Build Blender, My LX450/FZJ80 + FJ45esk + GM + Land Rover crazy concoction

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My evening progress...



I put the seats back in and set them in place with the complete tunnel so I could pattern out the brackets. It wasn't as simple as I thought it was going to be. There are a few places where the seat slider is pretty tight on things.

I was just going to make a big U-shape bracket that was going to bolt to the seat, but that would have put the legs of the bracket outboard a bit too far. I decided to do individual L-shape brackets that will bolt the the seat mounts but the vertical leg of the bracket will be to the INSIDE of the seat. This moves the leg away from the tunnel on the inside slider on both sides.

I decided to mount the seats at a 6 degree base angle. That should allow the seat to move up as it moves forward slightly. I don't like the way a flat seat bottom cushion feels anyway. I mounted the seats as low as practical. I can add a spacer between the slider and the seat if things are too low.

I will make a matching L-shape bracket that will basically mount to the floor pan. I will just weld those brackets in place. The rear mounting bolt for the seats will be on top of the B-pillar floor spreader. That should make the mounting system very strong without having add a lot more cage structure ( remember, not a racecar ).

The only complication is going to be the inside mount on the passenger seat over the transfer case hump. I think that bracket system is going to have a few more parts to allow the removal of the tunnel as intended. I will start with the same base bracket shape that matches the others, but I will have to take a BIG notch out of it for the t-case.
 
My bite for the day...







The heater is making a difference in the shop. It was down to about 20F and I was able to come home and work without preheating the area.

I was able to bend all the seat brackets up and install a pair on the drivers seat for a test fit. Overall it worked out really well. The brackets look like they will clear everything easily on the drivers side easily. I will need to trim the flange on the tunnel for sure. The front inside corner of the drivers seat is pretty darn close to the tunnel.

Now I need to make the next set of brackets that will weld onto the B-pillar spreader and the floor pan. Once I see how everything bolts together I will see what kind of extra space I have on the large brackets for holes and dimple dies. There is a decent amount of space under the drivers seat that I need to develop some kind storage system for.

The bracket for the inside of the passenger side is going to be more complex for sure....

Man I need a cnc plasma table or something. Making repeat brackets in this size takes a decent amount of time for sure.
 
I'm sure you have plans for the space under the seats, here's what I made. makes for a nice gun stash.

IMG_2449.webp
 
Here's a few more, I'm just a hack at metal work, but they do work great. My wife loves putting her stuff in there on trips. Didn't mean to clog up your build...

IMG_2346.webp


IMG_2345.webp


IMG_2448.webp
 
Thank you. Looks nice to me. I think I could sandwich the drawer assembly between the seat mount and the slider if I don't want to have it welded into the main brackets. Having a place to secure things will be important. I will probably have to make a console too. With the narrowed body there is only about 6" between the seats now. Is there anywhere you would recommend for drawer parts?
 
One seat is mounted! That felt like a big bite that I didn't chew all the way....



I have three of the floor mounts that can be the same basic bracket. I had posted the chipboard pattern before. Cutting multiples of the same bracket is always a ton of fun. I don't really mind making singles, but multiples brings up the need for a plasma table in the shop...

All the seat brackets are the same 10 gauge cold roll material. It is basically 0.135" thick stuff. Overall I really like working with it. I don't see the need for anything thicker for the most part.

I added a 1" flange to the bottom of the floor brackets to spread the load out a bit. The mounts also wrap around the 2x2x1/8" box tube B-pillar spreader at the floor.





Before I could mount the seats, I needed to trim the floor flange of the new tunnel to give me a little extra room for the seat brackets. That was a decent amount of work for sure. I trimmed down the firewall flange also. I like it a lot better now, it looks much less intrusive with that flange trimmed and angled to the fastener locations. It will also make mounting the gas pedal assembly a lot easier as it frees up some critical space in that area.



Here you can see the seat mounts tack welded into place on the floor. I will complete the stitch welding to the floor in the future after mockup is done. I think finishing everything as you go to be too time consuming and open for problems in the future if you need to modify something.



And finally. A seat mounted! The seat uses the full range of the slider with the seat on a comfy seat back angle. I am a little depressed in that the head rest kinda gets in the way eventually. I may look into removing the cover and foam to see if I could bend the tubular support structure forward a little bit. I think that help a bit to make for more possible room inside when the rear panels are in place.

Scooting the seat all the way forward should allow someone with shorter legs to drive very comfortably. With the seat all the way forward and the back also tipped forward, I have a decent amount of access to behind the seats. It could be better, but it isn't bad or anything. I think to get the seat to flip/tumble the mounting system would have to be a lot more complex.

It felt REALLY good to be able to sit in the vehicle on the final seat mount! Now I need to finish up the passenger side. Most of the brackets where the same, but I will have to chop up the inside bracket to clear the tunnel. There will also be an additional bracket to allow the tunnel to be tied into the B-pillar, but still be removable. I hope that will be pretty easy to finish up next week. After that is done I get to move onto something new!

