Cabin bolster removal method?

[ROBERTH]

Anyone have any ideas how the bolsters in the cabin are connected? I can't seem to find any screws, so assume they just slide on, but I have pulled up hard and they do not free up. I don't want to break them, so if I knew how they go on, can work it from there.

 

[gw204]

Screws in between the pleats I believe.

 

[ROBERTH]

Checked there by feel and didn't find anything, but will check it again closer. This time with a Flashlight and really look. Thanks.....

 

[ROBERTH]

Well, checked last night and the pleats are very neat and tight. No screws there. So, still can't figure it out.
I pulled hard on some other areas and nothing even starts to move. They are very very tight. Ugh!

 

[gw204]

That's wierd. :hmm

Do your bolsters look like this?

I remember having to jam my fingers in there pretty good to find the screws. The older boats had team trim instead of bolsters and the teak was screwed in. I can't imagine them reinventing the wheel to fasten those things. But I could be wrong...

Are they tight enough that you can't fish a piece of mono or something down behind them? If you can do that, you could run the mono the lenght of the bolsters and at least find all the points where they are attached.

 

[ROBERTH]

Hi Brian, yes, that is exactly the same as my setup.
They are very very tight to the surface. I was thinking of trying to find some really thin piece of metal or something to try and push in between and slide like you mention.
I have never seen any so tight before. They definately have a good attachment method, but removal is so far a big mystery.
I will remove the storage bin covers and get a mirror and flashlight and look up underneath to see if there is a bolt somewhere, but if there is, I would have no way to reach and remove them.
Hard to believe there would be through bolted as not sure how even Grady would have reached way up and especially forward.

I want to remove the forward bulkhead panel like where you have your speakers so I can get to the underneath side of the pulpit. The overhead is lower so can't pull the panel back from top. It has to pull back from the bottom, but the bolsters are in the way.

 

[Fishshoreman]

Mine have screws installed on either end through the mesh on the lower edge. There are grommets installed on mine but if yours were reupholstered then they may not have put the grommets back in. Check roughly 6-9inches from the outside edges along the lower (Bottom) side for the screws. Good luck.

BTW, after I removed the screws I had to put up pretty hard as they were stuck pretty good.

Oops! Sorry guys! I originally wrote this reply at work which blocked the pictures (security) so I assumed you were talking about cockpit bolsters.

 

[ROBERTH]

Well, mystery solved. Brian, you were right. They did put screws in the crevice. Had to pull and stretch and have a strong flashlight to reveal the tiny hole in the upholstery where the screw went through.
Once I could find the hole, I could then probe with a small screwdriver to find the screw head and put a phillips on and remove them.
I guess I expected to find a screw with a finish washer, but clever to hide them like this.

Thanks for the feedback!