Replacing cockpit seat covers on 96 2355 Ciera SB-gctid350941

[Guest]

Hi, does anyone know how to remove the L-sofa and aft facing pull-out seat on a 96 2355? For the L-sofa I am guessing there are some bolts to access from underneath, but would appreciate suggestions from those who have done this.

[img]/media/kunena/attachments/vb/653785=24629-5N25Lb5F43I63F83H5c1e41cf7795e78d13ec.jpg[/img]

[Guest]

Nobody's done this?

[Guest]

I'm surprised no one has chimed in yet but the bolts to remove the seat and back are located on the roof of the aft cabin.

I'm curious to know why you are redoing the interior it looks to be in very good condition?

[Guest]

I have the exact same seat. Mine is not in the condition yours is. We have a couple of tears that I keep the kids from making worse. I have removed the access panel in the cave and seen the screws that appear to hold it down but never tried to remove it. Pulling the cup holders I can also see wood framing in the back. I just have not yet been motivated to take it apart and try to repair it.

When I modified my helm seat I found a couple of screws that I could not figure out how they got there in assembly. Ultimately I pulled the heads through the plastic to get it apart and then re-screwed it back together with new holes. That project was to shorten the bottom of the helm chair so I could stand behind the wheel without having the chair dig into my calves. Unwrapped the chair bottom and cut the plastic core and then re-wrapped and re-assembled it.

[Guest]

See some tips in my thread:

http://www.baylinerownersclub.org/fo...-driver-s-seat

More about my 2355 projects:

http://www.baylinerownersclub.org/fo...-2355-upgrades

[Guest]

I sold the boat to a friend of mine in Norway several years ago and was just trying to help him out. The picture I posted is not from his boat. I did search the forums and found that in addition to the screws, the seat will be sealed to the fiberglass by silicone. My friend has removed the seat and it's being re-skinned.

[Guest]

Ok thx for clarifying, because I was going to offer to buy them as from the photo they look to be in good shape.

Do you know how much your friend is paying to get the seat realigned?

[Four_Pyrates]

Kåre L wrote:
Hi, does anyone know how to remove the L-sofa and aft facing pull-out seat on a 96 2355? For the L-sofa I am guessing there are some bolts to access from underneath, but would appreciate suggestions from those who have done this.

This is the article I wrote for a boating magazine a few years back. I hope it helps.

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Cockpit Upholstery Project[/FONT][/COLOR]

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By: David Ladewig[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

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Boat: 1996 Bayliner2855 Sunbridge Cruiser[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

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Four Pyrates II[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

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After 10 years, the upholstery in my cruiser was beginningto crack. The stains were difficult toremove and mold had become a problem. I decided to have the cockpit upholstered with new vinyl. After talking to several companies, the prices ranged from $3000-$4800 for the job but that didnÔÇÖt include new foam ,just the covers. It seemed excessive so I looked into turning this into a DIY project.[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

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The job would require that I find someone to make the covers and then I would put them on. It didnÔÇÖt seem that difficult. I contacted a company in Arlington, Washington called Canvas Plus about covers. This company is an authorized Bayliner cutter and could send me complete covers that didnÔÇÖt need extra fitting. Canvas Plus could also make them in the exact color and pattern as the original seats. We agreed on a price and I gave them the hull number off the boat. That is for them to make sure what they send is correct.[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

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The next part of this project was to obtain an upholstery staple gun that was air driven. Only stainless staples are acceptable for this type of work and they were shipped with the stapler. You can find stapler everywhere, but most are not the proper unit for this type of work. The home improvement stores wonÔÇÖt have them,as a rule, but you can find them on an internet search. The stapler I used was a Unicatch fine wire model USC71/16. The staples are 22 gaugestainless wire with a 3/8ÔÇØ crown. It is smaller and is easy to hold and operate. You set your air output at 40 psi and adjust from there. Electric and hand staplers will not work for a project like this. My air compressoris a small one I bought at Home Depot. It works well with a stapler and small nail gun.[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

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Now for the fun part. Removing the seats from the boat. If you have never looked, the screws and bolts that hold down your seatsare not put in obvious places. I think most of the seats must be put in boats before the hull and deck are joined because they are surely not easily removed. There are ceiling panels in my back bunk cabin that had to be removed and then you could see the screws and bolts. That is in addition to the screws you can see. After I unbolted the lounge, the back of the lounge, and unscrewed the jump seat, it all came out. Sort of there is a lot of silicone sealeraround the screw and bolt attachment points. Keep tugging gently and they will break lose. It took about a half a day to take out all the pieces and then I spent the rest of the day cleaning up ten years of grimeand junk that gets behind the seats. YUK! That is the worst part of this job.[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

