Seats

[kenny ellis]

I had another question.
I'm redoing my front seats on '85 18 Classic.
I want to lower them, and have swivel/slide.
The set up now is for slide only. The seats sit on a fibreglass
block. Upon trying to remove, it apears that there's a nut on the underdeck side. Of the 3 screws, only 1 on each side is accessable.
Have any of you changed this set up? If so how did you address the screw removal? Hardware you decided on?
Thanks for any ideas.

[tamburello]

Kenny -

If you want swivel and sliding seats that are lower then you probably only have one option and that is to cut out the fiberglass boxes on the ****pit sole, reglass it flat and mount pedestals or swivel sliders. Swivel sliders raise the seat higher than straight sliders so that won't work without eliminating the boxes.

Quite a few of us with 18s have replaced our stock Springfield sliders with more durable units from Garelick. They are part no. 75081 http://www.garelick.com. The Garelick sliders will raise your seat about 3/4 of an inch higher than the stock sliders. And the handles that lock in the sliders will make removing the ****pit sole storage cover harder unless you mount the sliders so that the handles are facing outward.

Installing new sliders is a major PITA. The trick as you have found is getting access to the bolts. I have a removable storage bin in the storage compartment in the ****pit sole which helps a bit but I know that most of the 18s have the bin glassed in and the only access is a round access port.

Clayman did some minor surgery to gain access to the slider bolts as he described in another post. "I just finished replacing both slider rails on my 18'. I drilled with a 2" hole saw an access hole. actually two holes then cut with a saws-all to make an oval slot in the stringer in the bottom hold of the floor. This allowed enough room for my 7 year old neighbor to fit his little hand in there and put on new lock nuts and fender washers. I used new universal sliders from Cabella's, made by springfield. After they were bolted in, I re glassed the tabbing between the stinger and the deck. Worked great with my new Bilt-rite seats."

The other option is to find someone with small arms and hands to reach up past the stringer with a wrench to hold the nut while you loosen the bolt. Once you get the bolts removed and the new slider in place you can either shove the bolts up from the bottom or tape the nut and fender washer to the closed end of a combination wrench and have the small armed assistant snake them into position. Buy a few extra nuts and fender washers, the bilge is a hardware eating beast.

- Jeff

[Ranman]

Kenny -
If you want swivel and sliding seats that are lower then you probably only have one option and that is to cut out the fiberglass boxes on the ****pit sole, reglass it flat and mount pedestals or swivel sliders. Swivel sliders raise the seat higher than straight sliders so that won't work without eliminating the boxes.
Quite a few of us with 18s have replaced our stock Springfield sliders with more durable units from Garelick. They are part no. 75081 http://www.garelick.com. The Garelick sliders will raise your seat about 3/4 of an inch higher than the stock sliders. And the handles that lock in the sliders will make removing the ****pit sole storage cover harder unless you mount the sliders so that the handles are facing outward.
Installing new sliders is a major PITA. The trick as you have found is getting access to the bolts. I have a removable storage bin in the storage compartment in the ****pit sole which helps a bit but I know that most of the 18s have the bin glassed in and the only access is a round access port.
Clayman did some minor surgery to gain access to the slider bolts as he described in another post. "I just finished replacing both slider rails on my 18'. I drilled with a 2" hole saw an access hole. actually two holes then cut with a saws-all to make an oval slot in the stringer in the bottom hold of the floor. This allowed enough room for my 7 year old neighbor to fit his little hand in there and put on new lock nuts and fender washers. I used new universal sliders from Cabella's, made by springfield. After they were bolted in, I re glassed the tabbing between the stinger and the deck. Worked great with my new Bilt-rite seats."
The other option is to find someone with small arms and hands to reach up past the stringer with a wrench to hold the nut while you loosen the bolt. Once you get the bolts removed and the new slider in place you can either shove the bolts up from the bottom or tape the nut and fender washer to the closed end of a combination wrench and have the small armed assistant snake them into position. Buy a few extra nuts and fender washers, the bilge is a hardware eating beast.
- Jeff

Probably the best reply concerning the seat set up for 18's I seen yet. Could not have said it any better or offered anything additional.

