Seat removal issues

[morganhudgens]

I was removing the seats on my 1993 sun tracker 32 foot. Most of the bolts in the sea bases just twist off or just keep turning without coming out. I assume the threads are rusted off. The ones that did come out, are rusted and degraded. Should I grind off the heads off the rest to get the seats out and then tap new holes?

 

[HotTommy]

Re: Seat removal issues

Can you get under the boat (on a trailer) to see if the bolts have nuts on them? If so, you'll need a friend or a tool to secure either the bolt or nut while you turn the other one. When I did the job on my boat, it required a lot of climbing back and forth to get them all. .... If you cannot get under your boat, you may be able to remove the old bolt by cutting off the head. But if it was secured with a nut rather than a threaded plate of some kind, you won't be able to easily install a new bolt without getting under the boat. If there is a threaded plate, your plan to retap it sounds good.

 

[morganhudgens]

Re: Seat removal issues

Thanks Tommy. I thought they tapped and threaded into a rail or something, and I could cut the heads, remove the seat boxes, grind off any stubs sticking up, then re-drill and tap new holes and use some red thread lock on the new bolts. I didn't know they might have a nut on the other end. I keep it floating in my dock so have no trailer, but I think I can borrow one to pull it.

 

[HotTommy]

Re: Seat removal issues

When it's warm enough, you can swim under there and look.