OBV Swivel Seat Mod (Very Popular Lately)

[jstenger]

I took a similar approach to the others with a few changes.

Parts:

(2) 9" X 13" X 1/4" Aluminum Plates
(1) Swivel
(4) 1/4" - 20 X 3/4" Bolts
(16) 1/4" Washers
(Eight) 1/4" Locknuts
(Eight) 5/16" - 18 X 1" Bolts
(2) 5/16" - 18 X 2 1/2" Bolts
(4) Factory Flange Nuts (Originally held seat to rails)
(12) 5/16" Washers
(4) 5/16" Nuts
(2) 3/8" Nuts
(2) 3/4" X 1 5/8 Aluminum Spacers

My factry seat did not have holes in the center to attach the swivel to, so I mounted one of the plates to the bottom of the seat using 5/16" -18 X 1" bolts, washers, and factory flange nuts.

http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd382/Joestenger/2013-04-17141406.jpg (http://s1217.photobucket.com/user/Joestenger/media/2013-04-17141406.jpg.html)


I then drilled thru the plate into the seat. The seat was hollow in that area, so I drilled the top out to 3/4" so that a socket would fit in to hold the nut.

http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd382/Joestenger/2013-04-17191537.jpg (http://s1217.photobucket.com/user/Joestenger/media/2013-04-17191537.jpg.html)


I set the other plate on top of the rails and shimmed up to make the plate even with the floor. The angle worked out to be 6 degrees.

http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd382/Joestenger/2013-04-17192138.jpg (http://s1217.photobucket.com/user/Joestenger/media/2013-04-17192138.jpg.html)


I set my adjustable square to 6 degrees and mounted it to my surface grinder.

http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd382/Joestenger/2013-04-17191652.jpg (http://s1217.photobucket.com/user/Joestenger/media/2013-04-17191652.jpg.html)

[jstenger]

Here was the fun part. I had to grind a 6 degree angle on the 5/16" nuts, 3/8" nuts, and 3/4" spacers. Only grind a little so as to just make an angled flat spot on each. A spare long bolt was used to hold the nuts while grinding.

http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd382/Joestenger/2013-04-17193529.jpg (http://s1217.photobucket.com/user/Joestenger/media/2013-04-17193529.jpg.html)

http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd382/Joestenger/2013-04-17193545.jpg (http://s1217.photobucket.com/user/Joestenger/media/2013-04-17193545.jpg.html)


I mounted the swivel to the bottom plate with the 1/4" - 20 X 3/4" bolts, washers, and locknuts. I offset it 3/4" to get the center of the seat inline with the center of the steering wheel.

http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd382/Joestenger/2013-04-17195948.jpg (http://s1217.photobucket.com/user/Joestenger/media/2013-04-17195948.jpg.html)


I then mounted the assembly to the rails with the 5/16" hardware. You can see the 3/8" nuts used as spacers on the left, and the 3/4" spacers on the right. The grinded surfaces go down. The 5/16" nuts that were ground are inside the rails, and cannot be seen in the pic. The grinded surfaces on those go up. All the grinds were necessary so that the nuts would pull flat against the rails and not bend the bolts.

http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd382/Joestenger/2013-04-17204709.jpg (http://s1217.photobucket.com/user/Joestenger/media/2013-04-17204709.jpg.html)

[kaneboats]

Nice work. I just slapped the ole angle iron in there to boost it up to level. Gonna work great.

[jstenger]

Here is the seat mounted. It rotates 180 degrees.

http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd382/Joestenger/2013-04-17210937.jpg (http://s1217.photobucket.com/user/Joestenger/media/2013-04-17210937.jpg.html)

http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd382/Joestenger/2013-04-17210947.jpg (http://s1217.photobucket.com/user/Joestenger/media/2013-04-17210947.jpg.html)

http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd382/Joestenger/2013-04-17211004.jpg (http://s1217.photobucket.com/user/Joestenger/media/2013-04-17211004.jpg.html)

[wolfeman131]

Nicely done!

[NCSUmoomba]

Wow, very thourough, and well done. Doesn't the seat sit more upright now though?

[jstenger]

Yes, the seat is more upright. I made the swivel flat with the floor, and that was the result. If I didn't, it would lean way forward when facing backward. I plan to try it out this weekend. If I don't like it, I am going to raise the front of the seat above the swivel. That way the swivel will stay flat and the seat will be tilted back like the stock position no matter which way it is facing.

Sent from my Droid Charge using Tapatalk 2

[motosno963]

i like..i wanna do this on the outback

[jstenger]

UPDATE:

So after driving the boat for awhile, I decided that I was not happy with the upright seat position. I bought some composite shims from Menards. Each shim is 1.5 degrees, so four shims superglued together gave me the 6 degree angle that I needed to lean back the seat to the stock angle. I made two of these shim blocks and placed them between the swivel and the aluminum plate on the bottom of the seat.

http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd382/Joestenger/2013-07-05104803.jpg (http://s1217.photobucket.com/user/Joestenger/media/2013-07-05104803.jpg.html)

To clear the throttle, because the back of the seat is now farther back, I drilled new holes in the aluminum plate to move the base an inch and a half forward. You can see in the above pic that the upper and lower aluminum plates are now offset an inch and a half from front to back. Below you can see the angle of the seat, and how it matches up the rear seats.

http://i1217.photobucket.com/albums/dd382/Joestenger/2013-07-05104902.jpg (http://s1217.photobucket.com/user/Joestenger/media/2013-07-05104902.jpg.html)

The seat is now very comfortable no mater which way it is facing.

[kaneboats]

Looks more comfy now. Nice work!

[Packman]

Think this would work on a 04 LSV? I know the seat is different.

[sivs1]

Sorry, I don't have pictures. I did this recently on my 06 LSV, I know they are different. My rails were getting all corroded and nasty so I took them out last year and was trying to figure out that to put there. I found a simple locking swivel base and just used the swivel bolted to the boat, had to drill new holes and then that is mounted to the seat, also had to drill new holes. It has not been lake tested and it actually hits the side wall so it does not swivel much unless you turn towards the wall and still does not go all the way around. This is not as easy of a mod as I was thinking it would be. I might have to follow the example above and pickup a couple plates to spread the weight more on the seat.

[kaneboats]

My seat ended up a little higher when I did mine so I don't have to use the bolster. Another nice feature.