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Scratch-Built Seat Noob

  • Thread starter Thread starter MisterCinders
  • Start date Start date
Will post pics of new form when finished. The fiberglass atrocity is in the trash.
 
Round 2 on this project.

After discarding the abomination of my first attempt, I finished fabbing up a new form last night. Taped it up and laid plenty of wax on it.

Here are some pics:

7335949042_fe894337a9.jpg


7335949892_a8ca82ae57.jpg


7335950164_090aa9fbe6.jpg


It's pretty close to the shape I used before, but I ditched the lower curves to make it easier to pull apart when the glass sets up. The angle in the back will still require some butchering of the foam, but whatevs.

Tonight, I'll pick up some more materials and take another crack it the glassing process. Fingers crossed . . . .
 
So I am soaking up more information about the resin hardener puzzle. One thing I cannot get a lead on is working time. In a decent temp (75 degrees F?), roughly how long do you have to work with resin once the hardener is mixed in?
 
Round two of the glassing went much better. Here are some progress pics:

7156863847_ea80f3845e.jpg



7342067162_7b964b4711.jpg



7342066962_d24f9905cc.jpg



7156863443_62e1f13a23.jpg



Still some hiccups this time, but those should be easy to clean up with a skim coat of Bondo.

Now I need to puzzle out how best to upholster the seat. I might try to make a seat insert from some 1/4 inch MDF and fiberglass to which I can add padding and vinyl. I could resin/epoxy in 3-4 carriage bolts to act as studs that would pass through the seat pan to be secured by nuts on the bottom to attach it to the seat pan.

Other thoughts?
 
Looking good. I doubt I'll do any fiberglass work on my bike but I'm having fun learning the process with you. ;)
 
I might try to make a seat insert from some 1/4 inch MDF and fiberglass to which I can add padding and vinyl
Click to expand...

It is not necessary to do that and it may even be counterproductive. It will add weight, raise the seat height and probably make the seat harder.

If your glassing is good the seat is your pan and all you need to construct is the pad. There are numerous types of padding materials but I find the best to be close cell foam as used in garden "kneeler pads". They are much like neoprene rubber in texture (spongy) and fairly firm when about 1.5" to 2" thick. For extra comfort you can add other materials in combination (maybe like rubber waffle available from medical supply stores for folks in wheelchairs). You may have to try several things until you find comfort. Once you find the pad, cover in vinyl and on the underside glue on some woven material like the stuff used to cover speaker boxes in custom rides. Glue down some velcro tape on the seat and the pad will stay in place but will come off if you want to remove it.

Fixing the seat to the frame can be done a number of ways too. Bolts glassed in to the bottom of the pan that then go through holes drilled in the frame is likely easiest. Take a run down to Home Depot or Lowes and you might find several other ideas. That's what I usually do.

One thing about these seats, they are very hard and can cause severe injury to your butt, legs and or lower spine so make sure you have adequate padding.

Good luck with it.
Spyug
 
spyug said:
It is not necessary to do that and it may even be counterproductive. It will add weight, raise the seat height and probably make the seat harder.

If your glassing is good the seat is your pan and all you need to construct is the pad. There are numerous types of padding materials but I find the best to be close cell foam as used in garden "kneeler pads". They are much like neoprene rubber in texture (spongy) and fairly firm when about 1.5" to 2" thick. For extra comfort you can add other materials in combination (maybe like rubber waffle available from medical supply stores for folks in wheelchairs). You may have to try several things until you find comfort. Once you find the pad, cover in vinyl and on the underside glue on some woven material like the stuff used to cover speaker boxes in custom rides. Glue down some velcro tape on the seat and the pad will stay in place but will come off if you want to remove it.

Fixing the seat to the frame can be done a number of ways too. Bolts glassed in to the bottom of the pan that then go through holes drilled in the frame is likely easiest. Take a run down to Home Depot or Lowes and you might find several other ideas. That's what I usually do.

One thing about these seats, they are very hard and can cause severe injury to your butt, legs and or lower spine so make sure you have adequate padding.

Good luck with it.
Spyug
Click to expand...

To attach the seat to the frame, I will use the seat hinges already there. That's how I attached my current seat.

I hear you on the pad/covering, but wont the pad need some kind of stiff backing to securely stretch/fit the vinyl over the foam?
 
but wont the pad need some kind of stiff backing to securely stretch/fit the vinyl over the foam?
Click to expand...

Not really. There are good glues that will stick anything to anything else but if you are sceptical, you could use a sheet of 1/8" "fiberboard", "doorskin" or something like that, even cardboard. You can glue or staple to that.

I guess it all depends on the shape you are going for. Here's a picture of my Tracker. The pad was done in marine vinyl and its just wrapped around the padding and glued to the underside. Its pretty ghetto but I wasn't concerned about a concours piece of padding.

rightside1.jpg


Hope that helps.
spyug
 
After plenty of bondo work and sanding, I have a couple coats of primer on the pan.

7348780418_c766244297.jpg


7348780242_b0f8502921.jpg


The surface smoothed out nicely with some 400 grit. Still one or two small chips/dings that I missed with the glazing putty, but I am moving forward with seat padding and vinyl now, and figuring out a good tail-light.

I don't want to do another cat-eye, but do want to mount the light on the rear surface, to break that up a bit.

Maybe a simple round light mounted flush or a pair of small rounds in there would be best. Might flirt with a Lucas style or even a tombstone, if I can get a better handle on their size and shape than just pictures on the Internet.

Any other suggestions?
 
Mine has Series Land Rover tail lights, got a set when I had my landy for about ?15 and used the old ones which weren't that bad.
 
If only I had a spare Land Rover at hand . . .

Actually some pics of that would be sexy.
 
Sideways again, I know, sorry, I don't have the pictures on my computer and don't know how to take them off flikr to edit them, but you get the idea. That tail will be going soon, but not to worry purists, everything will be able to go back to stock.


Image0227 by EvilEnfield, on Flickr
 
Those look tres chic, my man.

Probably can find something pretty close to those.
 
I don't know off hand, I'll let you know for sure tomorrow but I think 1 3/4", as for the chrome rings, I hadn't even noticed them, seems strange because the land rover they came off was a shed, maybe the PO had tried to pretty it up at some point and started (and finished) with the tail lights?
 
Just ordered a pair of the lights. Too cheap not to really.
 
Ugh, made special trip to a marine supply joint in town, but they don't keep any vinyl in stock. So I had to order some via Amazon.

Sucks living in a huge city, yet frequently cannot find things locally without a lot of legwork.

NBD, I have a yard of the standard black vinyl coming in AND a yard of some tan/faux leather vinyl. Been thinking about a Brit Green/White color scheme, and I think a tan seat might pop nicely.
 
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