Gun whale/coaming upholstery 2003 Nautique 196

[TMK]

Hi...The upholstery in my 2003 196 is in great shape but the side panel upholstery/side panels seem to be drifting/pulling away from the molded fiberglass deck along the sides. Has anyone experienced this issue and if so how did you fix it? I'm thinking maybe a wider piping would work? I plan on removing the side panels and speaker enclosures to make the deck easier to cut polish and will fix it when I re-install....just looking to see if anyone else has had this issue. See photo.

[NautiqueJeff]

It looks to me like the panel may be coming away from the gunwale. Have you reached up there to see if the nuts are backing off of the studs? If they are, just snug them back up and you may be good. The big one will have 8 - 10 studs/nuts. The smaller one will have six or so.

Is that upholstery original? Normally I don't see the piping pulling away or bunching up like that. That is typically indicative of a low-quality upholstery replacement.

[TMK]

Original so far as I know; at least as far as the buddy I purchased the boat from knows (he was the second owner). The only piece that he had replaced was the back seat cover and I've ordered skins for the ski locker from C&S. I'll investigate further and sort it out. Thanks for your help.

[biacs]

May need to add stainless nylon nuts to tighten and keep the panels in place for a lifetime, if they've gotten loose.

I think my 06 panels were held in place with the white Christmas tree plugs that just pop in/pop off.

[NautiqueJeff]

Post some additional pictures of that upholstery. I'll be able to tell you if it is original or not.

[TMK]

Took the coaming upholstered panels off the night before last....it does appear that they have been reupholstered at some point or another....there were alternate mounting holes that had been drilled...not a messy job though. the piece with the piping coming loose didnt have many staples in it. The light plastic panels had also cracked in a few spots and had been repaired with zip ties....I fixed this all up today with mesh reinforcement and epoxy....way sturdier now.