New bolt-in version of the seat box. (1 Viewer)

[repentsinner]

Kevin, nice work on the box. I just drove an '86 HJ60 down from BC to CA and stopped for dinner in Eugene on the way - had I been more on top of it I'd have liked to stop and say hi.

Regarding fitting long items in the box, have you considered making one side open from the end instead of the top? I know the door pillar gets in the way a bit, but access to say the passenger side from the end and the drivers side from the top might be a nice compromise. Of course all of this is moot for me just at the moment, I don't have the time in my schedule to go do the hunting test and whatever else is required for a Canuck to be allowed to buy a gun down here.

I will be joining the line on the boxes just as soon as I figure out some mechanical issues and decide what seats are going to replace the stockers.

 

[kevinmrowland]

Originally that was what I had wanted to do, a flip down door or a drawer of kinds but the space just gets so limited. Something like you mention would work as a dedicated option for long stuff but it really limits the other functions. To construct them as stable as I want it would have to be one or the other, lid flip or side flip so I'm going with the option that gives you the most possible uses.

 

[rapovt]

Hey Kevin. Any updates on the box for an 87?

 

[kevinmrowland]

Yeah.... Sorry about that.
I screwed up on a couple of the parts and had to have them re-cut. Looks good now, needs powder-coat.
Got a bunch of other parts here that have been pushing it to the back burner, all my supply schedules got royally screwed up over the holidays and I'm still trying to dig out on that, getting better now though!

Thanks for the patience, everything always takes me longer than it should.

 

[SHREDwagon]

Hey Kevin - Any news on the 80 Series box? Also, how much do one of these weigh?

 

[kevinmrowland]

Hey Shred, I'm still tinkering with the 80 box but with the factory seats there is SO little room left it's hardly a justifiable mod. I've been looking instead at just doing the center part and integrating it with a utilitarian center console that actually fits the 80s.
The seat box as a total weighs about 50lbs when I ship them.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Now that the engine conversion is done, my thoughts are swinging back to the interior of the truck. May I have the next-in-line spot for an 87 body?

 

[kevinmrowland]

Sorry Johnny, you-snooze-you-loose.
Once I can get this prototype tested I've got rapovt lined up, then 3 others after him, you will have to be #5 now.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Sorry Johnny, you-snooze-you-loose.
Once I can get this prototype tested I've got rapovt lined up, then 3 others after him, you will have to be #5 now.

I'm cool with that! It'll give me plenty of time to wrap up other projects I'm in the middle of.

Thanks Kevin!

 

[kevinmrowland]

Prototype test installation tomorrow.....

 

[kevinmrowland]

So the 86+ seat box proto is in it's new home!
Instal was not as perfect as hoped, but close enough to make it work with a couple slight tweaks.
I'll digitize those tweaks and get another one going. Was really hoping it would be perfect so I could make a couple at once, still in one-at-a-time mode until it's all just right.

All-in-all the seat box was pretty straight forward, we spent most of the day trying to figure out how to mount these crazy VW seats that Ken showed up with.

I took a pic of early OE seat sliders in comparison to the late model.
Early on the left, late on the right:

We had those out to chop up and make sliders for the bottom of these seats:

After cutting all this off:

And a lot of head-scratchin, we ended up with this:

We were BARELY able to make them fit, put a lot of effort into keeping them as low to the deck as possible and luckily Ken likes to sit a little higher.

As a general guideline, the measurement from the front of the seat down to the seat box deck can not exceed 8". There is of course a lot more to it than that, the height at the back of the seat is going to dictate how high or low you actually sit, but the front measurement can give you an idea if a certain seat will even be close to fitting.

Don't mind Kens rat-trap of a truck.

 

[mep1811]

Great work. Any ideas to just make a seat box for each side and leave the center alone to leave in a Tuffy for example?

 

[kevinmrowland]

Nope, too much good storage space wasted that way, and you loose the ability for the cool pass-through storage.

In Kens case we are just mounting the Tuffy right on the new box (that's part of the beauty of these things, three flat decks to mount whatever you want, including a tuffy if you feel like it) since he wants to waste the space underneath with some silly amp.

A couple of folks have just hard mounted the Tuffy right to the deck, super simple and super sturdy.
I've got a customers Tuffy here now that I am moding so the Tuffy will have a hinge on the back and a hidden latch so you can release it and tip it back to reveal a smugglers hatch.

I think that's along the lines of what you wanted Mike.


To mount the Tuffy flush with the back edge of the box you have to slide it further forward than most people have them mounted, or you can mount it with an overhang off the back as well, no one will really notice with the seats in. We put the Tuffy all the way forward in the pic above and put the cup holder on the back edge, this worked out best for Kens setup.
I can also build a "bump-out" into the back of the boxes so that the tuffy would sit on a pedestal of the same size, but that is only a concern if you are going to go through the work of having the Tuffy tip back, otherwise the extra storage afforded by he bump-out would be a waste.

