Seat Pan Repair

[Guest]

I'm in the process of reupholstering my seat, but before I can continue with it, I need to repair the pan.... its a royal mess. I need a way to build up some of the edges that have become jagged. I was thinking fiberglass, but I have no experiance with fiberglass and its a little daunting. Any ideas?

[rcoville]

I assume by fiberglas, you are talking about glass cloth and the resin repair kits? That resin is polyester, and it adheres really well to some things, but not to others. That pan is one of the things polyester resin will not bond well to, I think. I would be nervous that it would simply split away and peel off at some point. (Happened to me on a past project ... very frustrating.)

I think your best solution would be epoxy. You can buy larger quantities from boat-building supply vendors, and I'd bet a marina could help you out. Also, Devcon make a good product, and I think the industrial supply shops sell it in pint kits. It is a 2-part product. Use it with fiberglass cloth just like the resin, making sure to get oil ond dirt off the pan before you apply it.

[Dodik]

i am actually in the process of rebuilding mine, with fiberglass although mine is not that bad. using it is pretty straight forward just follow directions on the can, i am only going to make thin layer on top to cover the whole thing and then build up the area with bad edges, cover im just going to rivet on since all the tabs are gone. i'll take some pics tonight.

[bmac]

Seat repair

I have used these for my seat repair. Drilled a hole in bracket, inserted it with a screw and nut in the broken tab and your done. Bob

[bmac]

Seat

This is how it attached after drilling a hole in the fastener and using a 8-32 screw 1/4 inch long and fastening into the existing broken tab. Install the seat cover and bend the tabs and your done.

[spyug]

Fiberglass to metal won't work well as stated. Epoxy (more expensive) may work better but my preference would be welding or brazing on new sheet metal.

If welding or brazing is not possible for you, I would suggest going with sheet metal, pop rivets and epoxy putty.

You can get sheet metal from most auto stores like Napa or Home Depot , Crappy Tire or Princess Auto. Same for a rivet gun and pop rivets and the epoxy putty (also known as plumbers putty).

The sheet steel would be the same gauge as used for auto body repair. Use some carboard to trace out the pieces you need to replace. make them an inch or so longer on the edges that will join to the existing pan.

The metal should be easy enough to form by hand or with a hammer and using a vice or concrete block, piece of steel or even a wood block as an anvil.

Once formed to shape, clamp it to the pan and drill holes for the rivets about every inch or so. Clean as much of the rust off as possible from the pan, down to shiney metal. the rivets should be the shortest possible to join the two pieces without leaving a large "collar" when the rivet is drawn down.

Take a good sized hunk of the putty and knead it together ( it is a two part formulation that needs to be mixed). It will get soft like play-doh. lay a bead down on the two surfaces to be joined. Clamp in place and pop rivet together. With some more putty, fair in the edges of the overlapping piece to the pan...both sides.

The epoxy will harden in 10 to 15 minutes or less in this heat so work fairly quickly. Once hardened, you can shape it with files and sandpaper. Paint with rustproof paint to finish.

Hope this helps a bit and gives you another alternative to sorting this.

cheers,
Spyug

[Adler]

This is how it attached after drilling a hole in the fastener and using a 8-32 screw 1/4 inch long and fastening into the existing broken tab. Install the seat cover and bend the tabs and your done.

Those look great for repairing the tabs! Any idea where I can find something like that? What kind of store carries them?

Fiberglass to metal won't work well as stated. Epoxy (more expensive) may work better but my preference would be welding or brazing on new sheet metal.

If welding or brazing is not possible for you, I would suggest going with sheet metal, pop rivets and epoxy putty.

You can get sheet metal from most auto stores like Napa or Home Depot , Crappy Tire or Princess Auto. Same for a rivet gun and pop rivets and the epoxy putty (also known as plumbers putty).

The sheet steel would be the same gauge as used for auto body repair. Use some carboard to trace out the pieces you need to replace. make them an inch or so longer on the edges that will join to the existing pan.

The metal should be easy enough to form by hand or with a hammer and using a vice or concrete block, piece of steel or even a wood block as an anvil.

Once formed to shape, clamp it to the pan and drill holes for the rivets about every inch or so. Clean as much of the rust off as possible from the pan, down to shiney metal. the rivets should be the shortest possible to join the two pieces without leaving a large "collar" when the rivet is drawn down.

Take a good sized hunk of the putty and knead it together ( it is a two part formulation that needs to be mixed). It will get soft like play-doh. lay a bead down on the two surfaces to be joined. Clamp in place and pop rivet together. With some more putty, fair in the edges of the overlapping piece to the pan...both sides.

