Fibreglass seat box removal

[leezor]

Hi everyone,

Looking to replace the stock fibreglass seat boxes on my Noosa Cat 660 but they appear to be fixed directly to the deck with resin / epoxy.
At a glance you wouldn't know they were fixed this way as there is a gap between the box and deck. Tempted to get a lever in there and try and pry it loose but don't want to damage the deck.
Any ideas on how they could be removed without causing too much damage?

Cheers fellas

[Gr0wler]

No not at all but am also interested as I am thinking of ditching mine as well and setting up the whole boat differently but mine may be mounted totally different as I have an old 700 series Sharkcat with newish seat boxes. Have you contacted Noosa cat to see how they mount them ? might be the best option to give them a quick call.

Regards
Shane

[myusernam]

diamond blade on an angle grinder?

[Noelm]

yep, thin cutting blade on a 4" grinder, be prepared to be itchy, and take it easy, those thin blades cut like a knife through butter, and I might add, make a very nice neat slit in exposed fingers/flesh... trust me, I know all about that.

[soulfish]

Mate it could be sika or silicone ...or maybe not..if it is you could try a stainless wire & try & saw it back & forth just tie something to either end to hang onto,i'm pretty sure that's how they get aluminium pods off transoms..might not work but could be worth a try.

[soulfish]

I also seen a guy with a near new 2700 noosacat remove the back esky /seat..$2500 worth with a sledge hammer..that works too,but a bit messy.he didn't want to salvage the box as the boat was going to be a spanner crab boat & he smashed it up before I had a chance to try & save it...it had sika under it 2010 model...another 2700 rear deck box 2004 model also was lifted & spun around & he did that with paint scrapers,the bead of sika was only around the perimeter under the box....good luck

[ozynorts]

I would get a renovator tool and use one of the flat blades and go into the gap you are talking about. Work all the way around only going to about half the blades depth and see if it comes off. If not go a little deeper and try again.
This method will be a little slower than the Grinder but a lot safer and much less dusty and therefore much less itch.....
I wouldn't try levering it as you will make a huge mess.

[leezor]

Thanks for all the advice fellas. I ended up giving it a crack after work today. Hammered a steel ruler between the deck and box and worked my way around levering it gently with a jimmy bar. Came up eventually without any damage to the deck.
The replacement boxes are a little bigger so will cover where the old ones came from.
Now to work out the best way to fix the new ones down. Was thinking of cutting a piece of ply to the shape of the new box, glass it to the deck and fix the box to the ply.

Any suggestions?

109576
109577
109578

[scottar]

I also seen a guy with a near new 2700 noosacat remove the back esky /seat..$2500 worth with a sledge hammer..that works too,but a bit messy.he didn't want to salvage the box as the boat was going to be a spanner crab boat & he smashed it up before I had a chance to try & save it...it had sika under it 2010 model...another 2700 rear deck box 2004 model also was lifted & spun around & he did that with paint scrapers,the bead of sika was only around the perimeter under the box....good luck

LOL, until I got to the part about being a spanner crab boat, I was thinking to myself - " I don't remember Keith having a 2700"

[lembo]

what are you doing with them now ? im after a set of seat boxes for my sharkcat, ive currently got stainless bars that go from side to floor with an esky that slides underneath. seat is mounted to stainless. and I want to get some seat boxes. are they in a re usable condition ? il buy them if they are and are suitable.

[leezor]

Will pm you Lembo

[Dignity]

leezor, apologies if you have already finished but try Simpson a Bostich product which is stronger than Sika and retains its whiteness. There is no need to glass a ply base in as this product will be extremely solid.

[leezor]

Thanks Dignity, will get some today and give it a go on the weekend.
Much easier than glassing in a base that's for sure.

[Dignity]

Shame you are so far away as I am about to put some boxes in early next week and will have enough left over to do another set, and the bloody stuff isn't cheap if bought individually. I got mine from a local boat builder/repairer, think it was only about $18 a sausage as he buys it by the box, I would suggest you might try your local boat builder/repairers for some.

[leezor]

Thanks again for your help mate, I'll post some pics of the finished product whem I'm done.