Cockpit re-upholstery project

B

boykster

Member
Jun 12, 2009
107
Seattle, WA
Boat Info
BOATLESS!
Engines
paddle
Today I kicked off a new project - complete overhaul of the vinyl upholstery in my cockpit. This will also include re-configuring the rear seating somewhat. I'm going to add a flip-up bolster to the helm seat (part of a bench seat) and convert the rear-bench + jump seat setup into a more U-like seating arrangement and possibly add a base for a small cockpit table. The jumpseats on this boat are basically worthless since they're too short, and the back is an incline rather than a decline. Uncomfortable at best. I do want to try to preserve the storage cubbies in the rear of the seat back and will incorporate hinged hatches behind the new seatbacks that get built.

I'm also going to make the helm bench a touch narrower to make passage to the cabin stairway a bit easier. I think I can shave 3-4" off the port side of the seat without much problem. Since I'll be re-upholstering all the cushions, I decided to pull all side panels/bolsters and will be re-covering all of them as well. I'm also going to see if I can make the side storage areas more user-friendly.

Day 1: Disassembly!

Here are some shots of the existing cockpit layout. The helm seat is too low to be useful at times. I considered going with swivel helm seats and some other rear seating arrangement, but I really like the storage cubbies in the bench seating backs. During SeaFair it becomes 'the bar', and I'd like to preserve that. Adding a bolster to the caption position will help a lot, and I'm going to change the seatback angle abit. The jump-seats are pretty much useless, but the rear bench seat arrangement is pretty OK. In fact, I had those pieces re-upholstered 2 years ago, and will try to re-use the vinyl on them if I can find a good vinyl to match at a reasonable price online. If need be, I will re-upholster those pieces again to make it all match.

Helm

P1010025 by Boykster, on Flickr

Rear Seating

P1010026 by Boykster, on Flickr

Helm seat removed and side panel off

P1010047 by Boykster, on Flickr

Starboard rear - all removed

P1010046 by Boykster, on Flickr

Rear

P1010045 by Boykster, on Flickr

Port rear - all removed

P1010044 by Boykster, on Flickr

Port front - all removed

P1010043 by Boykster, on Flickr

I have a flickr thing going for this project including more blow by blow shots as well as the parts all ready to be torn down after I got them home.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/68011704@N03/sets/72157627646653193/with/6191381836/

Includes such gory details as what I call 22 years of grime (not too bad actually)

P1010034 by Boykster, on Flickr

I'm torn about what to do with the side panels - I'm going to reupholster them and re-foam where necessary, but do I need to replace the wood or can I get away with a penetrating epoxy and re-using the wood. Right now I'm leaning toward re-using after a good sealant job, but I haven't started tearing things apart.

I'm pretty sure I'm going to rebuild the helm seat back, but might try to re-use the seat-base after modifying it if it works out. Should be a fun project!
 
Last edited:
Other notes - we're planning on getting snap-in cockpit carpet this offseason as well, and we're going to go with a light gray. I'm going to replace the blue carpet you see at the stern as well as the side cubby with a marine grade gray carpet. Won't match what we do in the cockpit, but it will look nicer.

Also, any seating re-arrangement will need to be able to accommodate access to the engine compartment (the 3 hatches). The current rear seat folds up and away into the transom, and the jump-seats don't get anywhere near blocking access. My idea for the rear seating will extend the jumpseats and connect them together, but still keep them partially retractable to keep access clear.

I'm a thinker/planner, but not a diagrammer planner. All of these ideas are in my head and not on paper, and that's how I like it :grin:
 
Sounds like you have a major project on your hands there..... Good luck, hope it all goes to plan. Keep us posted.
 
Great project.....keep us updated. Use new treated wood on the side panels or better yet starboard. With all the work you are doing the time/expense of new wood is negligible (use the old stuff as templates).
 
Good luck, looks like a great project!
Just curious, do you have experience with re-upholstering?
Reason I ask is I'm considering reupholstering the cushions on my rear-facing & rear bench seats, and wondered if it's something that can be done by someone without much experience like myself, or if I'm better off subbing it out?
 
