octa seat bolts

[flybynight]

I am currently restoring a 1919 OCTA AA. While removing the seats, a couple of the seat bolts began to spin and I had to cut the bolts off with a hack saw. My question is: What is the best way to remove the seat bolts and wooden plugs in the inwales?

Damian

 

[Rollin Thurlow]

The wooden spacer is fairly easy to replace with a section of wood dowell. The bolt is the peice of hardware that is worth saving if possible. If the nut is frozen in place and the bolt is spinning, I just take a pair if vice grips and grab hold of the wood spacer untill it crushes enough so I can grab the bolt to prevent it from spinning. I don't worry about hurting the threads because the nut is only on the very bottom and the theads in the middle of the bolt are not important.

 

[flybynight]

Thanks for the info, unfortunately, I had already cut a couple of the seat bolts. I believe all but one will be fine. what would be the best way to get that bolt out with out destroying rhe inwale?

Thanks,
Damian

 

[Michael Grace]

Hi Damian,

The plugs or bungs should be fairly easy to remove. They'll sometimes come out easily if you just stick and awl or icepick into the center and pry a bit. Other ways include (1) drilling a starter hole and driving in a screw to give you some mechanical advantage, (2) drilling a significant hole and then using a fine chisel to break out the remainder, and (3) drilling out completely using a brad-point drill bit or a forstner bit. The problem with the last suggestion is that the top of the bolt- underneath the bung- could really bugger up the cutting end of a good brad-point or forstner bit.

When the bugs are out, you should be able to push the bolts up and out. Then you might want to re-built the strength of the gunwale a bit, maybe using some CPES and plugging the hole with solid wood and after the glue has set, re-drilling for the new bolt. You can buy new tapered bungs from a variety of sources, or if you'll do this with any regularity or want to do it well, purchase a set of plug cutters. They're not too expensive, and you can make your own bungs to better match the wood you're working with.

Its a good thing you're wanting to do this well. While the Old Town diamond-head bolts are nice pieces of hardware, there's not much prettier than that beautiful uninterrupted expanse of mahogany on those early AA-grade Old Towns from before the diamond-head bolts were made.

Michael