MM, :WELCOME: to Tin Boats.
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PHOTOS will help us help you !!
Are you talking about the standard pedestal seat ?
I just experienced the same thing. I had to gently remove all the staples that
hold the upholstery to the wood seat. Remove everything down to bare bones.
The screws that held the hinges to the wood base had lost their grip. (stripped)
You have a few options - make new wood seat bottoms or try to flip the wood over
and hope the hole pattern does not fall into the old ones.
or - try to rearrange the mounts to where you can get new wood.
Or, drill new holes with new screws. The fatter the screw, the better holding power.
But, you are limited to the length to 3/4 - 1" maximum. Or, use through bolts n nuts.
Since I had some old 3/4" exterior sign grade MDO, I just cut a
new board using the old one as a pattern. Only took and hour or so for the job.
In my case, I have the standard pedestal seats and the screws that were holding
the hinges to the wood base were stripped. Thus allowing the backs to lean backwards.
as you can see in the photo, there is room to drill more holes for more holding power.
Then, just staple it all back together. (and no, I did not use stainless staples).
also, like anything else that is used in "pairs", when one goes, the other one is right behind it.