New bolt-in version of the seat box.

[kevinmrowland]

That's great Doc, the recovered seats really look the part, they did a nice job on the new covers.
How is the seat position for you? Good angle? To get back to stock you might find yourself putting a 3/8" spacer under the front rails, but that is a matter of comfort on an individual basis.

Was the only damaged spot the sharp pointy corner on the bottom front? Nowhere else, right? I will put a cardboard tube over that spot.

Ouch- on the gas shock, damn thing must have been dropped right on it. I'll send you another one.

 

[IndianDoc]

That's great Doc, the recovered seats really look the part, they did a nice job on the new covers.
How is the seat position for you? Good angle? To get back to stock you might find yourself putting a 3/8" spacer under the front rails, but that is a matter of comfort on an individual basis.

Was the only damaged spot the sharp pointy corner on the bottom front? Nowhere else, right? I will put a cardboard tube over that spot.

Ouch- on the gas shock, damn thing must have been dropped right on it. I'll send you another one.

Yup just both the pointy corners were abraded a little , and the gas shock was bent, but it came back to where it should be and is working fine. Don't know that I need you to send one unless you think it might fail too soon. Really the box fit like a glove but I am so glad that you mentioned the thickness of the insulation, so I trimmed it such that I only have one layer and the carpet right under the front edge of the box. And I still had to climb on top ,as you show in the video, to start the bolts. Just like you said it was just too easy.

AS to the angle it's just right for me and I did use a 3/8 inch or so spacer (actually a small stack of warshers) on the front mounting bolt both for angle and to clear a rivet in the slide sticking down in the middle.

 

[tat2matt]

So Kev I'm ready let me know when your ready for $.

 

[kevinmrowland]

Yeah, I'm ready too. Got your parts all fabed up and sent them off to powder, now just waiting on the call. Turn around is usually great with them but I think they had some big stuff on the floor to get done first, can't be much longer now.

KR

 

[kevinmrowland]

I just picked up Matt's box a few minutes ago, can get it assembled and wrapped up this weekend!

Also, to double check Matt- This is the exact body that the seat box is going in correct?:

We never did confirm that you had the early style floor profile, i was just going on memory but I figured I should check before shipping your box.


On the same note, DirtyGypsy came down for a visit with his 87 so when he wasn't looking I took his seats and console out to template for the late style. Going to have a set of parts cut for that, will need to test fit them in someones truck but after that I'll be set to go on the 86+ trucks.


Until then, anyone want to be next? The number 4 spot is open....



KR

 

[esh]

86+ include 62s or are those another variation? I'm relatively free for a test fit if my 62 works. Plus I have a potential new 60/70/80 product that I'm working up to brainstorm.

So I'm basically ready to go. Gotta rethink where things are located under the seats, mostly the amps.

 

[kevinmrowland]

Yup 86+ is just that, 86+, 62s should be the same as far as my knowledge goes.

Clint's truck was easier to get stuff out of for measuring than your monstrosity of wires and gadgets. I'll get the new parts cut, welded up and powder coated, are you just in for a test fit, or do you want a seat box installed?

It SHOULD be good to go once it's made, the test fit would just be for a final check-out in person.

KR

 

[tat2matt]

That is the exact body. I'm more excited about new wagon gear than a kid at Christmas.

 

[kevinmrowland]

I was excited too, couldn't wait so I did the final assembly on your box last night, they just look so neat when they are all finished up.

 

[kevinmrowland]

I know I mentioned this in one of those long rambling videos, but I wanted to point out what I do with the seat belts:

The lower bolt you can see in this pic is the OE seat belt mount bolt, you can still use the OE front seats belts and bolt them in the same spot (they are kicked back at a bit steeper of an angle). The top bolts in that pic are what I provide to mount other seat belts to, I just use a set from the back of a cruiser, but you can go aftermarket as well. I don't like the plastic cased OE front belts since they are always getting in the way when not in use, some people will have the opposite opinion but I wanted to point out what we do.


KR

 

[kevinmrowland]

Also, if anyone happens to want, I ordered some extra DTPro Tool Rolls when they were being discontinued, they are really durable and fit nicely in the seat box with room to spare.

Lightly used, $40ea, I can ship them with your seat box.

I could probably consolidate them into one roll but I like to have a "this will just take a second" tool roll, and a ".....we're going to be here for awhile" one.

 

[esh]

Thought I had replied. I am ok for either just a test or the install. Oncall this week thru Monday but after that my time is open.

I'll try to come up with ideas to make things more difficult, like how about a forward tilting hinge?

 

[IndianDoc]

Thought I had replied. I am ok for either just a test or the install. Oncall this week thru Monday but after that my time is open.

I'll try to come up with ideas to make things more difficult, like how about a forward tilting hinge?

Way to go esh I thought I was the only one to pull his chain, gotta love giving Kevin a hard time.

 

[kevinmrowland]

Do you have a tuffy? Can't remember.
I measured Clint's when he was down here and it looks like they will bolt on there almost perfectly.
Do you want to do anything cool to hinge the tuffy, or just use the area underneath for pass-through storage? (the additional space under the tuffy is about equal to the space inside of one)

 

[tat2matt]

I have a Tuffy ( that's what she said) and I'm looking at the hinge option. I'll take loads of photos and see what others think before I commit. I have a fun challenge in that I actually have my preamp inside the tuffy. I use it to pass thru from my iphone to the amp that I MAY or MAY NOT also house inside the storage. I'm looking forward to seeing what people have for ideas before I commit. now back to the window to watch for the brown santa van with my box!!!!

 

[esh]

There are a few possibilities I've come up with. Hard to know which will work best without seeing how space works out.

- mount audio amps n stuff under the center
- hinged center, mount Tuffy
- hinged center, mount a small center console fridge (Dometic CF-11 like), use space for junk in Tuffy (get smaller CF-35 main fridge, drop height of platform...)

Hey, can the height of the entire thing be built an inch or two taller? That's as annoying as I can come up with today.

 

[kevinmrowland]

......can the height of the entire thing be built an inch or two taller? That's as annoying as I can come up with today.

The height of the center, or the whole thing? The center could go up a bit higher, but if you put the seat mount area up an inch or two you would not be able to reach the clutch. I've set the heights to be pretty optimal. If you mount a tuffy on the flat center deck it will sit at just about the same height as on the OE mounts.

I still think the slickest will be a tip-back hinged console with a smugglers hatch underneath that you unlatch from inside the tuffy.

 

[tat2matt]

Box showed up today in great shape! I'll start pulling out the step bit and getting to work in the morning. Looks amazing btw

 

[tat2matt]

Question? I have the spot welds started and between baking bread and trying to stay warm i'm drilling them out. NOW how did you fill the holes? I don't have access to a welder at this point so i'm needing to look at something like bondo? BUT it's like 22 degrees these days so any suggestions?

 

[kevinmrowland]

Not everyone will like my suggestion; but don't.

Just clean the burr off the edges top and bottom.
Put a little paint on there, then from inside put patches of sound damper (peel-n-seal or the more expensive butyl stuff, doesn't matter) on where the holes are. A heat gun or torch on the foil will warm them up so they stick great.

If you tried to weld them shut you would do more harm than good by burning off paint and exposing a lot more raw metal than just the drill hole.
The sound matt will seal them right off, and down the line you can always weld the factory mounts back in place with the original holes to index to.

KR