Lund seat base repair

[Chris Haley]

OK guy's, let's hear some ideas. My good friend wants me to fix his boat seat AGAIN. I have pulled it and turned it and put new holes in as well as bigger screws over the last 5 years. I know he needs a new boat. Anyway, I don't think I can turn it anymore. I don't want to put a piece of wood under it if I can come up with a better way. I thought about a piece of aluminum, $100 gets a 1/2 inch piece 12"x12". Are there any other clever ideas out there?

[snapjigger]

Ghats what I did to mine. I used 1/4" it seems to be fine.

[TooTallTom]

Yeah, I think 1/2" is probably much more than is needed, and I'm an overkill kind of guy. Stainless steel might be another option, don't know about cost though.

[LightningBG]

1/4in 12x12 stainless plate runs about $45

and I'm seeing 1/2 inch alum plate for $31 (grade 5052) up to $72 (grade 7075), with some others in between. (12x12)

Granted, these prices are for a place down here in the cities.

Ground shipping is $15 (using the 5052 alum plate)

[Wanderer]

Are there any other clever ideas out there?

What size boat? If it's a smaller boat he should just grin and bear fixing it right by pulling the floor and replacing or resecuring the plate underneath the plywood. Especially if he plans on keeping it.

I just picked up a 4 x 8 sheet of 1/2" marine plywood, glue and 9 feet of new carpet for about $200 at Hallberg Marine. Rivets are extra. I didn't ask at Hallberg for them so I ordered them through Grainger.

Once that floor looses it's integrity it needs to be fixed for real, IMO.

Good luck with "helping" your buddy out.

[Wanderer]

By the way, after getting my floor into my boat today it looks to me the best permanent fix is to lift that floor and bolt the base through the floor and the aluminum plate. Yeah, not easy but you shouldn't have to do it again.

[Chris Haley]

Nothing a 5" hole saw couldn't fix. Just had to carve a little foam out and there it was. Fender washers and macine bolts now.

[Wanderer]

There ya go!

5" hole saw though? Whew... I only had to cut 3" for my bases which doesn't give much room to get the hand in there.

[Chris Haley]

It is only the captains chair. So went through the side of the storage box in front of the starting battery compartment. My hands are too fat for a 3" hole. I did tell my friend that I needed an extension since I was going in from the bottom.