Pantastic! | Stampede Insta Seat Pan Kit
01. The Insta Pan Kit comes complete with Stampede’s two-part clay, duct tape, reinforcement fabric, wooden framerails, PVC roller, and latex-free gloves.
02. We masked off the area on the bike where the seat kit would be laid with some low-tack blue tape.
03. We then added a layer of cardboard over the battery box area to reinforce it as well as to smooth out the area where the seat would normally meet the battery.
04. A layer of duct tape was added over the cardboard on top of the frame and rear fender to smooth the transition between them.
05. The supplied acetate pattern sheet was placed over the area and an overall outline of the seat was made.
06. We taped the two supplied wooden rails onto a large piece of cardboard approximately 2 inches wider that the seat pattern.
07. Next, we dawned a set of latex-free gloves and removed the black clay from its container. We then laid it out on a cardboard pallet. We then added the white clay component to the middle of the black clay and added some calcium carbonate to keep the two clays from becoming too sticky to work with.
08. Both clays were mixed thoroughly until a gray color with no streaking appeared. This was achieved best by rolling the clay lengthwise and folding it instead of kneading it like bread.
09. The acetate pattern sheet was then placed over the clay and the supplied PVC roller was used to roll the clay out to approximately the size of the pattern outline.
10. The clay was rolled to approximately 3/8-inch thick, which was the same thickness of the wooden rails. The excess clay outside of the outline was then cut away.
11. We also cut away any excess backing material that was not covered by the properly sized clay.
12. The clay was then set onto the seating area of the bike and gently molded into place.
13. After the desired shape was acquired, the pan was then allowed to cure for 48 hours and then we removed it from the bike.
14. As you can see, the seat pan hardened into one useful custom component. At this point, the shape can be further refined to your liking by using a sander or die grinder. It will then be ready to have some foam mounted and a cover made for it. In a future issue we will show you a couple of ways of just how to cover the pan.
There are just some custom times that call for custom measures, and so was the case when we docked a Softail rear fender and found that no off-the-shelf seat would even come close to fitting once it was back on the bike. We thought of going down to the local parts house and making a seat pan from fiberglass, but all those shards of glass itching for weeks under our nails and in between our fingers has us searching for other options.
That’s when a friend hipped us to Stampede’s Insta Pan seat kit. The kit uses a two-part self-hardening clay system similar to JB Weld, but on a much larger scale. It works like this: once the two clay components are mixed and kneaded, a seat pan can be patterned, rolled, formed, and molded to the bike for a very precise fit. Once the pan is fully cured, it can be cut, sanded, and drilled just like a steel or fiberglass pan.
This kit sounded too good to be true and we wanted to know more about how this Play-Doh pan could save us time and money over many more expensive options. After checking the Insta Pan out online, we ordered one from MC Advantages and decided to give it a whirl. The results are as follows.
The Lowdown
Man Hours: 2.5
Difficulty: Moderate
Aftermarket Parts Used:
Insta Pan kit
Total Cost: $145
