Seat recovering

[czac]

Anyone here buy a seat cover off ebay and put it on? if so, was it hard? how do they go on? staples??

[Ghostv2]

As far as i know you just stretch it over the seat and staple it in place.
Now if you are looking for a custom job or just a professional seat recovering contact MRS.MOSH, check out her work.
http://www.3wheelerworld.com/showthread.php/117039-Cosmic-Quads-custom-seats-and-covers...8-years-worth-of-work-in-here

[kb0nly]

What model you working on? The difficulty really depends on that. I have recovered a few 200ES seats now, they are the easiest because they have a plastic seat pan that you can staple to. I just use my electric stapler and some short staples to make sure they don't go through. The 1/4" usually work and 3/8" will to, but don't go any longer than that. If you have one with a metal seat pan they arent impossible but they are a pain, have done a few of them also...

A tip... Put the seat cover in the clothes dryer on high heat for say 10-15 mins. That will make it nice and soft and flexible, as if it was sitting in the hot summer sun. Then they go on like butter!

[jb2wheels]

Yes - I've done a bunch. Sometimes with eBay covers, sometimes with raw vinyl.

I've been fortunate - most pans/seats I've done have a plastic pan except the first ATC70 and the ATC90 I did.

Heat, staples, and patience. If you need foam repair, buy complete foam or pay a real pro like Mrs. Mosh to do it.

After all these seats, I paid Mrs Mosh to make a fantastic seat for my 2nd 350X. New desert foam, red cover, gorgeous! My work pales in comparison.

I've used a regular, spring loaded T50 stapler until my last seat for which I bought a Harbor Freight air powered T50 stapler for like $20. Worth every penny for me. Should have bought it earlier.

This ATC70 seat was the first. It needed foam repair from being a K9 chew toy. If I had to do it again, I would buy new foam. It came out OK, but not a pro job and I could always tell the foam wasn't quite right. This had the stock metal pan good retention tabs. This was an eBay cover from joemama1931.

182495

182496

182497

182498

I can't remember the story on this ATC90 seat but it was probably an eBay cover. I did this but this seat was a PITA. No real pan, just a 1/8 around the back and some damn near impossible to find brackets on the side.

182507

Then, I did the seat on the red 200X in these pics. Foam was OK and I had some blue vinyl from another project. Not even a pre-fabbed cover. The back corners and the front kick-up were tough.

I paid a local boat seat shop to do the cover on the white 200X Foam needed repair and I had no more vinyl. It came out satisfactory but I always felt I would have been happier with an eBay cover and a little foam patching of my own. Which is why I did the 350X seat below myself.

182499

182500

I did this 350X seat with an eBay cover. Can't remember who I got it from but was likely the cheapest with a gripper seat and either joemamma or hc-camo. I like this seat. Came out real nice. Foam did not need major repairs. I hate foam reapairs - I just don't have the tools or the knack for it.

182501

I paid a different shop to put an eBay (joemama1931) cover on this TRX70 seat. The foam had an elbow sized hole in it. I paid about $60 not including the cover.
It came out OK but I could always tell where the repair was:

182502

This is the same TRX70 with a red fender and a different seat. I love this seat. Foam had a few minor imperfections but the pleats and a little extra padding cover it up. I did this with an eBay (joemama1931) cover.

182503

182504

I did this Tecate seat with an eBay cover, too. Normally, the colors are reversed (black gripper top, green bottom) but I asked the seller (hc-camo-seating) to reverse it and they did at no extra cost. Foam was good enough. This one came out great, too, I thought. The whole Tecate was nice

182505

I did this ATC70 seat. The cover, foam, and plastic pan were brand new in a pile of 70 parts I bought - source unknown. It came out good but 70 seats aren't to hard.

182506

Wow - that's a lot of seats. Funny how they add up. A crappy seat is a great bargaining point when I buy one - and of the 16 or 17 3 wheelers I've had in the past few years, only 3 had good seats.

Wow #2 - everything on this list is sold and gone except the 350X.

[Flyingw]

HEAT IS YOUR FREIND. Get a hair drier. Heat the cover as you go. Night and day warm vs cool material. This is a tip brought to you by Mr. and Mrs. Mosh. They are the seat cover experts. They said in a seat recovering tutorial several years ago heat was your friend and they were spot on. Pin loosely N - S - E -W. Heat the cover in the area you're working on and start pulling tight and stapling down. A fine wire stapler is preferred but a crown staple will work. Just be sure to double the material over before stapling. Stretch the material in the corners to form a nice tidy corner. Heat, lots of heat in the corners.

