Restoring a Cobra Seat

[Bloop2]

My Cobra is almost done with the exception of the seat, have put this off as the last item to do. After 3 years of trying to source a seat, I finally found one with potential. It wasn't pretty and will need a lot of TLC.

Here is the initial find:



It didn't look that bad on top, but once I turned it over, realized the original front bracket had been replaced with a home made "rest". The pan had rusted through on the original bracket:




The rest of it didn't look that great either:



Cover and the remains of the foam were removed:




Note the back of the pan was severely dented, all the metal was pounded back into shape.



The remains of the foam:



The pan was then bead blasted and given a bath in some Evaporust, along with some phosphoric acid added for some extra kick.



After cleaning and drying, 3 coats of epoxy primer were brushed on.



Next step will be to fibreglass the top of the pan and add the original front bracket back onto the pan. The front bracket was donated from another seat pan. Now waiting for the epoxy primer to cure.

[rngdng]

Not an easy job......you'll get it. A good upholsterer should be able to duplicate the cover if you can't find a replacement.


Lane

[Bloop2]

Lane....have a nice original repro from Pit Replica in Thailand, genuine vinyl suede.

First layer of cloth and epoxy:





Finished seat with second layer of cloth and final coat of epoxy, trimmed, sanded and ready for foam:





Front bracket installed, good old JB WELD and a couple of extra bolts.

[Bloop2]

Now watching the paint dry, maybe a beer or two while I watch this.

[joolstacho]

If it's the same as the GT500 seat arrangement, the seat base WILL bend and the sides will split because it has no weight-support between the front and rear mounts.
Pretty easy to add extra pad supports about halfway between the front and rear mounts, (I used two of those round rubber doorstops), on the GT there's a convenient frame tube cross-piece that they rest on.
(That a Royal Enfield in the back there?)

[Bloop2]

(That a Royal Enfield in the back there?)

Possibly, that pic was taken where the most recent Cobra was stored before I bought it. There were about 60-70 bikes in various sheds, lots of AJS, Enfields and Yamahas

Thanks for advice on the rubber bumpers, never thought of that. There was enough metal left in the middle section and hopefully the glass cloth and epoxy will strengthen it. I have a GT500 and will compare the frames.

Cheers...Fred

[Bloop2]

This is turning out to be not a lot of fun, quite a few layers of foam to get to the final shape on top. I decided to do it this way as I was unable to source any decent large pieces of foam.




Lots of carving required, started off with an electric carving knife but burned that out in about ten minutes.



The bottom layer of foam turned out to be too hard for any kind of comfort, so the top two layers are a much softer foam. Both of these foams are cut from closed cell foam camping mattresses.





Still more shaping to do.

[joolstacho]

Foam carving/shaping can be a pain. What are you using? -hot-wire cutter? Electric carving knife?
I've found that the only way to finish the foam is with sandpaper on a block or pad, it's amazing how pretty small lumps and bumps show through the cover.

[Bloop2]

Haven't found a hot wire cutter yet, has to be local, not waiting for any shipping. I did have a brand new electric carving knife but burned that out in about ten minutes. Have tried sanding, foam doesn't like that. I know it has to be smooth.

[joolstacho]

I found that the only way to get the foam smooth enough was to use sandpaper, but it has to be a fine grade, something like 360, otherwise it 'grabs' the foam and digs in, and use LIGHT strokes with the sandpaper wrapped around a flexible rubber pad -1/4" neoprene works. It's a fairly slow procedure. I've recently done my GT seat, - I had to add a 20mm layer of foam to the top of the original foam which had deteriorated, and reshape it. It worked well but you need to be patient, don't try to rush it, one wrong move with the sandpaper will ruin the job. And whatever you do, don't try electric sanders!
When gluing the foam layers, keep the glue well inside of the edges, because the glue will show a hard line when you sand it.

[Bloop2]

I just tried 80 grit aluminum oxide, works well, comes out a bit rough but a least it is smooth now. I'm not sure 360 grit will work on this type of foam but will give it a shot. It's too late for the glue on the edges. If I take off too much, it's very easy to glue more back on. This is my first attempt at something like this and have learned quite a bit along the way. Thanks for the tips, back to the shop!

Cheers....Fred

[Bloop2]

The 80 grit paper worked the best in smoothing this out.



Almost done shaping.



Found some plastic edging for the bottom, it's actually a piece of door edge guard for a car, exact size as the original. Came loaded with glue already, just cut to length and clip on.



Final layer of cotton/poly matting, makes it easier to slip the cover on and smoothes out the foam. It's about 1/8 inch thick.
All of the materials used here were glued with 3M Super 77 spray adhesive, great stuff to work with, tacky in about 15-30 seconds.



The next part I'm not thrilled about, have been shaping the foam to accommodate the cover. BUT, the bottom front part of the cover does not exactly match the seat pan, a little too curved. I can barely pull this down to go over the pan. The foam is the right height at the front, I have the original cover and foam and worked with that to get the right foam height. When I look at the cover, it's obvious it doesn't match the pan. Unfortunately, I bought this cover over two years ago. I have another one on the way, hopefully it will be a better fit.



So, until the other cover arrives, I get to look at this for a while.

[Bloop2]

The new cover arrived on Dec 24th, unfortunately Pit Replica either sent me the wrong cover (maybe a T305), but it was not even close in the pattern to the original, I ended up using the cover I bought from him two years ago. Not sure how he could have changed the pattern so drastically. Will deal with that later. I stretched the cover with a hair dryer and was able to make it fit. See the finished bike in the 2 stroke section.

Cheers....Fred

[Bloop2]

Here's a picture of the difference in the two covers, both from Pit Replica. The top one is the one just received, the bottom one I have had for about two years. Finally heard from Pit Replica, sent him pictures of the two covers, no explanation as to why the difference in the pattern, the latest cover has the pattern about an inch narrower. He has decided to make me a "revised" seat cover and send it to me as a freebie and I get to keep the old one. Anyone else purchase one of these and notice that the pattern isn't even close to the original? Does anyone know if there are other people making these covers? I emailed Badge Replicas in Australia, their manufacturer stopped making them. Diablo Cycle sells a cover but it comes from Pit Replica.

Fred