Discovery 2 seats in FJ62 (1 Viewer)

[Aravind Dileepan]

I'm finally beginning the installation process for new seats. I got a full set of seats from a Discovery 2 that I want to install. They're heavier than the stock seats, which I don't like, but I get several benefits: the front seats will be comfortable and heated and will have an int
erior armrest; the rear seat is split 60/40, has shoulder belts in all three seats (center seatbelt is integrated), and you can mount car seats using the LATCH system.

One drawback to these seats is that I lose some interior volume when the seats are folded up. Where the stock seat bottom folded forward and the seatback folded down to create a flat bed, the Disco's seatback folds down, then the whole thing hinges forward.

This different geometry is causing some difficulties with installation. In the Discovery, the trunk floor runs level all the way under the rear seat, up to the rear seat's leading edge. In the Landcruiser, at the joint of the rear seatback and the seat bottom, there's a drop, then the pan slopes down until it meets the rear footwell.

In order to get the Disco seats to mount at a decent angle (think of the butt to knee angle), I cut some 2x4s at an angle (see picture below). But that posed a difficulty because the floor plan is corrugated. So I put a piece of plywood across the floor plan, mounted my 2x4 risers on that plywood, then attached plywood to the underside of the seats. Here's a picture:

Now that I have the whole rear mocked up, I'm going to take it to a metal fab shop and see if they can build something for me. I'm open to suggestion, but my idea is to replicate this sandwich idea in metal. Then the bottom plate of sheetmetal would get through-bolted to the floor plan. That sheet would have the risers welded to it. Then the top sheet would be bolted to the risers, and the seat attachment points would be on that top sheet (the seats attach in the front with bolts through a bracket (seen in the picture below) but in the rear, there are flat metal loops (bolted to floor pan) that the seat hooks to (I'll post a pic tomorrow).

If I can't get a fab shop to do this for me, I figure it's simple enough that I could do it myself with an angle grinder and a drill, which is all I have that could help, I think.

I don't have pictures yet, but for the front seats, I think I might drill out the rivets that attach the bottom of the sliders and just trade them between the original seats and the new ones, then I won't have to fabricate any brackets.

I'll post more pictures tomorrow, especially of the rear seat rear attachment points and the bottom of the front seats.

If anyone has ideas, I'm glad to hear them. Except for the idea to just use different seats. I like that I'll have a matching set, and my wife will enjoy the front seat heaters (which wiring will also be an adventure).

 

[bentonrover]

Interesting

 

[Willard]

I subscribed to this thread and I am interested. I like the LR seats (drivers) I can say my LR3 the drivers seat was awesome. Never had Disco II seats though, how comfortable are they? I know in the LR3 the passengers was like sitting on a board and sucked and the rears I swear were just leather covered boards.

The rears on yours fit nice I think welding a bracket would be easy enough.
As I just did the carpet on mine, i think the biggest challenge will be making sure there is support for the frame you build under the floor pan. You will need to reinforce that for sure or you will rip it out.
I would mock up a frame with 2x4's or 1x1 and see how it will look.
That way you could fine tune it.

I think your could solve the wiring on the heaters simply buy picking up a universal kit and using it's wiring. That would give you the switch and the loom.

 

[andrewkimball]

Subscribed. Been thinking about new seats in my 62 as well.

 

[Cruising Canuck]

The wiring is the easiest part of a seat install.

Do what Willard said and just buy an aftermarket seat heater kit and just use the wiring and splice it to your pads.

I haven't been able to replace the rear seats in my truck. The 60 has such a narrow wheel well.

I'm curious to see how this turns out.

 

[Cruising Canuck]

Here is the switch I used. Fits pretty well in the dash. Doesn't look stock but the location is excellent.

 

[D21FJ60]

Maybe I missed it, but do you have the disco front seats in as well?

 

[Aravind Dileepan]

The fab shop wanted $1500 to build up the contraption, so I'm going to go a different way. Instead of doing a platform, I think it will be simpler to run two lengths across the floor pan, like the 2x4s in this picture.