Past all that, when I get around to it I'll just be making a console that is actually custom fit for that spot.


KR

 

[kevinmrowland]

Just a heads up for all the thread followers; I have two pre-1986 seat box prototypes to sell.

-BOTH SOLD-

They both have been chopped and re-welded a few times.

The first one is still raw steel, has just been a test unit and would be powder coated just like the production ones. It also has the center hatch cut out but I have a patch panel I could weld in that spot (it wouldn't be %100 perfectly flat after welding it in though )

Here that one is:

I was doing latch tests and layout with this one, so there are holes that have been filled in with bronze:

Once powder coated it would be indistinguishable from a "factory" one:

The original hinge has been cut off and re-welded:

The latch end plates are hand-made rather than laser cut:

More holes that have been filled in:

Lots of little things basically, none of them add up to anything appreciable but it's still a prototype.

$255 off for this one: $525


-SOLD-

The other one is the one in our truck. It is the first one that I built, a bit more custom, but works perfectly fine and I would just keep it but I have to have a full production version in our truck since it's really tough to always have to say "this one is just a prototype". It has the center hatch cut out as well, but also has holes cut in the lids for our seats and two small holes in the center deck for our locker controls to come through. It is painted with black epoxy primer and has obviously been used. It could be sandblasted and powder coated for cost if desired (proabbly about $80).

$355 off full price for this one: $425

Ours:

Look back at the pics, any of the ones of the box in our truck are this one.

KR

 

[lostworldexpedition]

Awesome Kevin! Glad you are selling yet another cool product. I thought about doing something similar to our 60 after seeing your thread (I did pretty much copy your rear set-up) and after some thought didn't go for it... it was more $$ for mods or our drive south . I still pine for the tailgate panel and definitely for the flip windows.

We are still in South America, but finally driving north and would appreciate if you added us to the waiting list for a 1987, we use a Tuffy center console and would love to keep it, but maybe keeping the space under it accessible as you mention in the thread somewhere. Do not know what the waiting period is at the moment, but we should not be in the US sooner than November this year... BTW This mod would have been golden for the drive through the Americas.

Cheers

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Kevin, would it be possible to modify a pre-86 box to work in the later body? Cutting / welding is not a concern with me.

 

[kevinmrowland]

Thanks Luis, they're not going to be for everyone, but should fit a purpose for a few of us.
Not a problem on getting you guys set up with one, just let me know when you are ready. I'll be posting some more details about console mounting options, blank canvas as far as that's concerned.


And for Johnny, more WagonGear prototypes to squeeze into Moonshine?
Short answer: probably, but not 100%.
The proto boxes could be modded to fit a late model now that you mention it, the installation would require 30 extra seconds of work with a cut-off wheel on the front seat support ridge to chop the center down to height. It would be a dirty rough cut, but it would be completely covered/hidden after instal.
The cutting and welding on the box would not be easy to do on your end, I would need to use some other pieces as templates and weld on the 86+ style mounts. Probably wouldn't take more than 45 minutes of work though and it would be worth it to me just to have a box going to a good home.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

And for Johnny, more WagonGear prototypes to squeeze into Moonshine?
Short answer: probably, but not 100%.
The proto boxes could be modded to fit a late model now that you mention it, the installation would require 30 extra seconds of work with a cut-off wheel on the front seat support ridge to chop the center down to height. It would be a dirty rough cut, but it would be completely covered/hidden after instal.
The cutting and welding on the box would not be easy to do on your end, I would need to use some other pieces as templates and weld on the 86+ style mounts. Probably wouldn't take more than 45 minutes of work though and it would be worth it to me just to have a box going to a good home.

You know I'm all over those prototypes

I'll pay you for the work to convert one of those boxes. If you don't think it'd be too much of a hassle, I can send the $ your way later this week. Price posted above + materials to convert + labor? I'm down with that!!

 

[kevinmrowland]

Cheap bastid.
I know you will be able to make them work though so it's a good option for me as well.


Which box were you thinking by chance?
Haven't figured out if there would be pros or cons to either one for the late model mods.
As far as the mods, they would be a drop in the bucket compared to all the chopping and welding I've already had to do to get things just right.

What do you want to do with the center panel?

KR

 

[GLTHFJ60]

Cheap bastid.
I know you will be able to make them work though so it's a good option for me as well.


Which box were you thinking by chance?
Haven't figured out if there would be pros or cons to either one for the late model mods.
As far as the mods, they would be a drop in the bucket compared to all the chopping and welding I've already had to do to get things just right.

What do you want to do with the center panel?

KR

Don't really care which box it is, any of them will work just fine for me, so whichever one would be easier for you. If it's the bare metal one, I'll just paint it myself, no need to PC.

As for the center panel, I was planning on putting a center console in, probably my ammo can or something like it. I really like having something to rest my right elbow on.