Fiberglass Seat Pan; What Next?

Well, I made a fiberglass seat pan for my 79' KZ650. I really like the way it turned out but I haven't decided where I want to go next with it. The whole point of this project was to make a semi low profile streamlined look for my seat. I guess I need to bondo or glass the sides to fill in the gaps so the cover will fit smooth? Thought I would ask you guys what you think my next step should be. This is my first fiberglass project so it is all new to me.

Here is a picture of it from the other side.

Hey Kellen,
That sure looks like a good piece of work. I suppose that you should go to an upholstery shop and try to bribe or pry some information out of them. I think that it goes something like this: You choose a piece of foam that's harder than you might think will work and glue it to your pan. You might have to fill in the lower sections with smaller pieces first. Then you shape it and cover it. How will you fasten the covering to your fiberglass?

Looking Good.

Bill

Thanks for the comments. How I am going to fasten the covering is one of the big issues that I am trying to work out. Thats one thing about the stock seat, it is way big and ugly but there is so much room left around the edge, you could fasten anything. I think I need to do some research into the seats that are fabricated for choppers because like mine, those pans fit like a glove, yet they are able to cover them and they still fit perfectly.

Kellen

for info on this I would suggest that you check out this website. This will give you an idea how to put your foam on. Even though it says not to use an electric turkey knife to trim the foam, I have never had a problem with them. Even a good serated knife would work well, if you feel like working a bit more. If you don't want to use a bondo planer to contour the foam, I use a 4 1/2" grinder to smooth the edges. You can also use a drill with a sander on it. Just be careful not to gouge or take of too much.

www.bikernet.com/news/newsarch.asp?article=053103
Use some 3M spray foam adhesive ( most other brands work well also). The foam you can get from most plumbing supply stores. As far as getting the leather/vinyl to stay on, the adhesive will hold it to the edges and then you can drill and rivet or even staple/brad the cover on. (you must use a staple/brad gun if you don't want to crack the fiberglass. Always test a couple in an area that doesn't matter first. if your layers aren't thick enough, or you don't have enough fibermat then you could crack it.)
If ya wanna get on it quick after you put the cover on, you can just use the adhesive and wait a day or two for the rivets,brads,or staples. I prefer rivets, but be careful when ya drill so you don't go through the seat cover!!:whistle:

Hope that helps ya!
Good luck and ride safe

Post edited by: NOS, at: 2006/05/27 23:40

Thanks for all the help. I think I have figured out what I am going to do. I was afraid that the pan would not fit snuggly on the frame after I covered it, so to alleviate that problem, I am going to cut the sides down a bit so they do not overlap the frame rails quite as much. This will take away from how physically tight the pan is on the frame, but I am going to mold some bolts into the pan so it will bolt to the frame instead of using the old hinges and latch. I understand that this will make it a little harder to access the battery, but using a wrench on 3 or 4 nuts isn't to terribly hard. I am also going to put another two layers of fiberglass on the pan to not only make it a little stronger but also to allow sufficient thickness to put some small rivets in the side for the cover. The two links that I found most helpful are below. The first is courtesy of Jeffreyphipps.com, which does some beautiful seatwork, but also provides a step by step for making fiberglass seat pans. The next was provided by NOS and gives pretty good instruction on shaping and covering. I will most definitely post pictures when I am done.

www.jeffreyphipps.com/seat_pans.htm

www.bikernet.com/news/newsarch.asp?article=053103

Kellen79_650 wrote:

but using a wrench on 3 or 4 nuts isn't to terribly hard.

use wing nuts, no wrench needed, and if they are hidden under the seat, it wont take away from the look

77KZ650,

Yeah I don't know why I didn't think of using wing nuts since that is the obvious answer. I can just throw a couple lock washers on there as well to keep the nuts from vibrating off. I am going to use the two open holes on the back end that aren't being used cause I don't have the rear chrome fender. As for the front though, I am not so sure where I can attach the seat pan. Guess I need to get the creative juices flowing.

I need to get ahold of you about this, i may need some pointers.

im in Kent just north of you, will have to hook up and ride.


EDIT: oh yeah, did the Diagram help any?

Welcome to kzrider.com

Post edited by: ran429, at: 2006/05/31 02:39

Yeah whatever help you need i'd be happy to. I can probably use some mechanical help as I just ordered pods and I have 4 to 1 exhaust and the previous owner did not rejet so the bike pretty much won't idle at all, probably among other things. I ordered the new jets today, but the fine tuning will be the tough part.

There seems to be quite a few riders here in Washington. Would be cool to get together.

Which diagram are you refering to?

Post edited by: Kellen79_650, at: 2006/05/31 12:22

Post edited by: Kellen79_650, at: 2006/05/31 12:26

I used the same fiberglass pan technique on an old Honda I had.......I went to a local leather shop and got a piece of leather then attached it to the pan with contact cement. I worked really well. Never had any problems. I also never bolted the seat on....it gripped the frame so well I never had to worry about it sliding around on me.

Thats really interesting. I considered not covering using rivets but thought that it wouldn't stay. So you never had any problems with the material coming loose?

I was also considering not bolting it down, but I think at the very minimum I will put 2 bolts in for my safety.