79 Invader seat cover help

[IraqvetUSMC]

So I have decided to tackle recovering the seat myself. I picked up a 3' x 54" sheet of marine vinyl and I am going to recover the seat myself. I have no template to go off of, after riding my sled this winter the seat cover annilated itself and just fell apart in big sections altogether while riding it. My question is, is their anyway to recover the seat and follow the contour without having a big air pocket due to the rear of the seat backing being higher than where you sit? I would imagine I could buy a piece of foam to level the seat out and that would work but if anyone has done this with making it fit halfway decent that would be great. Thanks

[Gilson435]

Here are some premade ones you should check out.
http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_odkw=kawasaki+snowmobile&_from=R40&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0.H0.Xkawasaki+snowmobile+seat+cover.TRS1&_nkw=kawasaki+snowmobile+seat+cover&ghostText=&_sacat=0

[IraqvetUSMC]

Thanks for the reply bud. I am keeping it cheap with my $15 piece of marine vinyl and I don't know how to sew lol. $100 for a seat cover is to expensive for me for a 79 Invader lol.

[rminier]

 I had to perform a similar repair to my Invaders seat a few years ago. My upholstery skills suck. I just used a piece of vinyl to wrap around the front part of the seat, where the driver sits. I didn't even attempt to cover the compound curves of the stepped up back part of the seat. The good, old black duct tape had to do for a couple cracks in that area.
  The front 2/3 of the seat actually turned out pretty decent, if I may say so.
  I used a razor blade to cut up partway at the front corners of the vinyl, then wrapped the front of the seat kinda like wrapping a Christmas present. The places where I cut the new vinyl at the front corners overlapped, and once I had stapled the vinyl all around it didn't look half bad. I stopped the cuts at the front corners of the seat just before they would have become visible at the top of the seat.
  I was ready to start an upholstery shop...
  I don't know what to tell you about the back half of the seat...that will be a bear. Perhaps you could make the same kind of cuts in the vinyl at the back corners. Trouble is, they won't be hidden by the gas tank like the front corners are. But, it would be better than trying to "scrunch" everything up at the back corners.
  Good Luck!

[Gilson435]

I once made an entire seat cover on a 71 Polaris Charger with a role of red duct tape It actually turned out pretty good and lasted a few years as a rider and still looked good when I sold it

[IraqvetUSMC]

I think I understand what you are talking about with the front of the seat cover. From what I envision, you are making a straight line cut where the front corners are and the cut goes straight & towards the corners of the foam and you are laying the vinyl over the other rather than pinching it at the corners and trying to staple through that. I was thinking I could also go back to the craft store and buy a block of foam & use a meat carving knife to carve a contour and that would eliminate having a stepped up part and it would look as if the seat was just a flat rectangle. However the hillbilly duct tape approach sounds much easier lol. Or maybe do like you said and cover the front 2/3 and then cover the step and glue the section where the step up is onto the front cover ( I am sure that would hold wortha crap though haha).

[Gilson435]

Here she is

[rminier]

  I bet you could do the front of the seat like I did, and use the vinyl to extend to the back edge of the seat. Putting some foam to smooth the transition to the raised part of the seat would sure help. You could pull the vinyl tightly from front to back, and staple it to the underside of the seat base. I bet it would look pretty good if you just carefully trimmed the vinyl to be even and stop at the back. I wouldn't bother with the back end of the seat, above the tailight. I wouldn't have a clue how to include covering that part, and wrapping it around the back corners.
 
 Gilson435...that looks pretty darned good. Can't beat the "100 MPH" tape.

[Gilson435]

I wrapped it around the entire seat the long way front to back, then wrapped it all the way around across the seat to give it that factory pleated look LOL!! It worked anyway

[IraqvetUSMC]

That tape is extra special, that's the 120 mph tape hahaha. From the picture it looks factory lol. I would almost have to cut it out around the storage compartment like the stock seat cover was. To me their seems to be no way to staple the seat cover and not have that air pocket where the raise in the foam is unless it was cut & sewed like in the pictures of the seat covers on ebay or by placing a section of foam to raise it up and take up the space. I think the idea of covering the 2/3 like you did and then covering the back raise with a separate section of vinyl would be the only way but I am having a hard time wanting the have two separate sections of vinyl and I would hate to have that seam peel up. I think I may try the foam route. I was hoping to make this look halfway decent as more of a challenge for myself but this could turn out to look like a 2nd grade art project lol.

[rminier]

 Got home from work, popped open a cold one, and searched a bit on the internet.
  Check this out...right up our alley. Search for the YouTube video..."How to recover motorcycle seats on the cheap!"   Young guy does it pretty well. I never would have thought of warming the vinyl in a clothes dryer.
  Hope that gives you a few ideas to help.

[IraqvetUSMC]

Thanks for the link rminier I will check that out later on. I was thinking about using some sort of heat to form it, I do have a heat gun but I want to see this guys idea. A nice seat cover makes anything look good, or almost good haha.

[IraqvetUSMC]

So after watching that video that seat turned out real nice. Actually I bought the exact same fabric from Joann that this guy is using. I wonder how long it stays pliable and stretchy after being heated. Although our sled seats have a much higher back then the bike seat does it goes to show you can get the air pockets worked out by having to remove some staples and pulling it tighter.  Good find on the video though. Maybe the heat gun on low heat will help it stretch tighter while  working it.

[sljsmc]

Here is my first try at upholstery on a seat. It isn't perfect by any means but it works for a rider. I used the cold crack vinyl. I laid my vinyl wrong side out over the seat foam and just marked it with a magic marker into my shapes cut out my vinyl and went to sewing. I had my wife help with attaching the cover. She put almost full body pressure on the seat pan while I pulled the cover to staple it on.

[Gilson435]

That turned out pretty nice for your first time I'd like to see the rest of the sled with that yellow paint job! Like the tweety snow flap