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Since it was getting dark, I decided to load up as many pieces as I could in my car and take them home and do the job in my garage. Everything would fit except the back of the lounge. It would have to be done at the boat. Loaded up, off I went to my garage to get a work space ready to put all this together and get it back on the boat. I decided to work on a white folding table where I could layout all this new material. I set my compressor away from the table andput a few trash cans right under it to put the old material and foam scraps in. I used half my cluttered garage. Most garages are cluttered if the residents do projects. Mine is no different.[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

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There are some tools that really helped me get the old stuff off the plywood frames. The first is a set of probes from Craftsman (Sears) and a pair of needle nose pliers. I also used a heavy duty paint scraper to get some of the glue and foam off the plywood. When you use these probes, be EXTRA careful with them so you donÔÇÖt stab yourself removing the 2000 staples you will find holding this material on. All the staples must be removed just like all the old foam and glue. [/FONT][/COLOR][/SIZE]

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After ten years, the vinyl was very brittle. It was cracked in several places and after I used the probe to remove several staples, I used my gloved hand to grab and pull. Most of it ripped right off. What remained was easy to remove. It came right though the staples. After all the staples were removed, the task of cleaning or checking the foam began. A lot of this foam is covered with plastic to keep water out. Some of this was OK, but most of it had leaked over ten years. The foam had a lot of mold in it. Even with the boat stored under shrink wrap in the early years and cockpit cover the last three years, there was a lot of mold. I sprayed it with bleach and then denatured alcohol. Some of it went away and some didnÔÇÖt. After three tries, it was time to rip the foam off and get some new pieces.[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

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After removing the plastic and writing down which pieces were covered, I VERY carefully removed all the foam because this would have to be what the foam cutter would use to make the new pieces. Each seat had two pieces of foam. The covers all have a hold down strip ofmaterial that is stapled between the foam pieces to make the seats stronger. They hold their shape for years when they are built this way. After the foam was removed, I took it to the foam company in my town to have them make some foampieces. When you buy new foam, do not buy foam that is not the same as the original in texture or firmness. It may not fit back together if you make a mistake here. Your supplier will knowwhat he is looking at and your new foam will match perfectly. [/FONT][/COLOR][/SIZE]

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While the new foam was being cut and the covers were being shipped, the glue and left over staples had to be removed. Tough job. Some of this glue was still flexible and sticky. I used a paint scraper to get it all off and my probe and pliers got the rest of the staples out of the wood. Next all the plywood had to be checked for any rot. Mine was still all good, so itwas repainted with marine deck paint and put aside to dry. Once it was dry, I put a woodfiller on the woodwhere all the staples were. It filled in any holes the paint didnÔÇÖt fill and made it smooth. At that time, we decided to eliminate the pull out jump seat that faced the back of the boat. No one ever used it much and we have chairs for the back anyway. By tossing this small pull out seat, there was space under the settee for all the boat docking ropes and the safety flair kit. Nice.[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

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So far, I am only describing the large lounge seat, sidepanel, and the jump seat regarding the removal of all the old foam and vinyl. The Captain's chair isnÔÇÖtwood. It is a plastic shell with a side/back cover and 4 center cushions and a decorative piece. That was the next task. It was much easier than the larger settee,but each of the four cushions were screwed into the plastic. The most difficult part of the job is finding the screws. That took a while. There are small holes in the vinyl where thescrews go through to the wood and then into the plastic seat shell. The holes in the vinyl let the air out and in as you use it. It seems to work well and cutting the four new foam pieces seemed like an easy job compared the largerpieces.[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

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After all the paint, removal, and clean-up, I was ready to start putting all these seats back together. I started with the flat panel that is mounted next to the CaptainÔÇÖsseat. It is flat and would give me an opportunity to make sure I could do this like it ought to be done. In addition tothe cut foam, I purchased two sheets of eighth and quarter inch sheets with the best backing the company had. This is what you use to pad the side panel and captainÔÇÖs seat back with before you put the covers on.[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

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The foam was attached to the panel using a spray adhesive. Masco #200 BOND Heavy Duty Adhesive Spray. This spray has heavy solids to fill with and the spray pattern gives virtually no over spray to messup your work space. This product can be used to tack and hold or you can spray both sides and assemble with almost dry for a bond. I used this adhesive bothways for this project. I also staple thefoam on the edges too. After the foamcomes the plastic film. It comes on rolls and the minimum order was a hundred yards by four feet wide. It looks like the same material that laundrybags are made from. They make this inheavier grades, but I used the same grade that was originally used.[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

