Bucket Seat Swap

BushBoy · 08-14-06, 05:08 AM

Hi guys,
I'm looking at putting bucket seats in my piggy, as among other things the bench is a killer with my back problem.
I already have the seats, from an '87 mitsubishi magna, quite comfortable and good adjustments and support, donated from my brothers first car which he wrote off.
I did see a few pics of someones seat swap a while ago but no amount of searching has come up with anything useful, so any suggestions etc. would be appreciated, thanks.
I want to keep the rear heater, so i can't have seperate mounts to the floor unless i can somehow dodge the heater but i don't like that idea too much. I was thinking of a heavy RHS frame between the existing seat mounts and perhaps a centre support to prevent sagging towards the centre.
What do you guys think.

Thanks,
Daniel.

Gumby · 08-14-06, 05:50 AM

That works for me. Actually what I did was to cut the tops off of the seat mounts and I dropped a peice of 2x4 rec tube down in them. Then built across with 1.5x1.5 angle. My rig is a trail only POS, so you asthetic needs may vary.

RHINO · 08-14-06, 02:28 PM

thats exactly what i did. built a new frame out of square tube across the originals mounts, a couple braces to the floor in the middle and it was done. i made mine low to the floor and chose to lose the rear heater, but its only a matter of 20mm or so to keep the heater.

BushBoy · 08-15-06, 04:50 AM

Thanks gumby and rhino,
I'll have heaps of room under the seats, i thnik i'll actually need to add more height to the frame once made to get the seats near the right height, different heights for each mount anyway, so i'll have plenty of room to keep my heater.
It sure looks more comfy rhino, any chance of a pic of the frame?

Thanks, Dan.

Gumby · 08-15-06, 05:55 AM

I have some seats from a Sunfire in mine. They are just generic cloth buckets, but what a difference. The bench was impossible after a couple of hours. It wasn't too good on crazy angles on the trail either. It's a huge improvement.

snailwagon · 08-15-06, 09:57 AM

I also just put cross tubing in , 1.5"x1.0" (0.12") attached to 3" x 0.18" flat stock. The stock was needed to space the seats more so that the seat was centered with the steering wheel. Also, the flat stock extends about 3.5" behind the stock mounts to properly position the seats, but all seats vary. I did not use any center supports, but I did reinforce the front, rust prone area of the mounts. There is no sagging. I do not have enough room for the rear heater under my seats. If your seats are low enough with the heater under them, cool. Otherwise, you'll have to fashion some center console with the heater under there.

Personally, I don't think that rear heater is necessary. Mine never worked, since the PO gashed a hole in the floorboard and placed my heater under the body. Then I accidentaly hit it with a sawzall.

RHINO · 08-15-06, 04:31 PM

hey bushboy, no i dont have a pic of the fram alone, i can take a pic but you'll only see a bit of it from behind. its basically a rectangle made out of square tube. i went straight across the back from stock mount to stock mount. it was too low for the heater like that, the heater if you look at it is about 30mm higher than the seat mounts. the front of my frame is of three pieces, again if you notice the front of the seat mounts are lower than the tranny hump. so to keep it low i removed the heater in the back and made the front with 3 pieces to clear the hump, actaully rests right on the hump for the center support. in the back i used a chunk of rectangle tube for the center support.
the seats are from a saturn coupe, do ya'll have those in OZ?? comfy. and the bonus of height adjust via a knob. center console is military ammo can.

BushBoy · 08-16-06, 12:54 AM

Thanks again,
Rhino, don't worry about the pic, i get the picture anyway, we don't have the saturn coupe, never heard of a saturn before, likewise with the sunfire...

Don't know what the winters are like where you are but I sorta want to keep the rear heater in mine, i fixed it up good and works a treat when its chilly, kinda warms the rest of the car better than just the footwells in the front, people in the back love it too. Although i havent really taken a good look at it and the heater may not fit in it's original possy, there will as you say be enough room under the centre console, i have no problems with relocating it.
I'll cut up some materials at work before the weekend and get stuck into it, don't know waht i'll use yet, probably go with 50x50x3.0mm rhs, or 2"x2"x1/8" of course

Also speaking of being aligned with the steering wheel, the hollow in my bench seat makes me sit off centre a bit, it's not too bad but is kinda odd.

Dan

RHINO · 08-16-06, 02:43 PM

yeah scootted my seat over a little to be with the steering wheel. i only used 1" steel tube for my frame.
the saturn is a GM product so i wouldnt doubt you have a holden version. do you have a little coupe car with a "suicide style" 3rd door for back seat riders??

BushBoy · 08-17-06, 03:07 AM

Yeah it's possible we have something like it maybe a variation of it, but the third door doesn't ring any bells. all the ones i know are either 2 or 4 door normal style