What are these?

[thrasher]

I started taking my deck out, Have got half way and am itchy as hell from all the fiberglass dust!! The circular saw has been a god send!! I decided to take a short break and as this question.

I removed the deck/floor, from my Glastron 19 foot I/O boat and there are 2 square pieces of aluminium about 10 inches square screwed to the underside of the deck. They dont seem to serve any purpose, they don't align with anything in the boat, and they have no holes in them so nothing attached to them..

I will post some pictures later today when I have all the deck out, but wondered if anyone knew what they where for? I will put them back in, just curios what purpose they serve..

The deck is kind of soft all over, but the stringers are in pristine condition, someone up there must like me. I have one wooden 2x4 going across the boat that has dry rot, so I will change it out (very easy fix) but everything else seems great (Not what I expected to find!). I am so relieved that this is going to be a simple deck swap!!

How do you tell if your foam is water logged? My hull has been filled with expanding foam so I can only see the top of the foam and it looks absolutely pristine.. Should I try drilling a hole down through the foam to see what it's like? Or just leave well alone? From the condition of the stringers there doesn't seem to have been a problem with water in the hull.

Gary

 

[salty87]

Re: What are these?

i'd check it out while you've got the deck off. drilling a hole would probably work, i used a pry bar taking mine out and every time the bar smashed into it water would squeeze out.

that aluminum sounds strange if it was only attached to the underside of the deck.

 

[tashasdaddy]

Re: What are these?

take a piece of pvc pipe, notch one end like teeth, twist it down into the foam, and pull out a core sample. push it out of the pipe. you will know if there is water there.

 

[thrasher]

Re: What are these?

Well as promised, here are the photo's of the mysterious aluminium squares. Any idea what they are?
And thanks TD, I will try the PVC pipe idea.

Gary

 

[oops!]

Re: What are these?

take a piece of pvc pipe, notch one end like teeth, twist it down into the foam, and pull out a core sample. push it out of the pipe. you will know if there is water there.

thats brilliant!

are there holes in the metal where the seat screws go thru?

oops

 

[Bob_VT]

Re: What are these?

There were /are seating options for boats..... buckets or back to back seats. The buckets required a stronger mount so the boats were built (smart) for the proper installation of a bucket seat.

 

[thrasher]

Re: What are these?

Thanks guys,

there are no holes in the aluminium and they are not where my seats are mounted, but I guess they could be for another seating option.

Gary

 

[wildmaninal]

Re: What are these?

Glad I dropped by this thread my 78 model Thunder Craft has the same aluminum plates, had me scratching my head when I tore the floor out (still got to put the new floor in). But my boat only had one plate per side one on the driver's side and one on the passenger's side.

 

[1730V]

Re: What are these?

There were /are seating options for boats..... buckets or back to back seats. The buckets required a stronger mount so the boats were built (smart) for the proper installation of a bucket seat.

I agree the plates are there for seat options. Pedestal seats need much greater reinforcement than back to backs.

 

[redfury]

Re: What are these?

how thick are they?

 

[Frank Acampora]

Re: What are these?

No holes necessary! The factory would have used self-drilling, self-tapping screws to attach seats. Cheaper and less labor intensive, while still adequate.

 

[dvan1901]

Re: What are these?

I agree with the others, it's for a seats. When I do work on my floor in my Larson there was one under each seat and the screws were definately in them. It helps keep the seat screws from stipping out the wood while acting as a stiffener.