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Recommend me an upholstery tool
- Thread starter Downeaster
- Start date
I've watched the pros on Youtube, they don't glue to the foam. Actually they do the total opposite. They use a thin white quilting material, Walmart had it and probably still do, very thin, like 1/4". This quilting material is laid over the foam before the vinyl. This allows the vinyl to move freely (slip slide) from the foam, it also smooths imperfections in the foam and buffers any rough areas. I've seen this quilting material in MC seats and other upholstery that I've disassembled. It's laid on oversized and trimmed after the vinyl is attached to the pan.
Attaching the vinyl........basically you want to get a good guess on the middle sides and staple with one staple on each side. Then stretch and staple the front and back with one or two staples. Then go back to the sides, stretch and fasten about 6" apart both sides. All the while looking to see if the cover is in a good position, you can change anything. When it's in the right place pull and staple away like an inch apart.
I've only done 1 seat. I did attach the foam to the seat base with "Sprayway Fast Tack 55". That's what it's made for. On the top of the foam I used a rubber membrane, just on the top not the sides. Theory was to if I got caught in the rain water would not soak into the seat. If it did with the sides not covered in rubber it could dry out. It's been a few years and so far so good. I have been caught in a few rain storms. One in Iowa that was a boot filler. Seat worked great, no wet ass when setting on it the next day.
Gotta say........gluing to the foam makes no sense, especially with that kind of contact cement. You'll have one chance to get the cover positioned and any stretching and pulling will distort the foam.
You glue the foam to the seat base not the cover. Just like the factory did it.
Glue......foam to seat pan, foam to foam, yes.
On stitched covers I've seen a layer of plastic sheet between the foam and the cover.
Me too. On my original it had that, my replacement didn't that's why I used a thin sheet of rubber.
I used clips (12) Home Depot @ .99 ea, Mailman used clothespins. Stretch and clip, repeat around the rim, repeat, repeat...repeat until you like it before gluing the cover. I didn't use any glue. Yamaha used glue in a few spots on the original seat foam. These clips are very handy in the shop/home anyway.
My Jetski Seat had a plastic like wrap between the cover and the foam. I'm guessing for rain water intrusion. Friend flipped it in the ocean and ski was turned over for 30 minutes. Foam soaked in 5lbs of water so I had to pull it apart to dry it. The foam if soaked does not float as well and the foam boyancy helps right the jetski back up if it flips. It is a very long seat (3 person) so in the middle there is an opening in the foam to pull a string down to the back. There are 2 of those. I did the method like MrTwoWheel says where I tacked down the sides to keep it straight, then front back then progressively closed the gaps on the staples. Had ski 2 more years and never could anyone tell it was reworked. I had to use stainless staples cause of the salt water.
I have a metric shit-ton of those in various sizes. Not sure I'd have thought of using them in this application, so thanks!
Great video and obviously the guy never did that before… 
Never seen that video before, but I’ve had a few of Weston’s seats. His work is top shelf stuff.
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