick search for "Z" clips but did not find anything much related to boats. If anyone has a source for these clips it would be apreciated if you could pass this on as my buddy has to get them custum made all the time.

Calvi

 

[md-lucky]

Re: Upholstery "Buttons?"

Very good! Thank you much for the help!

I'm now toying with a couple of thoughts in my mind. I'm thinking of building the buttons, then drilling a small hole through the center of the button and running the screw through that and into the fiberglass. That would suck the button tight against the fiberglass, and it would be extremely easy to remove if I ever need to do it again in the future.

The other option is expossed screws with large washers. I'm not hot about this idea.. Hot metal on the back just doesn't seem like the brightest idea in the world.

I'll roll it around for a while and post up pictures of what I decide!

 

[calvinman]

Re: Upholstery "Buttons?"

Hi md-lucky

I did find some "Z" clips in my search that may work, they are aluminum(Ithink) so you should not use SS screws on them, but they are a slim profile so as to not hold your seats too far off of the boat hull.

here is the link www.mockett.com

Not sure if you have access to a lath or not but you could turn out some(not sure if I can explain it clearly) shoulder type clips from say 3/4" SS rod stock with a hole drilled through the center.

you can attach through the seat back using T-nuts on the foam side. You would need to cut a key hole for each one into the boat hull. A lot of work I know, you would lay your seat cusion plywood backing against the hull where you want it to sit then drill a 1/8" hole where you want the first shoulder clip to go and temporarily hold it there with a screw.

Then drill a second hole where you want your second clip to go and put a temporary screw in to hold it from shifting, repeat this until you think you have enough mounts (4?).

Now you have your locating holes, you can mount your shoulder clips to the seat back(you may want to put a large washer under it so it wont get pulled into the ply)

The holes that are dirlled into the hull will be then drilled out at the small(inner) diameter of your shoulder clip. then drill holes an appropriate distance above these holes at your larger measurement of your shoulder clip. then file these two holes into a key hole and viola!

This may sound too involved, but if you know a machinist or have access to a lathe it will not take long to turn out these parts.

If my explanation seems as clear as mud to you then e-mail me and I will send you diagrams of what I mean.

Calvi

 

[calvinman]

Re: Upholstery "Buttons?"

Hello again,


I did a search on shoulder washers and found some possibilities for you instead of making them.

Calvi

 

[md-lucky]

Re: Upholstery "Buttons?"

Your asking a guy that is working outside on a picnic table if he has a lathe?



Just poking a little fun. In all seriousness, my biggest issue is that whatever I decide to do... I need to decide to do it before Saturday. We are planning on taking the boat out for the weekend, so I would like to have it done. I STILL haven't decided how to hang it.

I need a shop. Bad. I probably would have the project done by now, but I'm on a daylight time limit that makes it pretty difficult. I'll sleep on it tonight and post any ideas I have up here to get some input. I'm liking the z clips. That may be it.

 

[Lion hunter]

Re: Upholstery "Buttons?"

Have you thought of something like this? Put one top and bottom and they should hold the seat fairly secure. Iwould almost guarantee that the seats were attached prior to attching the inner and outer hull. The nuts that you see in the pics are to keep the screw from turning and while they turn the other nuts that are under the hull.

 

[Lion hunter]

Re: Upholstery "Buttons?"

Oh yeah, there called cabinet cleats.

 

[md-lucky]

Re: Upholstery "Buttons?"

Thats another good idea. I'm running up to the local lumber yard today to see if I get hit with inspiration. I've almost finished the front of the boat. Feels good to be nearly done with this section!!

Where in Idaho are you Lion Hunter? I'm up in Moscow.

 

[md-lucky]

Re: Upholstery "Buttons?"

Here is what I'm thinking:

Automotive tabs, put under the vinyl with glue and staples. Push them through 1/4 holes, possibly re-enforced with a washer.

Should be durable enough to not worry about them coming off, AND I can take them off again in the future.


Thoughts?

 

[eight tracker]

Re: Upholstery "Buttons?"

If there is nothing behind that front bulkhead i would cut it out put a piano hinge on the top side of the seat and some velcro fastners on the bottom so you flip the seat back-up to access under the front bow.?
.00002 worth tom

 

[md-lucky]

Re: Upholstery "Buttons?"

If there is nothing behind that front bulkhead i would cut it out put a piano hinge on the top side of the seat and some velcro fastners on the bottom so you flip the seat back-up to access under the front bow.?
.00002 worth tom

Damn thats not a bad idea at all.. It would even give me a little extra storage room.

I will try to scope it and see what it behind there to worry about.