Marin Ti saddle repair

[Tootyred]

Ive been sitting on an old Main Ti railed saddle for a good while. Probablem was the covering was completely trashed.

Really it was bin fodder.....so i decided to have a go at a recover...here goes.

 

[Tootyred]

First i got the old cover off, that was pretty easy, once the staples were out....i thought it might make a good template....but as its vinyl, its stretched all over the ship....but it gave me a rough idea of size.

The foam had also parted company with the base and had lost a few bits round the edge.

First stem was to clean everything up, then glue the foam back onto the base with contact adhesive. I then sanded the foam to smooth the missing edges back into the base.....or you will see the ridges through the new cover...

 

[Tootyred]

I managed to source a bit of Alcantara from our upholster for free, not correct, but i like a suede saddle....very 80s.

From here on in we are down the rabbit hole, my sole experience is making the odd bobber seat and covering it....but we used flat 4mm saddle leather for that!

So, first i cut a bit of material roughly the right size.....

Then sprayed the back and the seat with adhesive ( having tested both to make sure nothing weird happend).

Then i wrapped the saddle in it slowing working round making sure it was pulled tight.

Then using a knife i cut off the rest, leaving a 1" skirt.

 

[Tootyred]

The final bit was to mask up the base, re apply new glue to both surfaces and then pull and fold the fabric round.

Once its all neatly pulled in and glued down i re-stapled it with 4mm staples.....which i measured on removal!

 

[Tootyred]

So....am i happy.....got to say yes.....its not perfect, there are a few small wrinkles, right at the back, but that would be less of a problem if the material had a degree more stretch. But for something that was " bin bate" very happy.

So why not grab that old saddle and have a go.....free TI Suede saddle.....must be worth a go!