The epoxy will harden in 10 to 15 minutes or less in this heat so work fairly quickly. Once hardened, you can shape it with files and sandpaper. Paint with rustproof paint to finish.

Hope this helps a bit and gives you another alternative to sorting this.

cheers,
Spyug

This is a great alternative, and I think I might go with this. Ill post pictures as soon as I get around to it!

[bmac]

Fasteners

I used these on a sun screen on my patio. I believed( Big Lots) carried them. They are made by a company called (easy gardener). I have a lot of them. Spares, way to many unless I wanna repair seats. If you can't find doing a web search. Contact me and I can send you a package and you pick-up the shipping. The price for a package of fasteners were 50 cents. That was big lots price, not sure what retail from manufacturer was. Bob

[Adler]

I cut off the most jagged edges in preparation for adding sheet metal, but i realized that i would only be adding around 1cm or so, so i decided that due to the mostly useless nature of much of the seat pan, i would just leave it. Correct me if im wrong but these seat pans seem to do little besides hold the seat foam up, all the weight is on the little legs. Do you guys think this thing will collapse on me without more work?





I still of course need the little clippy things and Ill find out tomorrow if I can get them from Home Hardware.

[Agemax]

why go to all that work on a seat pan that is shot? buy another seat, either from the site or ebay

[Planecrazy]

My concern as I look at your pan is that it has such a "swiss cheese" consistency throughout that the remaining metal is probably very thin. For that reason alone I would strongly suggest that you add some new "tin" to the inside of the pan (that the foam sits on) and pop rivet it into place to add structural rigidity to the repaired seat.

Before you do this be sure to coat the existing pan in a rust converter that will stop the rot and protect it from further corrosion. If you do nothing other than coating the very thin metal you're left with it will continue to degrade until it just falls apart (kind of like bending a paper clip back and forth until it simply breaks in half). By adding more "pan" material inside you're distributing the load more evenly over the entire pan structure. You can then use the epoxy suggestions to "firm up" the sharp, thin edges and improve the way it looks all the way around.

It will take a bit of work, but it'll be worth it in the long run...

Regards,

[Adler]

why go to all that work on a seat pan that is shot? buy another seat, either from the site or ebay

I can neither find nor afford a new seat pan. Especially if there is nothing technically wrong with this one...

My concern as I look at your pan is that it has such a "swiss cheese" consistency throughout that the remaining metal is probably very thin. For that reason alone I would strongly suggest that you add some new "tin" to the inside of the pan (that the foam sits on) and pop rivet it into place to add structural rigidity to the repaired seat.

Before you do this be sure to coat the existing pan in a rust converter that will stop the rot and protect it from further corrosion. If you do nothing other than coating the very thin metal you're left with it will continue to degrade until it just falls apart (kind of like bending a paper clip back and forth until it simply breaks in half). By adding more "pan" material inside you're distributing the load more evenly over the entire pan structure. You can then use the epoxy suggestions to "firm up" the sharp, thin edges and improve the way it looks all the way around.

It will take a bit of work, but it'll be worth it in the long run...

Regards,

I was a little worried about the swiss cheesedness you are reffering to but it seems as though it is only corroded in that way in the lower, recessed areas. These areas only seem to provide a passing amount of structure to the pan. If you really feel I should bolster it, maybe slathering a pile of bondo would be enough?

[Planecrazy]

Bondo doesn't offer any structural strength, so don't bother with that ... the epoxy solution already offered (with a fiber-fabric) would give you the stiffening you're looking for in those weak areas. If the main structure is sound you could probably get away with this solution.

Regards,

[spyug]

Looking at those pics, I'd agree with Steve. Put some sheet metal on the inside to give more support. With the amount of flex and movement the seat goes through during a ride you stand a good chance of it snapping at some point. It does look really thin.

If you are concerned about the texture of the pan ( i.e. the pebbly texture) you could slather on some bondo and fair it out but bondo is not going to give you any structural rigidity.

It is a bit of work but I'm sure the effort will be worth it.

Good luck with it and keep the pics coming.

Cheers,
spyug

[psyguy]

i had a seat pan that was in better shape than yours but after a discussion on a forum decided to wait until i could find a suitable replacement (ebay) rather than trying to fix the old pan as it seemed to involve a lot of work just to make it structurally sound and it would likely end up being a dodgy looking job after all the hassle.

maybe give "posseux" a yell, he's up your way and may be able to help you find a good pan?