I'm redoing the upholstery on my 1999 Baja 232. New sunpad and rear bench. When I disassembled, there was some wood root on the bench and around the sunpad where the upholstery staples to. The tee nuts and bolts holding it all together were clearly not stainless steel and were pretty rusty. Should I use stainless hardware here, under the upholstery? I'm using stainless staples, and stainless hardware that is exposed, but just wondering if I need to underneath as the original non stainless lasted 23 years..

After all that work using s/s is a no brainer.
Costs just a bit more (you're not going to need a whole lot) and you never have to worry about it again.
3 materials you can't go wrong with on a boat .
Stainless steel (the better grade the better)
Chromed bronze fittings
Anodized aluminum .

Agreed, just sourcing them in Canada from the typical Home Depot or Lowes is expensive in comparison. Thanks for the vote of confidence, I'l keep looking.

^^^

Out here the best selection and (generally) quality is always at the marine supply outlet(s)
I was actually looking for some s/s fasteners 2 hours ago and went to the neighborhood hardware shop and the ONE thing I was looking for they didn't have , but I know it would have been at the marine supply shop 10 miles away.

Thanks you. Our amazon selection isn't quite as extensive here in Canada as it is in the USA. But I can piece together some of the required hardware and use HD/Lowes for the remainder.

This place has just about everything, bought from them for years
https://www.mcmaster.com/steel-tee-nuts/

I get mine from McMaster Carr, some stuff arrives next day
Duplicate post - Speedy is too fast for me!

Another vote for McMaster-Carr. WAY better than giving money to Amazon.

The stainless hardware quality at Home Depot is poor at best. Don’t waste money on that.