Nonetheless, I did manage to drive around and get some needed supplies as well as drill and epoxy-fill oversize holes in the new engine hatch cover/cockpit sole for mounting the helm seat.
Smaller holes to fit the fasteners will be drilled in the cured epoxy, resulting in a ring of epoxy around the fastener that will prevent any moisture from penetrating the plywood core (see Bryan's comment last week -May 18). I also made a plywood backing block to stiffen the area below the mount since my entire body weight will be swinging around on the end of a two-foot long lever against the mount. As the picture shows, the right position for the helm seat base also happily overlapped the cross brace. 
If I can get the right fasteners locally, I should be able to have the mount in place and the inside trim pieces and fiberglasss sound insulation completed during the week, allowing me to bring the completed cover to Circadian next weekend. That would be sweet, but of course that's a big if....
Smaller holes to fit the fasteners will be drilled in the cured epoxy, resulting in a ring of epoxy around the fastener that will prevent any moisture from penetrating the plywood core (see Bryan's comment last week -May 18). I also made a plywood backing block to stiffen the area below the mount since my entire body weight will be swinging around on the end of a two-foot long lever against the mount. As the picture shows, the right position for the helm seat base also happily overlapped the cross brace. If I can get the right fasteners locally, I should be able to have the mount in place and the inside trim pieces and fiberglasss sound insulation completed during the week, allowing me to bring the completed cover to Circadian next weekend. That would be sweet, but of course that's a big if....
Captain George:
ReplyDeleteI have one comment reading and thinking about your helm seat install over last week and this evening. This is by no means a criticism of your fantastic work, just something that came to my mind should I ever put one in for myself. You might have thought of this as well.
Since helm seats easily come and go - either warn out or because i misjudged the original comfort position or they become unserviceable or because I get fat eating too much BBQ and might need a larger one - I may want to mount the pedestal base on a platform/block instead of directly on the deck. This way if I get a new improved seat that needs to be adjusted back or forward, I wont have to fill and drill any new holes in the deck to align this to a new dimension that is comfortable for my girth and peace of mind. I just have to get a new wooden platform block to mount the pedestal.
Layered like this:
Seat
Pedestal bolted onto
Wood Block which is bolted through
Deck
Backing plate
The wood block will also keep the deck from getting scratched up from a metal pedestal base if indeed it is metal.
hmmm i dunno...just a thought for SaltyMonkey.
Good thinking, but I have the issue covered: The pedastal mount is designed to allow about 6 inches of adustment forward and backward while still being rigidly strong. When I put it all together I'll shoot some pics to illustrate. I viewed this as a permanent installation, so wasn't concerned about the area under the mount. Besides, why worry about scratches when you're drilling holes? Also, unless you use teak for your wood block, it will rot.
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