Wow. Real ambitious. Good luck. Look at all that room without the seating! Just plop a couple of these back there and be done with it! ;-)

9521832.jpg
 
Quint4 said:
Great project.....keep us updated. Use new treated wood on the side panels or better yet starboard. With all the work you are doing the time/expense of new wood is negligible (use the old stuff as templates).
Click to expand...

That's what I initially was thinking, but then started to debate new vs sealing old. New will definitely last longer and have fewer issues, and using the existing panels as templates will work. There are some angles/bends that will need to be worked out, but nothing major. I'd love to do them in starboard, but I think that expense would push it more than I want to spend. From what I've read on other forums / boat rebuild projects - exterior grade plywood + a barrier coat will work great.

@Wired2Cruze - I've never done any project of this magnitude. I've re-upholstered seat cushions for chairs, built and installed custom upholstered wall panels in my home theater, and built some custom panels for automotive use, but this goes beyond all of that. I've been reading iBoats restoration forum (is it OK to link to other forums?) - these 2 threads specifically

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=379388

http://forums.iboats.com/showthread.php?t=456614

That have given me the confidence to push ahead. I bought some marine vinyl to play around with from a local fabric store and have gotten pretty good results on some test cushions. I'd love to just sub it all out, but the 2 cushions for the rear bench cost me $800 to just have re-covered a couple of years ago. With the mods I want to do to the helm seat I'm guessing it would be a $4000-5000 job. I'd rather use that cash to buy an extended swim platform :grin:

@rondds - don't think I wasn't tempted once I saw how open it is!

One thing I really wish on this vintage 250DA was that the cabin stairway was centered rather than offset to port. That combined with the way the mid-berth ceiling is bumped restricts what I can do with the area to port. I'd love to have a sundeck/bench up there, but it just won't work if I want to be able to go into the cabin, and I really don't feel like tearing apart and re-configuring the entire dash/stairway, so I'll make the best of it as is.

Oh, and it's hard to see in these pics, but the existing vinyl on the helm seats and side panels is showing it's age - lots of nicks, cuts, tears, stains, etc.

I've got all off-season, so despite it being a big project, I've got time. I'll post updates as things progress.
 
Kind of what I'm thinking for the bolster setup on the helm seat - have a split base cushion where the section in front of the helm has a bolster, but the rest of the cushion is fixed.

19462-2-lg.jpg
 
Interesting thread. I will be sure to follow it.

As far as the side panels go, are you planning on going back with a similar layout? I would suggest leaving them open some. It makes the boat feel a little bit bigger.
 
25thmustang said:
Interesting thread. I will be sure to follow it.

As far as the side panels go, are you planning on going back with a similar layout? I would suggest leaving them open some. It makes the boat feel a little bit bigger.
Click to expand...

Good question - my plan is to try to maximize the storage space on the port side as much as possible. If you compare this


P1010039 by Boykster, on Flickr

with this


P1010040 by Boykster, on Flickr

you can see that the side panel covers up a LOT of useable storage both in the upper and lower cubbies. I had no idea the upper one was so big - I'm going to replace the blue carpet lining with a light gray, definitely open up the access to the upper storage area. I'm thinking of either adding a shelf to split it, hooks for holding boat hook/brush handle/flagpole, or some cargo netting/bags to hold odds and ends. Need to take some measurements and see. For the bottom cubby the old layout really restricts how much space you can use due to the sliding door. I'm thinking of adding add 2 bottom hinged access panels and putting in some sort of dividers/organizers so I can store things more orderly. Right now stuff just gets shoved in there and it gets way back by the divider near the battery switch and it's forgotten or lost.

The starboard side is tougher since there will be seating up against pretty much everything, but I'm going to see if I can take advantage of some of the space. Lots of ideas :grin:

No progress last night - wife was out of town and got back last night, so no time to play with the boat stuff. I'm hoping this weekend to start disassembling either the main helm seat or some of the panels to assess the wood and start measuring things.
 
Boyk, on the lower storage area, what about sliding doors? Hinged (Barn) doors may be tricky to open while you're standing there.
 
rondds said:
Boyk, on the lower storage area, what about sliding doors? Hinged (Barn) doors may be tricky to open while you're standing there.
Click to expand...

