Removing seat back for reupholstery.

Aug 28, 2015
190
Oday 28 St Joseph, MI
I have a 1981 28 foot O'Day. I am having all the cushions recovered but for the life of me I can't figure out how to remove the seat back rests in the forward corners. Anyone have experience with this? I can't find any screws in the head area which would seem to hold them in so I'm assuming there is some kind of bracket. I've thought of using a rubber mallet to strike the bottom and drive them upward out of the bracket but I really don't know if they're mounted that way.
 
Oct 15, 2015
2
O'Day 28 MILFORD
Just did mine, There are metal L brackets in the corners in the front in the main cabin and there are screws inside the Sink cabinet and behind the toilet on the back side of the of the wood panels for the head. I believe there were 3 on each side
 
Aug 28, 2015
190
Oday 28 St Joseph, MI
Thank you so much for your reply, Rick. I used to have a sport fisherman with cockpit bolsters and they were held in with male brackets with a little spring to them which slid down into female brackets so some raps with a rubber mallet would raise the bolsters enough to disconnect the two parts. After much frustration I finally got the parts out. The Starboard side with screws through the bulkhead wasn't so bad but the port side had the screws inside the cabinet under the basin with hoses and the water pump in the way. At 71 years old I don't bend and twist as easily as I used to but I did get them both out. I am going to change the location of those starboard side screws when I put them back in next spring. Thank you again for taking the time to respond. Now all I have to do is figure out how that "inside the boom" reefing system works.
 
Oct 15, 2015
2
O'Day 28 MILFORD
No problem, I just got mine and it's still on the hard while i replace all the Hull liners and clean her up. It was a bit of bending and twisting to get at the screws but they came out easily. Im sure you can put brackets on the top and bottom and not have to re-install the screws once they are out. I currently have all my cushions with an Upholsterer and once the shelves, cabinet and hull liners are all replaced she will look brand new.
 
Aug 28, 2015
190
Oday 28 St Joseph, MI
All my cushions are in the garage waiting to be taken to the upholsterer. We are about 1.5 hrs from Chicago and my better half came home from there last week after visiting with the daughter and she had a big bolt of cloth and said it is for redoing the boat. This boat is new to me too. I had it in the water for three weeks before it was pulled out, winterized and shrink wrapped. We did manage three sunset cruises with only the Genoa. Several projects, change thermostat and hope the temp gauge moves. Install a TinyTach and replace throttle and shift cables. Here in Lake Michigan they use VC-17 paint and I'll do that myself. The Universal 5411 will be 35 years old next year but it seems to run ok with no smoke. There is a spring on the throttle that is supposed to return the throttle to the idle position and I would think that position should be felt at the throttle lever on the pedestal but if I pull it back to the stop position it doesn't return so that's why I'll have a mechanic do the cables. So thanks again.