With that said, you can see I took the cheap and easy way out by opting for a 'stretch and staple' build rather than the traditional custom 'bun' set up. I did this because I do not have the tools, experience nor the patience needed to properly cut and shape a seat bun from a solid lump of foam. I believe a pro would go the solid foam bun route shaping with an electric carving knife etc. but thankfully, I'm not burdened with these skills (clearly)!
For obvious reasons, this hack only applies to the models with the PLASTIC seat pan!
The ride:
1982 GL500
The problem:
Seat cover is torn up (partial repair by PO makes it worse!)
Seat is too high
Seat is too wide
Seat design is ugly IMO
The plan:
Reduce seat height 1 1/2" - 2"
Reduce see width as much as possible
Spend as little $$ as possible
Reuse existing seat pan
Avoid complex pattern making and stitching
For all you impatient bastiges like myself, here's a cheesy before and after:
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)Here's where I started, filling in the 'dimples' in the seat pan. This would not be needed when using molded seat bun or stiffer padding. I did this to reduce the possibility of feeling the low spots through the thinner than original padding. Note that I'm using 3M spray adhesive - this stuff is awesome!
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)Next comes the padding in two layers. The first layer (white) is fairly stiff fiber stuff and will be the foundation layer. the second layer (green) is softer and far more flexible and should keep the general shape nice and smooth.
I position the first layer of padding to size it up. This is a pre-cut square of medium density poly fiber pad. This was labeled as "mildew resistant - outdoor" for repairing boat/tractor seat cushion.
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)Then the next layer, your basic medium density poly foam pad also labeled 'mildew resistant - outdoor type.
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)Spray glue strip should keep things squared up the middle. I did this because I was planning to make most of the fabric 'pulls' side-to-side rather than front-to-back in order to sculpt the seat shape. Not shown is a dusting of spray glue on the seat pan.
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)OK, now here's where the fun starts - the wrap and shaping. I struggled with this for a while as I could not seem to get the stiff fabric wrapped in the shape I wanted. After watching me wrestle with this like a retard, I was finally saved by my girlfriend (again!). She came up with a brilliant plan to use Vet wrap to 'strap' the foam down and develop the shape. What the heck is Vet wrap? Well it's a gauze like material that is coated with sticky latex (we buy it at Farm & Fleet in the Equine section). We usually have several rolls on hand in case one of our Greyhounds bang up their legs. It worked great for this because it stretches easily, allowing for aggressive shaping by having some areas tighter than others AND it sticks to itself! No glue or staples needed to hold it in position.
Here' the first few wraps with the Vet wrap. You can see a basic shape forming....
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)This image shows an important step - Once padding is set in place, you should add a single thin layer of fabric to smooth things out BEFORE you attach the final seat cover. This first layer of fabric will allow the final seat cover layer to slide around without 'grabbing' and bunching the foam (or vet wrap in our case). This is shown below with an additional strip of fake lambswool which was initially added to smooth the butt area across the middle. I later decided to eliminate this strip because it could be seen/felt beneath the final seat cover layer.
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)OK, getting a little long winded here, I'm going to paste in a bunch of images showing the rest of the fabric fitting and wrapping. Note that we also have purple vet wrap underneath - we used about four rolls of the stuff (about $1.50 per roll). If you try this 'stretch and staple' routine, remember to start stapling in the center of one side, then move to the center of the opposite side - do not start with criss-cross staples at corners - that will only lead you to wrinkle city. AND REMEMBER, always cut fabric way bigger than needed - you can always trim the excess!!
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)So here's the finished product - not too shabby. Feels good and very minor wrinkles which should come out with some sun and seat time.
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)So, about 300 miles later....
I've decided that overall, it turned out pretty good. The seat is comfy considering the reduction in padding (seat height is maybe 2 inches lower across the middle), but still too wide for my liking. I thought that I could get the seat narrow enough by reducing the amount of padding that wrapped around the sides of the seat pan, but I discovered that the real issue is that the stock seat pan is too darn wide for my 34" waistline! So for now, this seat hack will have to do until I can get the time and budget to make an new seat starting from a custom (narrower) seat pan.
Cheers!
