MacGregorSailors.com

Hello, I bought a 1999 26x a few months ago from an owner who had a dog. He removed all the interior cushions. He said they were damaged. So now I have the task of installing new cushions from scratch and then doing the upholstery. Can anyone tell me what the cushion thickness (inches)is for those interior cushions? I am trying to get a fit as close as to the original before I order the new foam. Any additional measurement info or patterns helpful. Thanks.

Charles

...hi Charles...I would suggest visiting with an "X" owner and make cut out patterns for the cushions. You could vary the thickness for personal comfort. I have a '99 X also. The original cushions are very comfortable, but Im not sure of the foam quality or "exact" thickness. I think if we ever recover our cushions, I'd have a professional do the job. There are long zippers, vinyl bottom coverings, and the difficulty would be apparent.
Happy Sailing...

I'm an X owner too, and I'd personally not recommend going with the stock yellow open-cell cushion material. It stinks - literally and figuratively - and it's basically just the cheapest junk that MacGregor can buy.

If I were to re-do my cushions I'd look for a high-quality closed-cell foam rubber. And for the v-berth cushions, and maybe even for the aft bunks as well, I'd consider that 'Tempurpedic' type foam (aka viscoelastic "memory foam"), but about twice as thick as the stock stuff (stock is around 2", so I'd shoot for about 3.5" to 4.0" thick).

Here's some links that may be helpful:

http://macgregorsailors.com/phpBB/viewt ... =4179#4179

http://www.foamsweetfoam.com/

http://macgregorsailors.com/phpBB/viewt ... =2726#2726

http://www.dow.com/perffoam/market/products/

And some other thoughts...

http://www.catalina36.org/articles/upgr ... ttress.htm

I just replaced most of the horizontal seat cushion foam in my 2000 26X, with more dense (firmer) open cell foam. For the seats, the thickness is 3 inches. I think that the seat backs are 2 inches thick.

If you live in my area and want the original stuff, which is not very good, you are welcome to it.

~~~~~~~~~_/)~~~~~~~~
Rich Plumb "Plumb Crazy"
26X, Covington WA

Thanks for the suggestions and hyperlinks to the outlets that sell the foam. So many foam choices to make!

Still need to order the foam, hence the need for the thickness. Hate to do all that ordering and then find out I had the size thickness wrong. The boat is in South Florida. I need to take measurements/patterns either in the South Florida area or the Chicago area or anyplace near the Interstates going down to Florida from Chicago. I probably need about 1 - 1 1/2 hours on a 26X to make kraft paper/plastic pattern traces of the interior cushions. Anyone out there that would be gracious enough to let me get these cushion sizes/patterns, it would be greatly appreciated.

I had a boat 10 years ago with all the exterior cushions in real bad shape. I wound up doing extensive carpentry in replacing the underlying plywood that was eaten out by termites and had an upholstery guy do his thing afterwards. I had to do the carpentry as the upholstery guy was terrified at doing carpentry. Go figure. The overal job came out great.

Received an estimate quote from a boat/auto upholstery place in the Keys. They want ..... get this...... $3,600 for the complete interior cushion job for a 26X. Of course, it's a custom job since the originals are missing. Drop the boat off by them, get the cushions done, and of course, come up with the cash.....lots of it!

I'm handy. Though not an experienced expert in upholstery, I think I'll get the job done in a satisfactory fashion at a fraction of the cost. I'll take my time and try my hand at it.

Rich, thanks for offering. Covington, WA is a bit out of my range. Yeah it would have been great to check out the old and the new cushions.

Yeah, with a bid like that, the guy is saying we don't want to do it and expects you to disappear.

Stay clear of 'marine' outlets, no need for it.

IM still laughing over

Foamsweetfoam

Born marketeer..

[quote="aquaone"]


Received an estimate quote from a boat/auto upholstery place in the Keys. They want ..... get this...... $3,600 for the complete interior cushion job for a 26X.

"yeppers"

Sloop John B is "right on"....I looked at 4 dock lines at a Marine Outlet locally, and ended up purchasing all 4 at Wal Mart at less than half the price...(had enough savings for dinner at Wendys)....

aquaone wrote:Received an estimate quote from a boat/auto upholstery place in the Keys. They want ..... get this...... $3,600 for the complete interior cushion job for a 26X. Of course, it's a custom job....

For that much $$ that "custom job" they supply better include a couple of nubile young things named "Barbie" and "Debbie" that help you test all those new cushions out! Yikes.

aquaone -

Perhaps there is a high school in your area that has a sewing class. Check with the teacher, you buy the materials, the students do the work.

K9Kampers wrote:aquaone -

Perhaps there is a high school in your area that has a sewing class. Check with the teacher, you buy the materials, the students do the work.

Good idea, but be careful...I bought a round hay bale hauler that was built by local high school Ag Class...and I ended up nearly taking the thing apart to correct the welding, winch, alignment, cable, etc. errors....I still wonder what sorta scholastic grade was given on that project....

I see you still haven't got the answer to your original question. The stock foam thickness is 3".

The factory cushion covers are not all that bad, but the foam is the worst dirt cheap stuff out there.

We simply bought new much firmer 3" foam from foamsweetfoam.com. After pulling the old foam out and tracing it we cut out the new with a electric knife and put the covers back on. The result is a very comfortable seat. There is a trade off however. For a seat you want a firm foam, for a bed you want something softer. It's always a compromise for cushions that have dual purposes. We went extra firm for the best seating so you don't bottom out. We then add a 1" memory foam topper on the firm vee berth foam for more comfort at night.

I must say your quote is way out of line. At one time we investigated having a full set of new cushions made. Utraleather covers with sunbrella bottoms, nice thick firm foam. The quote was $1000. Still too much for us which lead to the foam replacement that cost about $200.

Duane,,,you once posted how much of each type of foam was needed. Could not find it though.

Captain Steve wrote:Duane,,,you once posted how much of each type of foam was needed. Could not find it though.

Did you check the link I had posted above?

http://macgregorsailors.com/phpBB/viewt ... =4179#4179