Valv, need your help

[GenzisGod]

Hi Valv, or anyone else who may help. I recently purchased an 1981 16' deep v Starcraft. I picked up the boat with the thought of getting a 25HP motor and a trailer for this later. Well I found out it would be smarter to buy the whole package instead of piecing together, as it would probably be cheaper. Anyway, my question to you or anyone else is this, the boat has brackets going from the side to the seat tops. These brackets were riveted in. The problem that I have is there are about 5-6 rivets missing. The person who had the boat must have let it go for a while as the rivet holes are now rounded out and oversized. I was just going to weld the holes shut and redrill, however the seat is filled with styrafoam. Will this melt the styrafoam or is there a better way to fix this? Thanks for the time.

[Surface Tension]

Use a larger rivet if possible. If not, drill new holes and rivet. Or if you can get your hand in there use a stainless nut, bolt and washer.

[Valv]

ST is right on. If you weld styrofoam will melt.

Flathead SS bolts will do an excellent job, be sure to get nylon locking nuts, so they won't get loose with time, and maybe coat bolt with a little silicone.