[merlin502]

Kenny -

If you want swivel and sliding seats that are lower then you probably only have one option and that is to cut out the fiberglass boxes on the ****pit sole, reglass it flat and mount pedestals or swivel sliders. Swivel sliders raise the seat higher than straight sliders so that won't work without eliminating the boxes.

Quite a few of us with 18s have replaced our stock Springfield sliders with more durable units from Garelick. They are part no. 75081 http://www.garelick.com. The Garelick sliders will raise your seat about 3/4 of an inch higher than the stock sliders. And the handles that lock in the sliders will make removing the ****pit sole storage cover harder unless you mount the sliders so that the handles are facing outward.

Installing new sliders is a major PITA. The trick as you have found is getting access to the bolts. I have a removable storage bin in the storage compartment in the ****pit sole which helps a bit but I know that most of the 18s have the bin glassed in and the only access is a round access port.

Clayman did some minor surgery to gain access to the slider bolts as he described in another post. "I just finished replacing both slider rails on my 18'. I drilled with a 2" hole saw an access hole. actually two holes then cut with a saws-all to make an oval slot in the stringer in the bottom hold of the floor. This allowed enough room for my 7 year old neighbor to fit his little hand in there and put on new lock nuts and fender washers. I used new universal sliders from Cabella's, made by springfield. After they were bolted in, I re glassed the tabbing between the stinger and the deck. Worked great with my new Bilt-rite seats."

The other option is to find someone with small arms and hands to reach up past the stringer with a wrench to hold the nut while you loosen the bolt. Once you get the bolts removed and the new slider in place you can either shove the bolts up from the bottom or tape the nut and fender washer to the closed end of a combination wrench and have the small armed assistant snake them into position. Buy a few extra nuts and fender washers, the bilge is a hardware eating beast.

- Jeff



Jeff,
I am interested in swivel/sliders and I am so glad you posted this information. I have a '95 18 classic and I am assuming it has the same ****pit floor as yours. Is the installation easy for the Springfield sliders from Garelick, or will I be facing the same challenges as Kenny. If I can bolt the Springfields on without much/any surgery, I am going to order them right away.
Also, do you find that the swivels get loose or sloppy after a while. I am concerned that all the pounding will have an effect on them.
Thanks!

[tamburello]

Jeff,
I am interested in swivel/sliders and I am so glad you posted this information. I have a '95 18 classic and I am assuming it has the same ****pit floor as yours. Is the installation easy for the Springfield sliders from Garelick, or will I be facing the same challenges as Kenny. If I can bolt the Springfields on without much/any surgery, I am going to order them right away.
Also, do you find that the swivels get loose or sloppy after a while. I am concerned that all the pounding will have an effect on them.
Thanks!

Merlin -

If you are going to install sliders without swivels the Garelick 75081 sliders will have the same bolt hole pattern as the Springfield sliders. It's not an easy job access the nuts under the ****pit sole that hold the sliders in place but, with an assistant who has small arms and hands and can reach up there with a combination wrench, it can be done.

The Garelick sliders are very well built and if you break them then seeing an orthapedic surgeon will probably come before fixing the slider. Lake Michigan is where I spend almost all of my time on the water and the 18 gets thrown around quite a bit. I also have a Momo racing seat on the driver's side that puts more stress on the sliders than the stock buckets and after 5 seasons the Garelicks don't show any signs of wear or failure.

- Jeff

[MOP]

Excellent reply above!!! George Carter cut access holes to get at the hardware if you decide to go that way, he posted some shots that may be helpful to you.

[gcarter]

Here's the thread MOP was speaking of.
http://www.donzi.net/forums/showthread.php?t=33784
I drilled out the heads of the original screws to remove the original base.

[DickB]

I used this technique on my 18C. Also shortened (cut and rethreaded) the handles on the new slides to clear the storage hatch.

[warrenty95]

Kenny, as far as I can remember, there was no pedestals used in the 18 classic. But there was in the X-18. All 2+3 18 used an alum. base plate with stand pipe and sliders bolted to the bottom of the seats. The hardware was bought from Pompanett in Fort lauderdale. I worked for Donzi bac in the Golden days when they were A real Donzi