Murphy
06-23-2002, 10:59 PM
Bilt-Rite does A+ upholstery, however the back seat in my 22 was a bit of a problem. My experience was that the back seat a) absorbed water like a sponge even though it was shrink wrapped, b)had a nasty tendency to creep forward while underway, and c)was too soft so that eventually your butt was on the deck. I decided to take a chance and ordered a 42"x72" sheet of 2" thick Neoprene for $123 (stuff wrestling mats are made of). I marked it and cut two pieces on my band saw to the same size as the original foam rubber insert. It's pretty firm stuff and didn't quite "fill out" the cushion like the foam rubber did, so I topped it off with a real soft 3/4" thick closed cell foam sleeping bag pad I bought at Wal-Mart. It all fit inside the Bilt-Rite Cover with a little effort. Bottom line... absolutely excellent. Advantages = absorbs "0" water, doesn't creep at all, supports the upper back cushions better so they stay snapped, firm to sit on at first, but quickly molds to your butt. Best part is it's really stable to stand on. You can step in and out of the boat without mashing the cushion every time or losing your balance. I like it so much I plan to change the equally spongy front seats over too. Warning... this isn't for your grandmother. It's firm, but in my opinion a major improvement. Not a single complaint from passengers to date. The company I bought from is http://www.foambymail.com/neoprene.html but also may want to check out http://www.knoxfoam.com/cgi-bin/SoftCart.exe/closed_cell_foam.htm?E+scstore
Murph
Murph