Seat Covering

[View with PicLens]

Firstly, sorry for the lack of updates recently, I’ve been stupidly busy with other stuff and only got around to doing the seat covering tonight.  Unfortunately, from this blog post, there won’t be another until the 17th September. I’m busy until Monday and I go on holiday on Tuesday for 8 days so there will be no progress.

Anyway, down to the seat covering details.

I used black faux suede to cover the seat and a heavy duty spray adhesive to stick it on. I would warn you, this spray is like nothing I’ve ever seen or used, it is incredibly sticky. Get it on your clothes, you will not get it off. Don’t breathe it in – it literally takes your breath away. It’s difficult to direct so make sure everything around is covered with a sheet.  After finishing I think I probably had about 10% of the can left, so go easy when applying it.

The first thing I did was to put the whole piece of suede over the seat and figure out the best way to cover it. I had two options:

1. Put it on in one piece, leaving no join lines but having a large number of creases – some possibly on the bottom also.
2. Put it on in sections, making cuts/slits through the fabric, overlaying it. This would leave a few lines where it overlaps, but there would be no creases and no air pockets in the fabric.

I chose option two.

I decided to cover the sides first, one at a time. So I cut a section from the fabric. Enough to cover the length with a 2 inch overlap at either end and an inch or so at the bottom, with 3 inches at the top. Initially I sprayed the adhesive onto the seat itself and pushed the fabric on. But before long I realised it was better to spray the fabric.  This adhesive is so strong that it melts the seat, if you spray it too closely to the seat, it will be very concentrated, you can push your finger right into the seat, it’s like marshmallow. I found it better to spray it from about 12 inches away. This gave a better covering as well.  I also found it better to push the Suede on with the palm of my hand to prevent indenting the seat. I made sure there were no creases and bubbles.

Down the inside edge of the seat I cut the fabric where the creases would lie. I sprayed the edge first and stuck it down and then sprayed each individual cut and stuck them down. Each overlapping the next.

I completed the other side. This takes longer than you would expect and I would suggest using two people. I got my dad to help with mine. One person to stretch the material and the other to press it on. Be careful as the adhesive also melts the fabric if you apply too much!

I decided to stick the middle section on in one piece. I cut this roughly to size with enough material to overlap the edges by about 4 inches.

I stuck the back down first, and then the bottom. After that, I stuck either leg section down.  The sides of the middle section were still completely unstuck and full of creases. I used exactly the same process as I did for the sides. Cut along the creases and stuck each cut piece down, followed by the next which would overlap it.

The seat is now covered. It looks fantastic, pictures don’t do it justice. They show up the smallest of floors. Remember that space inhibitors are used down the side, inside the cockpit, so the sides, front and back of the seat will not be seen – only the main area. Which is near perfect.

Now the seat is finished, I can say this is definitely the way to go. It’s super comfortable, looks fantastic and wasn’t much more expensive than buying a bucket seat – which isn’t moulded!