Sep/090
Seat Covering
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:
- Put it on in one piece, leaving no join lines but having a large number of creases – some possibly on the bottom also.
- 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!
Aug/090
Carbon Fibre Fitting & Seat Filling
Today I got underway with the carbon fibre vinyl. I wanted it around the bottom of the rear side of the cockpit. After unrolling it, I cut a piece wide enough for the section. Making sure there was enough to overlap the edges by about 1-1.5cm. I began by peeling off 2 or 3 inches of the vinyl and pressing it onto the surface. I used a smooth cloth to press over the vinyl, taking out any air and possible bubbles. I continued to remove the plastic backing until the whole sheet was pressed tightly to the surface.
I cut a 45 degree angle in the corners, so the edges could fold underneath the cockpit, this would mean no join line at all. The corners also folded nearly together because of the angled cut. At the front edge, I cut just before the start of the rounded edge. I just used a ruler for a straight edge.
I did the same for the opposite side, and then started on the back. The back would only overlap on the bottom, not the sides. It would site over the top of the two side pieces, keeping them in place tightly.
I decided to Duck Tape underneath. This will keep the vinyl firmly in place and provide a small amount of grip on the floor also. Duck tape just doesn’t move so theres 0% chance of the vinyl peeling off now the tape is covering the edges.
Then I moved onto the seat once again. I had previously cut it down, gotten rid of the excess, but now I wanted to fill any cracks and gaps. I used expanding foam for this. I squirted this into all the major cracks and also used it to build up the sides a bit – I wanted the seat to look more even than it did. This foam will expand massively, and I will need to cut and/or sand it off once its dried – usually takes about 45 minutes.
I’ve put everything away now as it was too dark to work, but tomorrow I will set about cutting the excess foam off and leaving myself with a more solid, rigid and symmetrical seat.
Aug/090
Seat Moulded, Dried, Bag removed, Cut to size.
I got up nice and early this morning to get to work on the seat. It had been curing for about 13 hours overnight. More than enough time.
I pulled the seat out of the car, noticing a few obvious cracks – off the main structure, creases were minimal. It looked good!
I pulled at the bag near the back edge of the seat and it peeled off nicely, I made a cut with a knife and began pulling the bag off the main seat. The bag removed quickly and easily, apart from those few obvious areas where cracks had appeared.
Cracks appear because the bag is folded inside itself, basically bag to bag, there are removable before finally moulding, however its difficult to remove all of them and also in this case it wouldn’t matter – the support for me is nowhere near the cracks.
The main area of the seat was pretty much crease free, a nice smooth flowing surface moulded to my shape. And no cracks in sight. The bottom front edge of the seat had a fairly big chunk that was removed, but the rest of the bottom is completely flat and support/rocking/movement is absolutely not an issue. The seat fits completely snug and firm in place.
I cut away the excess on the sides and top, in stages. The foam was too thick to go through in one cut, so I removed it in small squares and then took the top off the remaining parts.
For those cracks at the bottom, I’m going to fill those with some sort of filler, which I have yet to decide on. The cracks don’t really matter, but its just for my own piece of mind and to make the seat covering easier. Once I receive the suede, and the seat is covered, there will be no problems and the seat will look great.
Check out the pictures, there’s a massive difference between the removal of bag stage to the final seat shape. The seat feels comfy, and I could sit there for hours without a problem, this is definitely the way to go, for anyone. Let’s just hope I don’t put on any weight!
All I can say to anyone moulding their own seat is to:
- Take your time
- Be careful
- Test beforehand
- Follow the instructions as best as you can.
If you rush into it all, it will go wrong, I almost guarantee it. You will end up mixing the resin wrong, or not kneading the beads for long enough, or not staying in the seat for long enough, cutting it to shape too soon, and worst of all you will end up with major cracks, separations and creases over the main area of the seat. If this happens, its not worth using. So, as I say – take your time.
Aug/090
Seat Moulding Process
Well, that didn’t take quite as long as I expected it to! After doing a couple of further test runs with the seat mould/vacuum, the actual final mould only took about 45 minutes.
I decided to add some space inhibitors to the bottom of the cockpit. I got them from a Supermarket (they use them at the back of the fridges occasionally). I used it for the same thing here, basically to take up space inside the cockpit, so the seat’s beads could be used for moulding and not wasted filling right to the edges of the cockpit.
I did a test run with these installed and it worked far better than it had done previously. Then I decided to go for the final run.
Firstly, I let all the air out of the bag using the valve, which let the beads completely loose. I then proceeded to mix the resin. The kit provides the exact amounts of hardener and resin – 400ml and 600ml respectively. Pour the hardener in first, followed by the resin. This is thicker and will sink to the bottom. Then I mixed it all for 5 minutes. From the point of mixing, you have approximately 1 hour before the seat is too hard to work with.
Next, I removed the valve from the bag by a simple twist and pull. I lifted the hole over the centre of the bag/beads and began pouring in the liquid using the jug and funnel, making sure not to get the resin on the bag itself. This doesn’t matter, but its best to hit the beads directly rather than pouring it down the sides of the bag.
Next, I spent 15 minutes kneading the bag, mixing up the mix right into the beads. I pushed the corners into the middle of the bag to be sure they were all coated. There is a slight colour to the mix – a light grey, so you can clearly see which beads have been coated and which haven’t. The feeling of the beads was now totally different. They felt far more dense.
I placed more beads on the bottom of the bag, and fewer for the back. Then I placed it into the cockpit. I got in, and got comfy. Then, for the final vacuum. It really tightened up this time. I sat in the cockpit for 1 hour and 25 minutes total. After about 25 minutes or so the seat started to get really hot. And after about 45 minutes it was pretty darn hot. Not burning hot, just hot hot. 
I got out of the cockpit and the seat looked great. I will now leave it overnight to properly harden and cure. Tomorrow, I will begin sanding, cutting and removing the excess that isn’t needed.
On Monday, I will receive the suede I have ordered to cover it. Black Faux Suede from Ebay, it cost me £9 plus shipping – £13 total. Very reasonable. This will be stuck on with the adhesive spray I have.
I have also ordered some suitcase catches, which will keep the two halves of the cockpit together, and will look really good.
Anyway, enough rambling, check out the pics!