[czac]

Great Info guys! thanks!
Heat... I didn't even think of that!

JB, Awesome array of machines there! Good job on restoring them!!

[JasonB]

Mrs Mosh does awesome work, they have made me a handful of covers and even did a complete seat for my air cooler that i sent off to them. be careful with the ebay covers, i did one for my 250sx and it came out great but I have an 85R seat and ebay cover in my shop right now that wont work together because the material is junk. otherwise, a 15$ staple gun from home depot and some patience and you're good to go! Theres youtube videos out there about this im positive that would explain all the doubt away for you on where/how to start as well.

[czac]

ok I got the cover...the instructions that came with it say to use 3/16" staples... I looked in home depot... none to be found. what size staples do you all use? I even went and looked at their Air staplers and they were like 1" and up. That's my biggest complaint about stores like this... they only carry what will sell to everyone, they stay away from stuff that might only sell once a year. Would it really hurt to carry a couple boxes of smaller staples? lol maybe get rid of some of the flowers and garden crap and sell some real man stuff! lol

[Mosh]

You want to use the shallowest staple so it does not penetrate thru the pan and tear up your foam. Get a stanley powershot front trigger stapler for a one time job. DO NOT use those crown staples for construction work. They are too long and go 1/2 inch up into your foam.

[czac]

Thanks Mosh... I have the Power shot but the smallest staple around here I can find are 1/4" think its too big? they left enough material to fold over so that can take up some space...

[Dirtweed]

I recovered one by myself and won't do it again. Mine (ATC110) went to Mrs. Mosh a couple of weeks ago, can't wait to get it back.

Good luck on the recover.

[czac]

I think Yamaha made their seat pans out of Kryptonite... I couldn't get the staples to go through it. lol went and bought a new stapler to see if I can get it done tonight! lol

[Fireman942]

Anyone ever done a 200e? Hoping its easy like the 200es.

[czac]

I think Yamaha made their seat pans out of Kryptonite... I couldn't get the staples to go through it. lol went and bought a new stapler to see if I can get it done tonight! lol

I ended up getting the Electric powershot stapler, it worked! I used the smallest staple I could find which were 3/8" they didn't go through the seat as far as I can see... the seat cover went on fairly well, I got one wrinkle in it that I could not work out. but I think over time the covering my stretch to fit it nicely.it looks a million times nicer with a seat that's in one piece with no duct tape on it....lol

[Turbeau]

I put the seat cover on using a hand stapler. I threw the new seat cover in the dryer to get it nice and loose and stretched it over the foam and stapled it in place. I don't think an industrial stapler is necessary. My seat cover has been on my 85' 200x for over a year now and I am happy with it.

[McIII]

I have a 1985 250 ES that is needing a new seat cover. The problem is, that the plastic seat pan over time, has drawn up on the gas tank end. The suction cups now are about 1 to 1 1/4" away from the tank. Can the seat be heated and bent back in shape? Has anyone seen this before?

[jb2wheels]

Yes and yes - but on a 200X. Heat and bend. Hold in place while it cools.

[UPNATM]

I have a 1985 250 ES that is needing a new seat cover. The problem is, that the plastic seat pan over time, has drawn up on the gas tank end. The suction cups now are about 1 to 1 1/4" away from the tank. Can the seat be heated and bent back in shape? Has anyone seen this before?

Over time it seems like the original seat upholstery shrinks causing the pan to flip up away from the tank. I also had the same problem with my seat pan. I took my pan, pulled the foam off, and then turned the pan upside down on the garage floor and put a cinder block on it, where is sat for over a week. Its not to say it wont happen again down the road, but it now sits flush against the tank.

[MattDragontamer]

As stated, USE HEAT and an extra pair of strong hands will help.

When i do seats, I bring everything to the laundry room, throw the cover in the dryer for about 20 mins. (time may vary)
While that is heating I use a little krazy glue to place the foam on the pan. This will keep it from moving.
I then get a heat gun going to heat it up and staple gun at the ready. (Some pans do not require staples. Like the atc 70s...
When the 20 mins are up, I quickly but carefully pull the covering over the foam and pan.
Start with your sides, then rear, then front.
Get your helper to keep heat on the material and help staple as you pull the material in place.
As it cools, it should harden, and voila, you have recovered a seat.

Now, to be clear... Mistakes do happen... Live and learn. Be ready to do it twice. :)

[czac]

and before you do anything, make sure your staple gun will shoot staples through your seat pan. Mine wouldn't so I had to go buy a new one. Which is ok because anytime I get to upgrade a tool is a good time! lol