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Now we have foam on the side panel and the plastic has been put over that. All stapled, glued, orboth. Next I attached the cover. All the seat covers come from Canvas Plus with foam sewn in by them into the cover. By using the sheet foam first, the padding was thicker, but much more elegant looking. On the panel there is a dark blue line of piping. That part is attached first and then the vinyl is pulled tight. First I pull it tight and then attach just enough staples to hold it for about an hour. Then I remove those staples and pull the vinyl all the way down tight and staple a line. Once every wrinkle is gone, I run a second line of staples right behind the first row offsetting each one to keep even pressure on the vinyl.[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

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When the original side panel was made, the manufacturer used blind fasteners to attach it to the boat. I decided to do away with the blind fasteners and use #12 screw with finishing washers and a flat washer to attach this panel. Getting to these attaching bolts was a real difficult problem that was eliminated. Next, the attaching holes for the engine controller were re-opened andstapled to make the installation on the boat easy and smooth.[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

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After the panel assembly went smoothly, the next piece to becovered was the CaptainÔÇÖs seat. I started by attaching new foam to the back and sides of the plastic shell. Following that, it was trimmed and stapled. The glue was used to make apermanent bond. Additionally, the sealing plastic film was attached and glued down to the plastic shell. There are holes at the base of this seat for water to drain. The cover fit like aglove, but was difficult to pull tight the first time. I let it sit until the next day and then pulled it tight. Keep your stapler near by when you pull the cover on thisseat. You can get a quick staple on and then the tightening becomes easier. Theplastic shell is covered completely on its back, side, and arms by thiscover. It is stapled inside the shell. Next, the foam is attached to the four pieces of plywood and then covered with the new vinyl. The blue decorative piece just fills in the gap between cushions on the back of the seat. Instead of punching a hole in this part, I used two #10 screws with a finishing and flat washer and attached it first. The way to get the holes punched to screw the cushions down is to use the probe and work from the backside of the cushion through the hole in the plywood. Make the hole as small as possible to get the screw in and then stop. I also glued down the bottom seat and used a silicon sealer to keep water off the plywood. In addition to the new paint, this should keep it nice for years to come. The next attachment was the four cushions and then attach├® the bottom plate that goes on the pedestal. While the bottom plate was off, it wascleaned and greased for a smoother operation when you put the seat forward or backward.[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

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The last piece I could do at home was the settee bottom. This is a large seat and is actually easier to cover than the smaller parts. The only degree of difficulty is stretching the vinyl tight and that is only due to size. Once again, you glue the back piece of foam on first. Next you cover it with plastic film and staple and glue it down. Attach the blind panel to the wood with your staple gun and be sure to get it even around the outside of the foam. Pull the covertoward the back and make a temporary attachment with your staple gun. After you wrap the front foam in plastic,tuck it under the cover on the front section and pull the cover down over it and make the same temporary attachment. Removethe temporary staples and pull the cover tight. Once tight, let it sit for a while and retighten as needed. Do the same thing for the front side of the cushion.[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

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Now that all the pieces that I could do in my garage weredone, it was time to load up all the tools and head back to the boat to do theback of the settee. This back was too large to transport back to the house so I set up a work station at the boat just like at home and did the back there. After the back was completed, I re-installed the new seats. In order of importance, the side panel went on first. It requires that you install the engine controller again. Next was the back of the settee, followed by the bottom of the settee and then theCaptainÔÇÖs chair. The cockpit looked like it did the day the boat was made 10 years ago.[/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

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The costs were measurable and included $500 for the covers, $491 for the foam and foam supplies. Thestapler was less than $100 with a box of 10,000 staples. My guess is that it takes about 2000 staples to do this job. I already had the rest of the tools and the small air compressor. The entire job took two weekends and a few evenings to complete, but I took my time to be sure I got it right. The cost savings by making this a DIY project was several thousand dollars. My next project is replacing the cabin carpetwith teak wood. [/COLOR][/SIZE][/FONT]

[Guest]

love2speed wrote:
Ok thx for clarifying, because I was going to offer to buy them as from the photo they look to be in good shape.Do you know how much your friend is paying to get the seat realigned?

Yes. His old seat covers were as in the picture I posted. With the new covers, he wanted to get an updated look, so he went with the skins used from 1997 and on. In other words more white with blue piping. The entire cockpit except captain's chair, was $460 from Canvas Plus (last September). I don't know if the labor cost to install is all that relevant since it's being done in Norway. Here are some pics of the new covers:

http://baylinerownersclub.org/media/....jpg[/img]

http://baylinerownersclub.org/media/....jpg[/img]

http://baylinerownersclub.org/media/....jpg[/img]David, thanks for posting that article.

[Guest]

they look great and not a bad price either