Restoring a 15 ft 1976 160SS Thundercraft

bqbowden

Cadet
Joined
Mar 14, 2013
Messages
6
So ... I am cleaning up my boat and have a few questions for answers I have not been able to find in my search here:

1. The front seating section has some paint/coating chipping off. Can I fill this in with epoxy, sand then repaint or will I need to do something else to repair these places? They are not very big - several quarter sized places, but I want to fix them before they get bigger.

2. All of the padding attached to the front deck and back have rotted off leaving these strange screws which held the pads in place. I want to replace/make new pads/cushions but what is the best way to reattach them? The screws have to be removed because they are rusted so what would y'all suggest? I was thinking I would replace with snaps, but not sure if this would work well. Any suggestions here would be great.

3. I am not happy with the seats - built on two boxes with short poles and chairs. The seats are too far back and there are no seats for my kids. If I was to rip the seats/boxes out would it be a lot of trouble to make new boxes and put newer chairs in? I am not planning on replacing the floor in the boat until winter so I do not want to do a whole lot until then.

I can post pictures of the items above if that is helpful.

bqbowden
 

roscoe

Supreme Mariner
Joined
Oct 30, 2002
Messages
21,657
Re: Restoring a 15 ft 1976 160SS Thundercraft

1,what are we fixing? wood? aluminum? fiberglass? gelcoat?


2, we have no idea what you are working with, or what you are attaching to to, or if there is access behind it.

The most universal and convenient answer would be to use 2" wide adhesive backed velcro.




3, It would be too much work for me to do it twice.

How about leaving the existing seats where they are for now.

Add a 4-5' long box across the back, put a hinged lid on it, and a cushion on top. Make the kids share one bench seat while underway.
 

series60

Chief Petty Officer
Joined
Jan 4, 2010
Messages
420
Re: Restoring a 15 ft 1976 160SS Thundercraft

So ... I am cleaning up my boat and have a few questions for answers I have not been able to find in my search here:

1. The front seating section has some paint/coating chipping off. Can I fill this in with epoxy, sand then repaint or will I need to do something else to repair these places? They are not very big - several quarter sized places, but I want to fix them before they get bigger.

2. All of the padding attached to the front deck and back have rotted off leaving these strange screws which held the pads in place. I want to replace/make new pads/cushions but what is the best way to reattach them? The screws have to be removed because they are rusted so what would y'all suggest? I was thinking I would replace with snaps, but not sure if this would work well. Any suggestions here would be great.

3. I am not happy with the seats - built on two boxes with short poles and chairs. The seats are too far back and there are no seats for my kids. If I was to rip the seats/boxes out would it be a lot of trouble to make new boxes and put newer chairs in? I am not planning on replacing the floor in the boat until winter so I do not want to do a whole lot until then.

I can post pictures of the items above if that is helpful.

bqbowden

My crystal ball tell me this is going to be more than just a spring clean up. More like spring remodel. Can't offer much more until we see some pictures. The more pictures the better help we can offer!
 

bqbowden

Cadet
Joined
Mar 14, 2013
Messages
6
Re: Restoring a 15 ft 1976 160SS Thundercraft

As requested, here are some photos showing what I have to work with ...

Boat 002a.jpg Boat 001a.jpg

These are the places peeling up.

Boat 004a.jpg Boat 003a.jpg

If you look, you can see where the old rests/cushions were mounted.

Boat 006a.jpg

These are the two seats in the boat. I may be better off just leaving these for now and wait until I rip out and replace the floor. But the suggestion about a box for the kids to sit on is one idea. Maybe even a simple bench - have to think on this one a bit.

bqbowden
 
Last edited:

NYBo

Admiral
Joined
Oct 23, 2008
Messages
7,107
Re: Restoring a 15 ft 1976 160SS Thundercraft

Pix aren't showing.
 
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