I think I am going to work on the modifications to the grill shape and start on the mounts for that. I also need to start thinking about the structure for the bed floor. Once those two items are done....the last things that need to be built while the vehicle is leveled....I can stick the spring back into it and get a better idea of the stance this thing is going to have!
 
I short but productive evening...







I was able to 95% finish all the brackets for the passenger seat mount. It ended up being a little more complex than the drivers side because of the transfer case portion of the tunnel.

I had to add one more mounting hole, for a total of 3, on the inside mount to tie everything together. The inside seat bracket has 3 parts. 1- That is the bracket that bolts to the bottom of the seat slider. It has all 3 mounting holes. 2- That is the bracket that will weld to the tunnel. It has the forward and middle mounting hole. 3- That is the bracket that weld to the B-pillar. It has the middle and rear mounting hole. By combining them all you end up with a strong assembly that bridges the entire seat mount, but still allows for the tunnel to be removed. Part 1 fits between parts 2 and 3 which is a little odd for assembly, but was the only way I could think to be able to disassemble the tunnel. The tunnel needs to be able to shift slightly to the passenger side and then lift up about 1.5" to clear the body side brackets.

I still have to pull the brackets apart one more time to add the last holes, prep the welding surfaces, and then tack weld everything in place. Tons of fun.

Then I can move onto something else!
 
The passenger seat mount is all done. Yipee. Man that feels good. I don't know what it is about being able to sit in the thing for the 1st time knowing what the seat will feel like....but it always does it for me...





Seat all the way back.....



Seat all the way forward. I am happy my guesswork was good on the shifter location. I might stick an inward bend in it or shorten it to clear the passengers left leg. It should be ok, but if I want to get picky....







I thought I would take a few pictures of the passenger seat bracket assembly since it was hard to explain in text. Basically, I needed a bracket system that would tie three independent parts together. The seat mount, the tunnel, and the body/b-pillar. The seats have to come out to pull the tunnel, but I don't think that is really a bad thing. The tunnel is pretty large. I still may add a few access panels in key areas of the tunnel, but don't know for sure...

Time for something new.....
 
Time to mess with something new!



I am going to need to remake the shape of the grill.....why not....

Generally, I want to eliminate the 'corners' below the headlights by moving them in about 4.38" and changing the shape to a trapezoid. This will leave the top and the bottom of the grill the same width as stock. The top matches the hood. The bottom matches the width of the 80-series frame pretty well.





The shell needed a bit of prep in order to provide room for the jig saw blade. I was actually able to keep all the brackets useable. I think the little ones hold the metal screen for the main grill opening. I have no idea what the one of the drivers upper corner does? Some kind of latch mount maybe? I don't think I will need to retain that one....







Cutting up into lots of pieces was fun.

This metal is pretty thin. I think it is 22 gauge or something. I need to look at picking up a small sheet for the areas I will need to add to make the new shape.

Once the edges where cut I cleaned them up with a file, dremel, flap wheel, a few swear words, and a little hammer work....





Here is the little jig I made for sticking the middle section back together after I removed the 4.38" from the middle.....

I need food. To be continued.
 
Ok.....time to start sticking the parts of the grill back together....







Here is where I had to stop for the evening.

I was able to get all the big parts back together again. The outside of the blue tape is going to be the new shape. Next I need to trim down the extra bits. Then I will start on making the new heavy duty side plates for the grill. That will be the main mounting flange for the grill in my application in combination with the fender mounts and some of the cooling system support.
 
GM riveted the rotors to the hub on C3 Corvettes. The removal method is drill then BFH. I did this on my Corvette and tested whether or not my index finger made a good hammer stop (BFH Hammer stop) - the answer is no, no it doesn't. I feel your pain, especially when it's 20 degrees outside
 
That's a pretty radical new shape for the front bib!! I can't quite see the finished shape yet (despite the tape).
 
GLTHFJ60 said:
That's a pretty radical new shape for the front bib!! I can't quite see the finished shape yet (despite the tape).
Click to expand...

It is going to be a wider version of something like this with a true trapezoid like shape....



My fenders won't be integrated into the hood, but will be all the way up to the bottom of the hood. That way the hood can be replaced if damaged and I can build some inner fenders easily also.
 
Lets see....where did I leave off....



After trimming the ends to the proposed shape of the new grille I made the new end caps. These are 1.25" x 1/8" flat bar. I decided to use some weld in captured nuts to secure everything. This should mean that everything can be disassembled from one side without having to reach into a tight corner. These fastener locations are going to provide the mounting to the shell to the frame and also the inner fender to the shell in a sandwich/laminated fashion.



Here is what the grill shape looks like pretty much. I still have to add the fill panel in the upper corner. I will finish off the 2nd side tomorrow.....
 
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