building a seat! ( for Kev)

[Firewalker]

I get a few questions on how to build a seat. So I though I should break one down for you all to see.

Kev aka Clothspin"n" asked me to do this seat from a early model BMX seat

not a complicated seat so it will be good to learn from. Upon inspection the metal is in good condition. It will still get some sandblasting and some paint. More will become evedent once its open.

At first we though it was gold on top...but once we had a look under the top strap it may have been red? sunfade.....

But gold it will stay! I just recv'd to new colour swatch and there was a real cool gold carbon look... and I got the thumbs up!

The sides will also stay black and it will keep its white welt on top

Now that we have the plan.......... we can get started!


FW

 

[VicXsaN]

looking really forward to this thread! That seat is going to look killer with the gold,black and white color combo!

 

[Firewalker]

Like I had said in the CCM post I was also able to do alittle more on this BMX seat

On this seat there are little tabs that hold the fabric in place...so when you go and remove the cover you must be very carful when you pull back on the tabs. More often then not they will brake! No problem if they do.....this one did.....we can use glue to hold the new cover in place!

It was a givin that the foam would have to be replaced

As you can see the seat pan is very bent! this will have to be fixed before anything else

the seat post clamp was also bent up so it had to be bent back! as I did this I found cracks in the metal

again no problem....I just welded the cracks...if you are unable your local muffler shop may be able to help you out

back to the blasting cabinet!

Here you go! hammered back into shape and cracks welded. plus sand blasted! :mrgreen:

all that was left to be done was a little paint...satin black

again I hope to have the foam cut and the cover made tomorrow....I hope! :lol:

 

[sensor]

cant wait to see you done with this one! as always im amazed as how good your work is!!

 

[Rat Rod]

It's official Murray....you have waaaay too many cool tools in that garage of yours. :lol:

 

[VicXsaN]

Nice! keep them pics commin!

 

[Firewalker]

OK we are now on the final lap! I was able to finish the seat off today along with the CCM seat !

It was now time to do the foam ...Here I used a med to firm foam to give a firm but not hard seat when sat on and then I wrapped it again in 1/4 foam to help give the cover some life and hide any hard points that may be on the pan!

I then started to cut and make the cover...I use the old pattern to help in this ...but I still made some changes here and there to help the seat cover fit better now that we have changed the foam

because I do not like the tabs I have elected to use glue...I find it gives me greater control on how I would like the new cover to sit. But first I masked of the area I did not want and glue to be using tape!

As you can see it's all about the details......even though you may never see under the seat or look...somebody may!!! so it does mater!!!!!

last but not least the strap!

So what do you think have a look!

looks great in the sun! hope you are happy with it Kev I really like how it came out!

 

[Firewalker]

Here are some pictures of the bike that the seat is for. Its a full on resto of a early model BMX down in Australia. The seat is a long way from home!

the bike has come a long way from my understanding! It was found in a dumpster and full of rust! :mrgreen:

FW

 

[VicXsaN]

Awesome! The seat turned out great! That bike is going to look awesome!

 

[Hugo]

Just a thought on that seat. It's missing the "BMX" lettering. I've seen a guy apply white letters on a black seat, a bit like what's missing on that one. It was a Vespa seat, that has white letters on the back that say Piaggio in a bold capital font. He used an adesive stencil with the letters cut out, and some special (?) white fabric paint. It was easy and worked great. Again, just a thought.

Hugo

 

[Firewalker]

Thanks Hugo! and you are right! that is just how it is done. I use a product by SEM for the vinyl die. It comes in a range of colours The customer has elected to do this himself.


That is a great tip!

FW

 

[sandalscout]

that seat turned out incredible... grat job!

I've used SEM vinyl die before to change the color of a dashboard, it worked REALLY REALLY well.

 

[VonMoldy]

beautiful. that gold fabric is really cool looking!