Customize Your Touring Seat (pg. 4 of 7)

Customize Your Touring Seat (pg. 4 of 7)
Page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

Step 4 – Foam shaping

I decide to remove height from the bottom of the foam pad (instead of from the top) so I’ll retain the Mustang seat contours across the top and rear. These are the areas important for riding long distance in comfort. So I’ll remove my 5/8 of foam from the bottom. The contour needs to match the Mustang seat pan fairly close, but not perfect. Don’t sweat it here if the contour is different, but make sure that it is smooth and level from right to left and front to back. I use an electric grinder with a beveled wheel (rounded or beveled are easier to work with) to remove foam to lower the seat. Make sure to protect your eyes, breathing as well as coveralls for your entire body. The foam grinding makes dust that gets everywhere. Don’t breathe it or let it get in your eyes. To make less grinding, I’ll use a sharp razor to remove some of it first. It’s easy to make mistakes using faster techniques so minimize using a razor or scissors if at all possible. Slower is better. The grinder method is pretty fast anyway, so no worries.

You may be tempted to keep grinding and shaping more and more. Don’t do it. A little goes a long way with the seat. ½ inch is a good change and 5/8 like I am doing is a fairly big change. If you need to lower it more than that, you may be better off looking for other areas for change such as lower suspension, a completely different seat, or… Of course, these are just guidelines and you can get creative as you see fit. I have not yet tried adding memory foam, but that is not out of the question. While the seat is apart, the options are there.

You will want to go slow and methodical when shaping the foam. It’s easier to avoid mistakes now than fixing them later. I use the Sharpie pen a lot. It helps me stay within measurements and aligns my changes where I want them. I mark off the areas to remove foam, mark the areas where I want it to stay stock, and mark out some grid lines to provide measuring points as foam is removed. The more you can do to keep my grinder in line, the easier it will be. Grind one side first, use the Sharpie to mark the area that is complete. Then you’ll simply need to match the other side by grinding down to the same level. Make good use of the Sharpie to control where you don’t want to remove any foam. It amazes me how easy it is to grind out too much. I haven’t had any problems yet… knock on wood. As you complete the lowering, try to keep the bottom seat pan contour fairly close. This will help to avoid harder and softer spots on the seat when finished.

TIP: When using the grinder, I try to keep the motion fluid and smooth. Only go in one direction. You’ll find the direction that works best and is smoothest. Angle the grinder for the scalloped or scooped areas to match up with the seat pan. I attach the tie down to hold the foam to a cooler. This allows me to keep the best angle on the grinder.

Use masking tape to create a grid to help keep measurements even. It is very important to be very methodical about measuring and marking areas to shave or grind. The last thing you want is to remove too much.

Measuring the shaping depth

Measure often. We are shooting for 5/8 inch depth cut.

Mark the finished side with a Sharpie Pen Marker

Grind the second side down to the marked up side.

This is what it looks like when the sides are evenly cut.

Here I’m marking the bottom sides for the proper contour and depth. I am keeping the same contours so it will look like a stock Mustang seat when complete.