Strong DIY vinyl repair for a seat?

[Secret Chimp]

I got a couple tears in my driver's side of the bench. One area had been professionally repaired before (you can kind of see the rumple around the texture on the lower area), but it looks like I have another tear starting nearby. You can see off to the right of the upper one where the vinyl's starting to pull apart.

I took a look at the usual Permatex-type kit for $15 at the parts store but that stuff looks kind of flimsy. Is there something out there that will both hold well in a high-stress area like the middle of a driver's seat? I'm most concerned about the repair holding well. I don't want to end up with a massive end-to-end rip, but I don't want it to look too ugly. I've tried finding something thick that can be attached and then pressed in with a texture like the previous pro repair but I'm having trouble locating anything.

 

[BuckNeccid]

That looks like it's all an old damage. I don't know of anything for sure that will repair it, BUT, if I were you and wanted to try and save it, there's some stuff out there called GOOP. Strong, silicone based glue. If you can take the upholstery loose at the back side, cut a flat piece of thin cloth about 2" larger than the area that shows the damage, then cover the whole piece with the Goop and slide it beneath the upholstery. Get it in place, then lay something heavy on top of that before trying to re-attach the upholstery. Once it's dried for a couple of days (You could push that, but I wouldn't if I didn't have to), trim any excess showing thru with an exacto knife and clip it back in place.

You can get the Goop at almost any parts store, Lowes, Wal Mart, etc. They have it in tubes with Automotive, plumbers, etc on them, but I've never found a difference in them, they are all clear so it should be ok. I used it to re-build the speaker grills on the dash of a Corvette dash pad, let it dry for about a week, then drilled out the holes. Painted it, and it's almost an invisible repair, not to mention hundreds of other things I've used it for.

 

[1ol74charger4me]

3m has a 2 part plastic repair that should work used in the same process as outlined above with the added bonus of setting up in 10 minutes and stiff enough to model your texture and should be able to be colored(it's black)afterward. Drawback would be price and having to own the gun for it. I think I
would go ahead and reinforce a larger area and try to hide the seams under a didviding line somewhere. It may be possible the foam has collapsed enough to allow the material to be stretched when you sit on it and allowing it to tear. It may be wise to peel back the foam and reinforce the area between it and the springs with some carpet, burlap, or I like to use cheap black welcome mats. Just a thought.

 

[Secret Chimp]

That looks like it's all an old damage. I don't know of anything for sure that will repair it, BUT, if I were you and wanted to try and save it, there's some stuff out there called GOOP. Strong, silicone based glue. If you can take the upholstery loose at the back side, cut a flat piece of thin cloth about 2" larger than the area that shows the damage, then cover the whole piece with the Goop and slide it beneath the upholstery. Get it in place, then lay something heavy on top of that before trying to re-attach the upholstery. Once it's dried for a couple of days (You could push that, but I wouldn't if I didn't have to), trim any excess showing thru with an exacto knife and clip it back in place.

You can get the Goop at almost any parts store, Lowes, Wal Mart, etc. They have it in tubes with Automotive, plumbers, etc on them, but I've never found a difference in them, they are all clear so it should be ok. I used it to re-build the speaker grills on the dash of a Corvette dash pad, let it dry for about a week, then drilled out the holes. Painted it, and it's almost an invisible repair, not to mention hundreds of other things I've used it for.

That's probably what I'm going to do at this point. I contacted the same company the previous owner used to have the initial repair done, and the guy in charge of my part of the state took one look and said "nope, we can't touch that."

I'll probably take the additional suggestion of adding a sheet of cloth or thicker foam or something as reinforcement for weight to compensate for the old original seat foam too. The vinyl tends to kind of wave up after I've driven it for awhile, so my bony butt's probably stretching it more than it was designed to be in the first place.