I just purchased a 1994 Catalina Capri 14.2 in pretty good condition. Everything was going great until I decided to be a handy man and try to create a lid out of one of the bench seats. I cut off the top of the left side bench to create the lid and installed hinges and a latch. I also sealed off the edges of the cut out piece with vinyl door seal. I wanted to create a storage bay to hold fishing rods, a paddle and the battery box to my trolling motor. I'm starting to think that this project was a little more than I could handle and that I possibly weakened the integrity of the boat. So, has anybody every attempted this before? If so what did you do? And if not, what do you think my options are at this point?