building new seating in my 17' fibeglass

im a total newbie to the boat world. coming over from custom cars i hope to apply my knowlege into restoring my firstboat and making it a nice custom peice


my project is a 1968 grew fiberglass boat

im going to start with the interior then finnish with a complete repaint

right now there is a small bench seat at the rear of the boat and 2 lounge chairs up front

my plans are, i want to add to bucket seats up front on swivels

then in the rear have a bench at the back and run along the sides of the boat for more seating,

this crude diagram should explain
the red is the bucket seats on swivels, the blue is the wrap around bench seat

what do i need to do to construct the seats? what wood is best suited for the job? do i need to seal the seats with anything so they dont absorb water?

 

Before you do anything with this 1968 hull,, beat and bang on the deck and see if you get any different sounds, or mushy spots. Also if the boat has a motor on it, then raise it up to a lock position, and attempt to push down on it and check for any flexing in the transom. If the boat is original, normally the decks and stringer system is suspect to even being time to replace it. Report back before you begin any cosmetic work on it.

If you have those longue seats, try to work them a bit and see if they work away from the decks, with wet screwholes in the decking.

 

yes ive inspected the hull and it seems quite solid, the floor is nice and strong and the motor does no flex when i pull and jerk on it