*** This is a follow up to a replacement seat foam post I did awhile back. The old post has more details on the entire seat foam replacement process *** The link to the detailed replacement seat foam process is here - 250ES Seat Foam Replacement
So I bought a few BIG RED seats at the mid-Ohio swap meet that were in rough shape needing new foam and covers. With winter approaching I am spending more time in the shop and so this project was next on my list. This time around I wanted to oversize the seat foam a bit for more comfort but still be able to use a replacement seat cover.
I used the supermax foam from foamfactory.com. Since the supermax foam maximum thickness is 3" I bought the 3" thick foam and some 1" thick foam and glued them together for 4" thick foam.
Here's some details on the project
Here's a picture of the seat as bought from the swap meet. I got 3 seats for $40.00 I was basically buying the seat pans as the foam and covers were trashed.
I used some templates to help cut the foam. Notice the 3" and 1" foam glued together using 3M 77 adhesive. More details on the templates and cutting in the first seat foam replacement post.
Foam rough cut
More cutting and shaping using an electric carving knife and angle grinder with abrasive disc.
Covered foam with fiberfill to help hide any small imperfections in the foam. Be sure that your seat cover will fit before installing the fiberfill. If you are increasing the foam size you may need to trim to be sure the cover will fit.
New seat cover installed. This was a new seat cover that I had hanging around for years. I did not buy it as it came with some BIG REDS I bought some years back. I couldn't go much bigger on the foam and get this cover to fit. Here's a link if you want more information on installing a seat cover
Picture of original style seat
Picture of "overstuffed" seat installed.
More pictures of "overstuffed" seat installed
This was a fun little project but it took a lot of time and effort. Since this is my daily BIG RED it was worth it and feels so much better than the existing seat. Foam doesn't keep its properties forever - the supermax foam has an expected life of 12 -18 years. Based on this most all the BIG RED seats out there are worn out.
Links to more information on this topic