[mikeyt]

Ok, i'm converting my fold down sleeper seat on the drivers side to an original Mariah bucket seat that i picked up on the weekend for a very good price. The seat had a Springfield slider base attached to it & after a few emails back & forth with the mfr. it appears i may have to buy the base/pedestal/slider unit package called a Springfield 'Mainstay' model 1250301 http://www.springfieldgrp.com/produc...5&subcat1=.htm
cuz the opening on mine is 3 1/4" rather than 2 7/8" or 2 3/8" posts used today. To make a long story short for anyone who has a similar size boat to mine, what height is your driver seat from the floor ? (inches will do rather than that damm metric stuff). Does anyone have a pedestal where the post goes down thru the floor? Has anyone else done this conversion or replaced their pedestal? I like the idea of having a gas assisted seat (with swivel & slide) so my fat arse doesnt hurt going over those big waves. Anyone have any other ideas? My boat is about 1.5hrs away in storage... so i dont have easy access to it.

[WetWilly]

Hi mikeyt,

Well I gotta admit, I've never heard of anyone doing this so I guess you'll be our first!

It seems like a major undertaking and my concern is, I believe your seats are attached to seat boxes that are attached to the floor, where our pedestal seats are through bolted through two layers of plywood and into a metal backing plate.... As seen here:



So I assume your going fabricate something similar because I don't believe your existing floor is strong enough to support a surface mount or drop in post system like our tables without some kind of bracing from underneath and that could eventually lead to the possibility that the pedestal could separate from the floor.

Anyway, I know our Z240 is bigger but the ergonomics should be similar, that said, our driver's seat post is 9" high (floor to top of metal post) and the slide is electric while the passenger's post is approximately 11" high and the slide is manual. The top of the bottom cusions for both seats are about 15 1/2" from the floor which feels just about right for me.




Both pedestals are set back 32 3/8” from the center of the pedestal to the front wall below the dash. One last thing, make sure to mount it far enough from the side so you can pivot the chair around rearward, ours is mounted 12 1/2" from the pedestal center to the side so when the seat is in the middle position, it clears the side but adjusted two clicks rearward and the seat back jams into the side when trying to face backwards.



Good luck and if you can, document the process and take lots of pictures so we can put it on the site.

WetWilly

P.S. Our pedestals are the 2 7/8" o/d ones but with the plastic swivel cup on the pedestal, the diameter is about 3".

[ShabahZ280]

Wow, that's quite a project to take on. However, we'll try and walk you through it all. In the "Original Mariah Manuals & Supplements" section, there's a hardware diagram which shows the structural reinforcement under the seat, which you should definitely think about doing.

Keep us updated, and congrats on being able to score an original Mariah seat, those things are impossible to find!

[180diablo]

Awesome project! Don't forget to take photos along the way. How about one of the seat itself, so we can see what you found!.

After looking @ the diagrams that WetWilly posted, this doesnt appear to be an easy task. I would love to have buckets as well, the bench seats just arent high enough. As much as I dont want to, I'am always sitting on top of the seat to see over the windshield.

Which ... speaking of my seats, I have to get in there to tighten up the bolts come spring time.


Good luck with it !

[mikeyt]

Thanks guys. The measurements will be very helpful. I have the seat taken apart right now because i want to re-upholster it in white, rather than the ivory colour it came in. The only issue becomes the Mariah stitching in the upper area but i think we can save that small panel & use it in the new covering.

I'm not convinced (yet) that it going to be that major of an undertaking. My thoughts are that as Mariah built these boats they would have simply included the metal backing plate in the floor construction in their boats as they came with either seating configuration. At least i'm hoping so! I guess the only way i will know for sure is to drill a pilot hole or make use of someone's metal detector. The actual work will have to wait until spring when i get the boat from storage but for now i'm going to get the seat re-done and order a proper pedestal set up. I'm emailing back & forth with a rep from Springfield Marine in an attempt to get the right unit to maintain the swivel & slide functions and get the correct seat height. They have another model that the pedestal post is designed to go down thru the floor 5 1/2" which gets me the correct heights but i'm a little leery of using....

The same guy i bought this seat from had another one on E-Bay last summer (early August i believe). I saw it & placed a maximum bid on it but i was heading off on vacation the next day and couldn't follow the progress. Apparently i lost out by $5.

[ShabahZ280]

Judging by the evidence I've seen in my boat, these boats are built somewhat universal, to accomodate the various packages they offer. I would imagine the 12"x12"x3/16" metal panel is located beneath the seat in the same area. I did notice on that image from the brochure, that "Aluminum floor backing plates are added to secure ALL seat bases"... I think you're OK!

Next time you get your hands on the seat, see if there's a manufacturer name on it anywhere, it'd be great if we could find a source of OEM seats!

[mikeyt]

Since i've got the seat all apart I had a close look at the fibreglass portion & the cushion sections and i dont see a mfr name anywhere. I'm guessing they had a their own molds for the seats?

btw.....does anybody know the size of the screws used to attach the base to the floor ? I dont want to go too long........

[WetWilly]

Hey Mikeyt,

Was going through some of the older posts and I remember you were thinking of installing a pedestal driver's seat!

I was wondering how you were doing, any updates on this project and is so, got any pictures?

Cause curious minds want to know,
WetWilly

[mikeyt]

I bought a Springfield Mainstay air ride pedestal so now all i have to wait for is some warm weather & getting the boat out of storage. I had to get the bucket seat re-covered and it should be ready within the next week or two. I stopped in there yesterday & they had done a wonderful job of restitching the Mariah name into the seat facing. I'll post some pics once i get into the project.

[WetWilly]

Thanks Mikey,

Can't wait to see the seat and how it all turns out!

Good luck,
WetWilly