DIY Seat/Upholstery Reconditoning

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Looks like I'd be at about 200 just for the round trip shipping :) I'm thinking that is out.

Sent you a PM...

Did you replace any of the foam? Where did you get it?
 
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cant wait till it gets a bit warmer i will be doing this as well, i have a big sewing shop down the street that sells about 50 types of vinyl, also already have a stapler, just dont know about the sewing, how hard is it to remove the origional stuff ? how many hours would you say ?
 
Alligator push things

Fixing to have some work done to mine. Pulled a back rest off and noticed the plastic (for lack of better words) alligator push pins or christmas tree push pins are not typical ones like used in automotive. I have an islandia, don't know if yall's speedsters has these same ones, but if so did you buy new ones and if so where at???? THANKS.
 
I've seen them called plastic "darts" on some of the seadoo parts pages and in the manuals... If I can't reuse the ones I have, I'll buy a bag of them from my seadoo dealer, I think he told me they were like $1 apiece, which is outrageous, but if I order online I'll pay more than that in shipping...
 
Fixing to have some work done to mine. Pulled a back rest off and noticed the plastic (for lack of better words) alligator push pins or christmas tree push pins are not typical ones like used in automotive. I have an islandia, don't know if yall's speedsters has these same ones, but if so did you buy new ones and if so where at???? THANKS.



Take one down to your local auto parts store and see if they can match it up for you. We are just a mechanical shop, and not a reseller and I must have twenty or thirty different styles in the stock room.


Aaron:cheers:
 
For the 2001 Islandia, and 1996 challenger ("parts" link at top): 293730014___DART-BLACK $0.40

What boat do you have?
 
cant wait till it gets a bit warmer i will be doing this as well, i have a big sewing shop down the street that sells about 50 types of vinyl, also already have a stapler, just dont know about the sewing, how hard is it to remove the origional stuff ? how many hours would you say ?
Nothing about this is THAT hard, but its very detail oriented and you need patience. To remove the old covers, you need to get a razor and cut the old stitching. SO far, I have quite a bit of time in it, but I am a student and have some free time. ymmv. Check with the shop and get a price first, I would say if they can do it for less than 600 think about it. You will need about 200+ in materials to do it yourself, plus a lot of time to get the sewing an vinyl installation down. It takes practice.
 
Fixing to have some work done to mine. Pulled a back rest off and noticed the plastic (for lack of better words) alligator push pins or christmas tree push pins are not typical ones like used in automotive. I have an islandia, don't know if yall's speedsters has these same ones, but if so did you buy new ones and if so where at???? THANKS.
Advance auto/autozone/ ace hardware. Any hardcore, stocked to the hilt hardware store should have em. As well as a autobody supply place. After I bolted my bottom section in, I didnt have a need to re use them, its very solid as is.
 
awesome job! your an excellant do-it-yourself-er.


when i did mine i got my vinyl from http://www.glfi.com/great lakes fabric. they have a ton of different marine fabrics. lucky for me they were close too. just wanted to through that in there. ther selection is kinda crazy.

i actually bought the vinyl and removed all the seat covers and arm rests and took them to an upholstry shop and had the inseam redone. then i re-stapled everything back together. the materials that was required in mine was probaly $200 ( fabric, stainless staples, and special upholstery stapler for 22 guage staples) and i think the guy charged me either 3 or 350 to do the inseam. and also about 7 hours worth of removing staples and restapleing
 
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Not as nice as Yours.

I hope the backs turn out better.
 

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I hope the backs turn out better.

Pull that vinyl!!! Stretch it a little more, those wrinkles will come out. Also, to get the ones close to the edge out, take your stapler, push the nose down on the material where it will tug the vinyl in the right direction, then staple. ALso, dont be afraid to restretch and add more staples, or even take some staples out and redo sections. Mine didnt come out perfect the first time either! Post pics when you redo it.
 
I looked again, you're almost there. Use the trick where you pull the fabric with the stapler nose, experiment by pullin at different places and in different directions. Nice install on the small cushions btw.
 
Nice job! Can you avoid sewing 3 seperate seats?

A couple questions. How many yards of green did you buy to cover your 3 seats and trim on the reverse seat? How much white?

Could you just run a single piece across the back seat rather than sew individual seats. The vinyl looks as though you could cut 1 wide rectangle, and cut butt section out, and assemble as you described without the sewing. Your thoughts?

Again, great job!
 
A couple questions. How many yards of green did you buy to cover your 3 seats and trim on the reverse seat? How much white?

Could you just run a single piece across the back seat rather than sew individual seats. The vinyl looks as though you could cut 1 wide rectangle, and cut butt section out, and assemble as you described without the sewing. Your thoughts?

Again, great job!

you are going to need about 6 yards to do the boat.

The seats have a HUGE amount of curving... more than it would seem... so to do it clean... you need to cover each section. The seats come apart... so that's not an issue.

Lastly... before you waste your time with local vinyl... don't do it. (I live in the Burgh too) order yourself the 4way stretch stuff.

If you do it right... the boat will look great.

I restored the boat in my avatar last fall.
 
sportster seats

Mind if i ask? The bottom seat cushions are riveted and the rivet is set down in that whole. How do you replace those rivets. My rivetgun wont put a rivet down in that whole the head isnt long enough. Just curious?
 
Mind if i ask? The bottom seat cushions are riveted and the rivet is set down in that whole. How do you replace those rivets. My rivetgun wont put a rivet down in that whole the head isnt long enough. Just curious?

Harbor freight tools. they sell a long nose gun for plastic rivets. I bought mine for less than $10 on sale.
 
If that doesn't work I would use carraige bolts and either glue them in place or take the risk that they will catch. This would have to be done prior to putting the new material on the cushion.

This is the way that I should have done mine...I just thought of it after the seats were done.
 
i recently found your thread.. after getting the infamous runaround from all the upholstery shops and seadoo corp. i decided to reupholster seats myself. seats are pretty trashed tho. so i am going to need some new foam and templates. What would you need to get me some templates for the big bottom seat and the big backrest. Mine are like potato chips in spots. not sure how to soften. also, where is a good place to get the 4way stretch fabric.. any help would be a godsend. thanks
 
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