Once I mock this up, I should be able to make it or have it made out of channel and angle steel with very few cuts and welds, so it should be a lot cheaper. I'll run through bolts to attach these to the body, and I'll get someone to weld on some capture nuts so that the seat hardware can mount easily.

Sorry, I didn't take a picture of the entire attachment setup.

I do have the front seats, too, and I have all the wiring from the donor car. It's a matter of actually connecting the wiring, which is something I've never done in a car.

I'm tempted to just buy a Harbor Freight welder to teach myself how to do some of this stuff.

In the meanwhile, on Tuesday I'm going to a different machine shop that might be able to help with this simpler setup.

 

[NookShneer]

Where are you in Seattle? Might be able to schedule you for a session over at the Haus of Klaus. @Kleatus

I'd be glad to have you look over the HJ61 seats I put in the back of my 60. Yours could be a bit more involved but I think you might look at how to adapt just the base of the seat bracket instead of running something across the whole width of the rig.

If you could just fabricate the lower mount to the height you need (unbolt the existing lower portion and replace), and then a rear lock bar (what the rear seat attachment locks onto) to match the stock factory seat belt location that could work out to not having cross bars with fabricated cutouts to match the couregations and minimal holes drilled in the body.

Your plan to put captured nuts on the bottom of the floor pan is spot on. I bolted mine thru and it's a real hassle to remove/install when trying to tighten and hold a wrench on both sides of the floorpan.

Dave

 

[BamaHeel]

Check out post 89-92

Brown FJ60 + FZJ80 + Chevy 5.7 = THE FLYING TERD PROJECT!!!

 

[Aravind Dileepan]

Thanks, @BamaHeel . I actually got in touch with Chevota but he's moved to Australia and doesn't have this Cruiser anymore. After that word, I didn't think anymore about his project, but I'm glad you brought it up because looking at his pictures again, his risers for the forward mounting points look simpler than even my crossbar idea.

I think what I could do is install that rear bar like he has, then hook the seats in and lift up the front until I have my height, measure, then either mock up the negative space and have someone bend some flatstock or try to bend it myself. Any concerns about those risers getting deformed in an accident, or just through regular use? Maybe I could have someone weld some gussets to it.

@NookShneer , I'm in Ballard, but I'm glad to run around, especially if someone can help. The only trouble I think with adapting existing mounting is that they don't align. That is, the Rover seat mounting points don't align with the Toyota mounting holes. But if I'm missing or misunderstanding something, please correct me.

In the meanwhile, I'm going to run to Wilson Machine Works in Interbay tomorrow, with my crossbars and with this picture. If I go with crossbars, I'm not going to account for the corrugations--I'm just going to go straight across them, and maybe sandwich a length of rubber mat to prevent squeaks and rattles.

Ara

 

[Aravind Dileepan]

I have finally installed the rear seat. @NookShneer and @Kleatus helped with design ideas and doing the actual fabrication.

The final form is similar to what I had earlier mocked up with the 2x4s: two lengths across the width of the car. Instead of using channel or angle stock, I used 1.5" x .072 square tube. For the rearward one, we bent 2" x 3/16 flatstock and welded those onto the bar. We drilled holes into these tabs so that they can get bolted to the floor. We used M8 nutserts.

Each cross rail, for lack of a better term, is attached at four points: 2 behind, 2 in front. I've shown each of those with the red arrows (except for the front of the front rail. I'll show that in another picture.

The green arcs are the path from a bumper to bump stop. The bump stop is 1" square tube. This is necessary because those bumpers are too short to hit the cross rail.

In this picture, you see one of the front attachment points (blue circle). We cut the hinge off the stock bench and welded it onto the cross rail. This allowed us to use the factory mount point and factory bolts.

The red arrow points to some heavy springs that made this project much more difficult than it would have been otherwise. We couldn't dry fit everything without having a way to overcome the moment of the spring.

