Stars and Stripes seat screws pulled out
 

Some of the screws that hold my drivers seat to the floor have stripped and pull out of the fiberglass floor. What are my options to fix this without having to rip the floor up? Carpet is in good shape, as is the rest of the floor. Can I fill these holes in with some kind of fiberglass epoxy, redrill the holes, and expect that to hold? Anyone had to deal with something like this?

I had to do this for the front screws on my driver seat in my 83 during the restoration. Now keep in mind I pulled my carpet out because I was replacing it, so your options for saving the carpet might not work.

I used Marine Tex and just pumped it into the hole until it was enough to stop it from falling through. Once hardened it was like concrete, new screws still holding strong. Now for your application unless you cut the carpet a little, this stuff is messy, you maybe able to get by for a bit with an alligator bolt or expanding anchor system.

Here is what I used in my floor, worked like a charm.

https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/i...OrxVg20NiVTR_D

JTR

I like the anchoring idea. I feel like putting that putty into the holes would just pull the putty out the next time there's pressure on it. Also thought about going with a larger bolt entirely, but that would require some drilling in the base of my seat as well. Hmmmm... Thanks for the idea 03geetee

Dont be fooled by this product, it was as hard as steel when cured. If you apply it correctly it almost works like a rivet as the bottom gets mushroomed out when it hits the foam in the floor and the top takes up the space in the hole. Once hardened it was like drilling into a virgin floor, fasteners are still rock solid and I am about 220lbs.

Worth a try if you ask me.

JTR

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I took a different approach:

- Mask off the holes to protect the carpet.

- Use a nail and vacuum to clear out a 1/4" to 3/8" inch area under the floor through the hole

- Fill that area with glass strand and polyester resin.

- Coat the screws with a thin coating of a release agent (WD-40, melted wax or ?)

- Insert the screws half way into the holes.

- Remove the screws after the resin has set.

You now have a threaded plug under the floor that is very strong.

Not sure I follow....

Sent from my Galaxy S3 using Tapatalk.

Basically, he filled the hole with fiberglass/resin, put a thin layer of grease on the bolt, and stuck it into the fiberglass/resin. Once the resin hardened, he could unscrew the bolt (the resin would have flowed around the threads, but the grease would have kept it from bonding to the bolt). Then he put the bolt through the seat, and screwed it into the threads in the fiberglass/resin that he just created.

I did similar, but used epoxy with a brass insert embedded. That gives a very strong set of threads to screw into, and a much bigger diameter that grips the epoxy.

/frank

The idea is to create a small void under the floor at the location of each stripped screw hole that you can fill with polyester resin that has been reinforced with glass strand. You can use a nail, drill bit or similar object to clear some foam from under the floor through the screw hole and vacuum up any debris. Once you have filled each of the holes with resin, coat the screws with a release agent and insert them in the holes. Once the resin has cured, back the screws out of the holes. You now have a solid resin plug below the floor that is threaded to match your mounting screws. You could also use epoxy instead of the resin. I think this technique was used to mount bindings on honeycomb core skis back in the late 70's/early 80's. You could also move the whole seat slightly forward or backward and re drill all of the holes. (something the previous owner of my boat did.)

Threadjack.

Frank - was browsing old threads and found where you said you planned on shimming your driver's seat up a couple inches. Did you end up performing this mod. If so, pics, material used...

Thanks.

Is right below the floor just packed with foam then? Otherwise, wouldnt the resin just fall to the hull of the boat under that area? Makes sense to what you guys did, just unsure where the resin would "mushroom out" at.