Anybody know how to shape foam for an atv seat?

[Hoosier_Daddy]

I put a classified that I was looking for 350X seat foam. Couple guys told me I was better off getting new foam. Well, not a problem except, they listed 2 companies. Ceet and Hi Flite. Ceet emailed me back and said they no longer have the foam, only covers. So, Ceet has apparently bowed out on this one. Hi Flites offices are closed til Monday so I can't get a price. Their website has no prices. (few things in life bother me nore then hidden prices) So, I'll have to wait until Monday just to get a price from Hi Flite.

Then it dawned on me that the foam itself it extremely easy to find. The problem is, how the heck would a person go about shaping it? Does it take special tools or is there any tricks from any of you trike veterans on how to shape some foam to have new foam for your seat?

[Vealmonkey]

Do you have an electric turkey carving knife? That's the best way to get a basic shape. Then the pros use one of the large grinders with the grinding wheel of their choice. The electric carving knife works like a charm. Get extra foam and practice a couple cuts on the extra. Also, get yourself a nice stiff high density foam, way better than the stock soft stuff. Just my opinion on the high density foam though.

[AutoXer]

Sawzall!!!!! nice long blade so you get a even cut

[4cylinders]

hey, two votes for elec carving knife.

[ironchop]

yep...carving knife...then I used a angled die grinder with a 2 inch 80 grit disc

go very lightly with the sanding disc as too much pressure will "grab" the foam and take out a big chunk

I used the foam from some couch cushions I found on the side of the road on heavy trash day....usually the cushions were big enough to cut the seat foam out of diagonally

[Hoosier_Daddy]

Thanks for the advice guys. I'll give it a shot.

[3Razors]

I would just wait and order it from Hi-Flite. If I remember right it was $50-75 for the foam. It will be very hard to take a blank block of foam and mold it to the contours of the seatpan. It would more than likely be ill-looking and not fit right. Hi-Flite also sells the desert seat kit for the 350X which from former reviews is a hot setup for it.

[old-yellow]

you can get a seat foam kit from Dennis kirk, as for shaping use a electric carving knife and shape it to what shape you need and then sand it like Vealmonkey and ironchop said to.

Here's the link
http://www.denniskirk.com/jsp/product_catalog/Product.jsp;jsessionid=3MH4XBPRC10U3LA0WTISM4VMDK0 OWIV0?store=Main&skuId=450524

Alex

[Mosh]

Even if you get the top somewhat uniform in shape, you wouldnt get the bottom cut to fit the pan.
There are many voids in the pan that the foam has to set down in,and carving those would be a nightmare.

I said this somewhere before in another thread.

Watercooled 250R foam is almost a direct fit in the 350x pan;) .
It will just be shaped like a 250R seat.
If you want to raise your 350X foam higher,use the 86 R foam..If you want the stock height of the 350X use the 85 R foam.
Much easier to find R foams used, cheaply, in good shape.

This silver and black seat is a 350x pan with 86 R foam shaved down, for drag racing.

http://www.cosmicquads.com/8482.html

[Hoosier_Daddy]

Even if you get the top somewhat uniform in shape, you wouldnt get the bottom cut to fit the pan.
There are many voids in the pan that the foam has to set down in,and carving those would be a nightmare.

I said this somewhere before in another thread.

Watercooled 250R foam is almost a direct fit in the 350x pan;) .
It will just be shaped like a 250R seat.
If you want to raise your 350X foam higher,use the 86 R foam..If you want the stock height of the 350X use the 85 R foam.
Much easier to find R foams used, cheaply, in good shape.

This silver and black seat is a 350x pan with 86 R foam shaved down, for drag racing.

http://www.cosmicquads.com/8482.html
Great tip. Thank you so much. I also love your tutorial on how to put a new cover on the seat as well. You guys do damn good work.

[Bigbore]

“Do it right! or you’ll need to do it again!” Someone told me that 25 years ago and it’s the truth.

Just wait until Monday and pay Hi-Flite $125 for the seat cover and foam.

You can get the seat cover in almost any color and they're quality can't be beat. They're foam is perfect, the cover material is twice as thick as OEM and it's all double stitched. I’ve never had to replace one of they’re covers. Even the auto upholstery shop that puts on my covers says “he couldn’t do half as good for twice as much”. And they do show cars.

[dcreel]

Heres the reply I got from Hi-Flite a while back for one of their covers.

"Thank you for contacting Hi-Flite. Yes we do still make this seat in both the standard and desert version. Pricing is $119.95 for the standard foam and cover and $129.95 for the desert style foam and over plus shipping and handling and sales tax if you are in California. Current lead time is 7 to 10 business days and we accept Visa, MC and American Express.

Best Regards and looking forward to hearing from you.

Hi-Flite"

This was for a Tecate seat. I have 2 CEET seats, and I really like the Hi-Flite seats better.