upholsteryskins

I'm looking to redo my 2000 Air Nautique upholstery with factory skins are Christaine's as good as they are advertising . I also looked into nautique parts factory skin if they carry them . Christaine's said most of there customers DYI. Has anyone done this before or have advice . I have no experience with upholstery but I am good with my hands. Thanks Stevo

I made business with them, I ordered a complete set of skins and carpet for my 1992, within 2 month they shipped to my forwarder as they had to go overseas to buenos aires argentina.
Got them on september and Im very satisfied with the quality of the product.

Im yet to install them in the boat! probably will do them after our summer is over...
Im probably going to source the install to a local upholsterer...

If you order a "factory interior" through white lake, Christine's makes it. At least that's who they used a few years ago when I bought my '90 interior. I was not brave enough to attempt an install of complex vinyl shapes that cost $2500 on my own. A basic interior with square cushions, maybe... Motorbox, probably not.

My '90 had the aluminum braces from the factory. I would think most other roto molded driver seats did too. Are we still talking about a '00?

I'm confused. Can you post pictures of brackets in question.

My bad, they are under interior parts and accessories and called braces, not brackets.

Christines drivers seat braces

Thanks! That picture shows exactly how they go. Unfortunately mine is already cracked (1985 seat does not come with those braces), but not totally broken. When I removed my seat I already have cracks around the holes on the rear, and I can see how the seat has been sitting about a half inch lower than it should in the back. That trapezoid shaped brace should make it all sit level again.

OldSchoolBlue84 wrote: I have had a great experience with Christine's from helping me selecting the right vinyl, receiving the skins to asking questions when installing . They made the process very smooth. When installing the vinyl, I suggest taking it slow and take your time. As for their service, I had a stripe seam split on me at the end of this year. Christine's was all over it and took care of it quickly Great service! Check my thread below.....(sorry for the improper link) http://www.correctcraftfan.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=28477

Direct link to thread

Yes. Probably a band-aid since 85 was the first year of that seat.

Richard,
Using the braces would be the easy and proven way to fix the seat base. The plywood (CPES'd of course!) idea is good but would require tearing the skin off to get the inner ply on the base.

Did you inject polyurethane foam into the vent holes? Remember they are there to vent air when sitting down and preventing the seat from farting! A ply base needs the same venting.

Nautiquehunter wrote: It can be welded with a plastic welder.

Correct but then you would still have the high stress area. Also, keep in mind that with plastic welding there is some degradation of the material in the weld lessening the strength.

Yeah I didn't realize it was plastic.

Great eye about the foam. I went an looked again, and that foam fills what is a hollow plastic seat shell. Those are not for the air to escape, there are holes in the plywood that sits on top for the air to escape.

I this picture you can see where CC filled it with foam from the front. Those holes on the bottom must of allowed some foam to escape.





It has me wondering if there is some chemical that would liquify that foam? If I could get that foam out, I could fill the seat with an epoxy, which would be a lot stronger.

My only plan was to remove the seat cushion which only has one row of staples into the shell, and more or less floats over the plastic base. I would like to not have to do the full seat. However, I want a band aide that will last, so if I have to do something more radical to the whole base so be it.

I am like the grand hijacker to ask this here, but since the photos are in this thread, should I be resizing the photo bucket pics smaller before posting a link?

Steve I hope my questions help and you are not upset with me for jumping into your thread. I do see in hind sight I should have started another.

Sorry,

Richard

No problem. I'm in the process of replacing my cuttless bearing. Planning to upgrade to doubletaper

shaft. I'm the original owner and it's time to restore my boat. Next step is to re carpet. Then upholstery .So my off season is going to be a busy one hope I don't bite more than I can chew. It's nice to have people with experience and so willing to help.

I bought a complete set from Christine's, am dropping the boat off in the next couple of days to have them installed. I'm really excited, the boat is in fairly good shape but the skins are very rough and it will be great to have a sharp new interior in it for next year!