I need to mock a few ideas up and see how useful it is. Right now the lower storage has that slider that goes from fore to aft, and it's super low and awkward to get into. You have to have the cabin door closed (or at least ajar) and to get anything that's not right in front of the small opening, you have to get on your knees and reach in with your whole arm. Ridiculous.

I wasn't actually thinking of side hinged doors, but rather doors hinged on the bottom that open out from the top of the door, and then use either a strap or limit restricted hinges to keep them from hitting the deck. The nice thing about having all the panels at home is that I can try out a few ideas before I commit to anything.

Another idea would be pull out bins - sort of like shallow drawers....

Of course the most difficult part of all of these ideas will be finding good quality hardware that will survive being on a boat and saltwater exposure.
 
I see what you mean. Maybe you can fabricate doors out of starboard or teak and hinge them to open "down." Ah, the possibilities are endless!
 
"but do I need to replace the wood or can I get away with a penetrating epoxy and re-using the wood. Right now I'm leaning toward re-using after a good sealant job, but I haven't started tearing things apart."

The last part of this statement should determine what direction you'll be able to go.

We've done many projects such as this....sometimes I've reused the wood....other times not. Mostly not. Boats of this vintage have been exposed to alot of weather over the years and and it's quite likely alot of water has found its way in behind those side panels. If there's evidence of it having been wet many times over the years and it's starting to delaminate...or crumble apart I simply use it as a template and replace with new wood. Trying to salvage and reuse old plywood is simply trying to make a silk purse out of a sows ear and we won't recover it with new padding and vinyl.

We...and our clients have found the price of new marine grade plywood to be rather nasty. So what I started doing was simply using standard plywood for any side panels or seat bottoms I have to replace but I coat them with fibreglass resin to seal and waterproof them. I've done this many times now and so far it's worked out well for us. It certainly keeps costs down.

One of the most important things for us that results in a nicely completed project is my wife's sewing skills. I think this can make or break a project such as this. After all this is what's going to be most visible once you're done....not what's hidden underneath the padding and vinyl. When our clients see their finished product....it's really my wife's sewing that is initially most evident so great pains are taken to ensure that it's a first class job....nice straight seams...nice tight corners etc.

Good luck with your project. Hope it all turns out well for you.
 
Your ideas were exactly what I was going to suggest. My last boat had a similar design, lots of fabric wrapped plywood, which hid a ton of storage space. I like your thinking, keep the top part open, and try to conceal the lower part, but making access easier.

My boat right now has a storage area down low in the same place, with two sliding hatches. Although large, they can be a bit tough to use and get to (awkward position). However they make a GREAT place to store things I don't want down below, like extra fenders, shore power cord, anchors and rhode, etc...
 
Thanks for the input guys -

@OldVet - totally agree; I inspected the panels a bit more last night, and I'm convinced I'm going to need to rebuild them. They have clearly been wet again and again and the wood is soft in a lot of places. As someone said earlier, if I'm going through all this work might as well do it right. I'd only be saving at most a couple of hundred dollars for plywood, and in the grand scheme that's nothing. I wasn't planning on re-using the foam from the side panels for sure, and from the existing cushions only if it isn't mildewy/crumbly/etc. I think the helm bench will need to be completely replaced, but I think the jumpseats might be salvagable.

I also hear you loud and clear on the sewing making the project - I've been practicing with some test vinyl and welting sewing seams, making tight junctions, etc. I'm going to make a test cushion too for kicks to see how it all comes out. I'm planning to mostly have hidden seams with welting, but there might be a couple of spots with an exposed seam. I've been practicing making razor straight seams knowing that will be crucial. I 2 specialty feet for my sewing machine - a walking foot for doing flat / straight seams, and a welting foot to get that tight seam against the piping. I don't have a fancy machine (Brother 2600XL), but it seems to be handling everything I throw at it so far.

This weekend I plan on doing a lot of measuring, disassembly, and probably start templating out some panels.
 
OldVet - one quick question - after you coat the plywood with resin, do you have any issues stapling into it? I was planning on using West epoxy or Interlux InterProtect 2000E as a barrier coat, but I was concerned it might make stapling more difficult....
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Forum statistics

Threads
113,216
Messages
1,428,743
Members
61,112
Latest member
Peter1911
Back
Top