Having recently acquired my near new 08 (and not as yet had a chance to get it in the water due to winter blues), I noticed that the captains seat will not fully close with the Merc Bigfoot 60 in the fully upright position by about 1 inch. In fact I now notice some very small rub marks where the seat rests on the motor and rubs during transport. Fixed this with a small piece of compressed rubber glued under the seat, but of course thinking a little further ahead this will become a real issue once on the water... the seat rocking and rubbing the engine cowling and not fully “down”. Will eventually break the hinges not to mention more rub on the motor and potentially cracking the plastic cowl.
Seems the only solution (apart from refitting the motor 1 inch lower or cutting a hole in the seat – neither a real option) is to raise the hinges on the seat somehow and then figure out some sort of padding or something so that somehow the seat fits snug (1 inch higher) when down and the motor is up and locked.
Has anyone had any experience with this sort of problem. Any suggested solutions???
where is it rubbing? You might be able to trim the vertical part of the seat to make it fit. if you are worried about strength, just add a stiffener fiberglassed in above where you cut
Yes there is a little "catching" when it is opened and closed which could be fixed in this way, BUT... The resting point and rub is directly under the middle of the Horizontal part of the seat seat (so directly on the front of the cowling), so trimming will have no impact (unless I want a hole directly in the middle of the seat)...
Can't believe the orginal owner did not get "excited" about this, or that the dealer did not have some comment before it was done... Oh well, a problem to solve and there is nothing mnore fun than playing with the boat (even in winter )...
My Tohatsu 90 also hits the seat on full up tilt.
Not really an issue for us with our work-around.
Before getting under sail, we pin the steering linkage to have the engine straight ahead, raise the tilt until the seat is just bumped, lower the tilt 1/4" to get clearance, and sail on.
The prop is fully out of the water for us with this method.
I placed some sticky sided felt "rub strips" at the contact points under the seat to keep the cosmetics nice.
OK, then... maybe instead of postulaing on this issue on dry land, perhaps I can take Hardcrabs fix and test it out wet so to speak. May be the shot.
As I said I just glued some compressed foam (white) under the seat to stop the transport rub and that seems to work just fine (and does not look out of place in any way) when the seat is down and the motor is in the locked position.
My Suzuki Df 70 used to hit the helm seat as well, but I found out that on the base of the motor there is a little lever that automatically limits how high the motor tilts. I believe that Mercury has a similar device. Check your owner's manual before you cut anything.
Ilya.
(and not as yet had a chance to get it in the water due to winter blues), I noticed that the captains seat will not fully close with the Merc Bigfoot 60 in the fully upright position by about 1 inch. In fact I now notice some very small rub marks where the seat rests on the motor and rubs during transport. Fixed this with a small piece of compressed rubber glued under the seat, but of course thinking a little further ahead this will become a real issue once on the water... the seat rocking and rubbing the engine cowling and not fully “down”. Will eventually break the hinges not to mention more rub on the motor and potentially cracking the plastic cowl. 
Oh well, a problem to solve and there is nothing mnore fun than playing with the boat (even in winter 
)...