Upholstery of cafe seat

[polishpower77]

So I got a cafe seat, the foam, and have it prepared to mount it to the frame. I'd like to upholster(sp?) it first. I have the vinyl, and those button snap things that you see on football helmets to fasten the chin strap to. I got a tool to attach the button snaps to the vinyl, but I am asking if anyone has any experience fastening the other end of the snap to the fiberglass seat. Glue? I'm not sure, any help would be appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Hichhkrjo]

Are they supposed to just be stuck on there, or do they actually go through the fiberglass? Can you maybe pre-drill a little hole where the snaps will go so as not to crack the glass if so? If they don't actually go into the glass, maybe you could get some fiberglass resin, scuff up a tiny spot where you want each snap to go, and then glue each one to the seat using the resin? I dunno, I'm just throwing out ideas. Hope it helps!

 

[pacomotorstuff]

Pop rivets in the center of the snap bases and through the fiberglass is what I use these days. You might want to back up the backside of the glass with the little rivet "washers" to stop rivet pull through.
I've had a couple of old seat pans come through the shop for repair and refurbishment; one had the snap bases held on with little machine screws while another had the snaps held to the 'glass with short sheet metal screws.
Never tried bonding the snaps on and would opine that it probably wouldn't be strong enough.
Regards,
Pat Cowan,
Vintage Motorcycle Fiberglass

 

[neevo]

Upholstery of cafe seat

What about industrial Velcro?

 

[polishpower77]

Thanks for the info guys. I'll probably go the route of using small machine screws to attach. Hopefully not a major f-up!

 

[Captmilk76]

I had machine screws welded on. After I drilled out the pan I screwed the screws in and my bro welded them to the pan. Then I stretched the vinyl over, and screwed my lock nuts on and voila all done. Worked perfectly