Wobbly Helm/Pilot Chair

[j2017]

My '04 Glastron has a bit of a wobbly helm chair. The liner is all fiberglass and has a small crack at the base of the chair (presumably due to stress). Any ideas on the best way to repair this?

 

[harleyman1975]

Take some good pictures so we know what your talking about.

 

[Dave-R]

Is the chair supported buy an aluminium tube that is wobbling, or is the chair plastic worn out and threads stripped? The tubes usually have a rubber sleeve that can be replaced when worn. Dave-R

 

[redneck joe]

yep iff the sleeve where the chair slips over the pole is missing, or is not tightened down over that you will wobble. Usually missing the sleeve.

 

[j2017]

Take some good pictures so we know what your talking about.

Sorry for the delay here -

I've attached one picture, the base is actually loose where it attaches to the fiberglass / presumably wood beneath - the post itself is not wobbly.

 

[Grub54891]

Ugg.. That's not good. Your deck is rotting. If it's just cracked from stress you are very lucky it can be fixed. If rot, you will have to check the stringers, transom and things like that. They rot from the bottom up to the deck.

 

[JASinIL2006]

What happens when you try to tighten those screws into the deck? Do they just spin without getting tighter?

 

[j2017]

Ugg.. That's not good. Your deck is rotting. If it's just cracked from stress you are very lucky it can be fixed. If rot, you will have to check the stringers, transom and things like that. They rot from the bottom up to the deck.

The deck feels very solid otherwise, and the boat was supposedly garaged most of the time - it also has a fiberglass liner. I'll try tightening the screws, since they do have a bit of play. I was thinking that years of a bit heavier of a guy at the helm using the bolster could have torqued it out of place.

 

[Old Ironmaker]

Based on the grime I see it is most likely you have rotting wood below. Remove the base and see what is below it. If there is wood rot there are a few ways to beef the base of the floor up to get you through a season or 2 if you don't want to tackle what you may find.

 

[j2017]

What happens when you try to tighten those screws into the deck? Do they just spin without getting tighter?

They do not spin, seem to tighten all the way down - with using a hand driver at least.

 

[Old Ironmaker]

They do not spin, seem to tighten all the way down - with using a hand driver at least.

I would remove the base and see why it's wonky.

 

[j2017]

I would remove the base and see why it's wonky.

I've attached a picture of what it looks like under the chair base. As you can see, the upper quarter in the picture has basically cut through the fiberglass. Glastron says the stringers of the boat are made of wood with a fiberglass roving covered in epoxy resin - there is also an aluminum plate in the floor below the pedestals, which is presumably what the screws are threading into. Any ideas where I should go from here?

 

[Old Ironmaker]

I would do more excavation. Cut out the semi circle of glass and see what that aluminum plate below is doing. I was going to go from there but it's all a moot point before looking at what's below. Are the fasteners self tapping or machine bolts? There may be a number of things gone bad. I would look first.

Nota Bene, I am not a glass expert though, I'm sure someone will hopefully chime in that is a glass guy.

 

[j2017]

I would do more excavation. Cut out the semi circle of glass and see what that aluminum plate below is doing. I was going to go from there but it's all a moot point before looking at what's below. Are the fasteners self tapping or machine bolts? There may be a number of things gone bad. I would look first.

Nota Bene, I am not a glass expert though, I'm sure someone will hopefully chime in that is a glass guy.

The fasteners are self-tapping screws. I assume some cutting of the glass is going to be necessary, since pulling the whole deck up - basically splitting the boat in two - seems unrealistic. But yes, any information on how to best go about cutting into this, and where to do so would be useful.

 

[Old Ironmaker]

I talked to the guys at the marina this afternoon. Ted suggested cutting away the glass and determine if what is below is secure. We doubt there is a piece of aluminum there, maybe. If it's wood and is rotten there's a big job in the future. If it indeed is aluminum and it is secure put the cut out back and fibreglass it in. Drill new holes offset from the old holes for the pedestal and screw it back in.

 

[Grub54891]

Just a guess here, It looks like it could be a cored deck, and the bolts were not sealed, allowing water to get in the core and rot it away. Hopefully it's just in that area that's bad. Cut it a bit and see what ya got going on.

 

[j2017]

Just a guess here, It looks like it could be a cored deck, and the bolts were not sealed, allowing water to get in the core and rot it away. Hopefully it's just in that area that's bad. Cut it a bit and see what ya got going on.

Thanks, I'm going to save the cutting until after the season is over. Worst case scenario, what needs to be removed? The whole liner? Or is cutting out a section doable?

 

[Grub54891]

You could take a pic, and try to poke around the screw hole edges, see if there is soft punky core material in there. when a deck is cored, its got a layer of glass on both sides of the wood core, so you should hit solid glass under the rotted core. You would cut just through the top layer, as far as you need to go to get out the bad area. How far? Good question.....

 

[JASinIL2006]

My boat had an aluminum plate below a wood deck. From that pic, I'd be worried their is some sort of wood uner that is is rotten. If you're lucky, it's isolated to just below the pedestal.

If you're not lucky, there is more bad news lurking below deck... only well to know is to take up some of the deck, unless you have good access from underneath.

 

[harleyman1975]

The easiest way to fix this (for the short time) would be to install a (1/4") aluminum plate a couple inches larger than the seat base on top of the deck to displace the weight and make a larger "footprint". Next I would buy a large access cover (8" or larger") and install it either in front or behind the seat mount so you can reach in with one arm If you need to get below deck. Tis will buy you a couple of years before you have to fix it right.