Metal seat pan pounded out, too many angles for wood, now what?

[fuggers]

So, I finished my seat pan contouring, it's not pretty but sits alright on the frame. My original pan was to use some wood for the foam/upholstery to stick and staple to and then attach that to the seat pan. I was hoping to leave it flat in the rear section of the pan but it wasn't enough clearance so I had to install an arch. This made the seat pan have many more angles.

My question is what else can I use that I can staple upholstery to that I can easily mold to this seat pan? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I'm loosely thinking of splitting the seat pan in half and welding the rear section directly to the frame and hinging the front section so that I can still get to the airbox and battery. Fiberglass is the only thing I can think of but I can't staple the upholstery to that.

 

[AlphaDogChoppers]

With metal seat pans, pop rivets are the usual method.

Don't try drilling through the upholstery into the pan. AT LEAST once, your drill will pot through the metal too fast for you to control, and punch a hole through your seat cover where you don't want it. Pre-drill the seat pan before you cover it.

 

[fuggers]

That's a pretty good idea, I will look for some rivets big enough so I don't worry it will tear the vinyl. Thanks alpha

 

[fuggers]

I think I'm going to try and rivet the upholstery directly to the metal, need to try and find some wider rivets though. Here is a rough idea of what the seat is going to look like, it will be covered in a nice looking "vintage" brown color marine vinyl.

Also a shot of the headlight repainted, it's not a good paint job but cheap and easy. It's a 9 inch headlight, everyone tries to go smaller but I'm going to see if this works, might offset the size of the tank a little bit. I like it, it gets mounted tomorrow.