The thing outlined in green is essentially a spacer that @Kleatus designed to match the angle of the integrated bracket on the seat. He took a length of 1.5" square tube and cut a 45 degree angle on it. Then he notched that opening, as you can see below. Into that notch he welded a 3" length of flat stock. This was necessary to be the receiving plate for the bolt that ran through the hole in the integrated bracket and into something solid.

We had to make four of them. This is one, upside down:

Here's one more shot of it installed that might help show what I'm going on about:

So in the end, this is how it looks.

These seats sit higher than the stock ones, which shortens up the headroom a bit. The upside is that passengers get a great view in front and there's a nice storage area below the seats. I could put in a long case that runs perpendicular to the car, or I could even do a locking drawer that I could pull out even when the seats are down.

The reason I was insistent on these seats working is that I had them and only paid $300 or $400 for the whole set, including seat belts. I also like that it's a split seat and not a single piece all the way across and that the center seat has an integrated shoulder belt. It has LATCH points for child seats and top tether attachment points on the back, so I can install my kids' seats immediately without needing to install the shoulder belts for the outer seats.

The next things to do are installing the shoulder belts and also removing this whole thing, cleaning up the cuts, and painting it all.

Then it'll be wiring and installing the front seats. My plan is to chop the legs from the stock seats, cut off the attachment points on the Discovery seats, and weld the stock legs at the right height to make it work. Then it's just plug the wiring connectors and attach the four bolts.

I'll post a couple of more pictures in the next post.

 

[Aravind Dileepan]

 

[NookShneer]

Great write up on this Ara! If you can get the wiring sorted for the front seats, we can set a date and get the fronts in.

 

[Aravind Dileepan]

Great write up on this Ara! If you can get the wiring sorted for the front seats, we can set a date and get the fronts in.

Yeah, buddy. I met with anotger friend this week and he's going to put a parts list together. Once we get it wired up, yeah, I'll be all set to get the fronts in.

 

[Randy88FJ62]

you care about your passengers too much. I pulled my rear seat out. Looks like a nice fit.

 

[red66toy]

Seriously great work! I agree the fit looks fantastic for the space. A nice upgrade on the old bench seat.

 

[Gianni]

Outstanding work and thanks for pioneering this effort. I may go Disco 2 rear seats if I can't find HJ61 seats.
Any improvements or issues with the new rear seat?

How is the front seat installation coming along?

 

[Aravind Dileepan]

I'm still dragging my feet on the front seats but I want/need to hurry up. I hate having them stare at me from my garage floor.

As to the rear seats, I think they're great. The only issue is that the whole setup takes up more room than the stockers, so there's a little less room in the trunk, you sit up higher so your head is closer to the ceiling, and your knees are closer to the front seats.

That sounds like a lot, I know, and if your rear seat passengers are going to be large, then it likely isn't a good solution. But my children are still young and if they grow into giants, I'll figure something out then. In the meanwhile, the Disco seats have LATCH carseat attachment points, a built-in center shoulder belt, and a 60/40 split. Once I install the outer shoulder belts (thankfully I have a threaded C pillar hole), my rear seat will be all set.

 

[Aravind Dileepan]

I installed the front seats a couple of weeks ago. I still need to upload some pictures and some descriptions. For now, the takeaways are that the wiring is fairly straightforward, but the seats themselves are pretty high. I'm actually looking down on the rearview mirror and I have to tuck my head to get in.

What we did to the Disco seats was remove everything below the sliders (this involved a die grinder and an angle grinder, and air to blow out the shavings. I cut the feet off the sliders of the stock seats (I marked them for inside/outside, front/back, driver/passenger) and then we welded them onto the Disco sliders. This took some effort to place the seats exactly right, tack, then remove and fully weld.

Because the seats are too high, we will chop the rearward feet to make them shorter. The motors in the seats should allow you to raise it up to a comfortable place if you want.

In the end, as much as I love having matching seats, a splitting rear bench with an integrated middle shoulder belt, this project is only feasible if you (or someone you know) can weld and has some notion of design and strength.

Pics to follow, I promise.