Seatframe Fabrication

[Rob]

I need to fabricate a sturdy seatframe to mount the slider for my
race seat.

Any engineers here who can help me with some tips ?
I was thinking about making a 'box' out of square tubing, and mount it to the
reinforced space where the original seatmounts are.

For strength I'd mount a bar diagonal across the 'box'.

Hope this is somewhat clear :rolleyes:

Any hints/tips are appreciated.

Rob.

[Sandeep]

Just make sure you have room to sit and put on a helmet incase you ever race it :agree:

Sandeep

[Rob]

Just make sure you have room to sit and put on a helmet incase you ever race it :agree:

Sandeep

hehehe, no worries. The seat is currently mounted on the stock seatframe, so I know that the height will be ok.

Rob.

[super vw]

I fabed up a frame for my Porsche seats to mount in a 74 super.

Do a search, there are pics of it some where here.
I have mine made out of 1"/1" square tube and 1"/1" angle and 3/16 plate.
I have a box config whats made out of the angle, then the legs are made from the tubing, and the feet made from the plate.
It mounts in the original seat tracks, and tower aswell as bolts onto the floor pan (But all the weight in suported on the tracks) so there are 7 (yes 7) mounting points for each frame.
One thing i would NOT recomend is making a frame and bolting or welding it directly to the thin floor pan. unless you strengthen it some how, otherwise you might run the risk of having your seats rip out in a crash (no good) not the mention your seats will move around becuase of the thin metal :S(But this wont apply to you as your using the stock tracks to)

[thomas_niji]

Hey super vw is your beetle a standard or a super?

I am working on my standard and trying to put some new seats in there. I am fabricating my seat bracket, and would appreciate some input on that.

Thanks X 1000

Thomas

[super vw]

Hey super vw is your beetle a standard or a super?

I am working on my standard and trying to put some new seats in there. I am fabricating my seat bracket, and would appreciate some input on that.

Thanks X 1000

Thomas

It's a 74 super... exactly what would you like to know?

Jonathan

[thomas_niji]

mine is a standard.since i don't have a welder, i will have to build a frame (with steel angles and bolts....) then bolt it down. but now the problem is where should i bolt it to? the stock tracks? i have seen in some posts that say i shouldn't bolt or weld to the floor pan.

[boygenius]

I was thinking of using the bottom of my stock seats for the tracks and welding up some tabs on to them to bolt my nissan 240 seats on. That way I wouldn't have to cut any holes in my floor that I just repainted. :laugh:

[super vw]

mine is a standard.since i don't have a welder, i will have to build a frame (with steel angles and bolts....) then bolt it down. but now the problem is where should i bolt it to? the stock tracks? i have seen in some posts that say i shouldn't bolt or weld to the floor pan.


Here is what i did.

since you dont have a welder... im not to sure on how you would do this. only thing i can think of if you have no accces to welding is to use the stock seat frames, them modify them to allow seats to bolt on top. but doing so might be the tricky part. maybe add some steel plate that you bolt on that the seats would bolt to... iffy, but might work.

Bolting ONLY to the floor pan is no good, you run the risk of your seats pulling out, and your seats will move due to the flex in the floor pans. so you will need to use the stock tracks some how, or beef up the mounting points on the pan so they dont flex or pull out if you dont use the stock tracks.

there are many ways to do different seats, but a welder or access to one has more options than not... do any friends weld? maybe you can have a local welding/ fab shop do it for you (shouldent cost more than 50 bucks to do JUST the welding)

[thomas_niji]

man your brackets look sturdy!
i am trying to leave my stock seats untouched.....
so that i can sell them if i can put my new seats... :laugh:

i think what i am gonna do is to cut 2 sections of steel square tubes, and then mount them with bolts perpendicular to the stock tracks
then fab a bracket under the new seats, and mount those brackets onto the steel square tubes......
so it would look like this from the side:
/______\ <- bracket for new seats
D____D <- square tubes
--------- <- stock tracks

sorry for the crappy illustration....
the brackets would be made from 1" square tubes and 1.25" angle and the "sandwich" square tubes would be 1" too. do you think they would be sturdy enough?

thanx thanx :laugh:

[super vw]

man your brackets look sturdy!
i am trying to leave my stock seats untouched.....
so that i can sell them if i can put my new seats... :laugh:

i think what i am gonna do is to cut 2 sections of steel square tubes, and then mount them with bolts perpendicular to the stock tracks
then fab a bracket under the new seats, and mount those brackets onto the steel square tubes......
so it would look like this from the side:
/______\ <- bracket for new seats
D____D <- square tubes
--------- <- stock tracks

sorry for the crappy illustration....
the brackets would be made from 1" square tubes and 1.25" angle and the "sandwich" square tubes would be 1" too. do you think they would be sturdy enough?

thanx thanx :laugh:


Hmmm, not sure... You know they do make universal seat tracks for VW's, look in hot VW's or VW trends mag's they are around 60-80 bucks a pop. im not to sure on how they work. all i know is i have seen them and the drivers side has sliders... and the passenger side tilts forward only.
Might be worth investigating.

Jonathan

[Rob]

I've been thinking alog the same lines.
Since the floor where the original seatframes are mounted is already
reinforced, this should be ok.
Although I 'm still contemplating a crossbar and bolt/weld it to the
heaterchannel and tunnel.

Rob.



man your brackets look sturdy!
i am trying to leave my stock seats untouched.....
so that i can sell them if i can put my new seats... :laugh:

i think what i am gonna do is to cut 2 sections of steel square tubes, and then mount them with bolts perpendicular to the stock tracks
then fab a bracket under the new seats, and mount those brackets onto the steel square tubes......
so it would look like this from the side:
/______\ <- bracket for new seats
D____D <- square tubes
--------- <- stock tracks

sorry for the crappy illustration....
the brackets would be made from 1" square tubes and 1.25" angle and the "sandwich" square tubes would be 1" too. do you think they would be sturdy enough?

thanx thanx :laugh:

[thomas_niji]

rob,
i have seen posts that talked about that. honestly, if i have a welder, i would no doubt do that. that way i can set the height of my seats at will, and it would be so much easier....

but since i don't have a welder, and i don't want to drill holes into both the heat channel and the tunnel, i think i am stuck with bolting the seats down to the stock tracks.

if you do opt for the crossbar method, please inform us on the difficulty and maybe more importantly the sturdiness of this set-up.

[boygenius]

You should look into getting a welder if you are going to make parts for your car. You can pick up a SEARS mig welder for $300. That will take care of most of your welding needs. That's what I have and it is an invaluable tool. :)

[thomas_niji]

being a college student means that there are other obligations....other needs...... :bawling:

[super vw]

Well then i guess i dont have my priorities straight...as i am still in high school and went ahead and bought myself a Hobart 135 MIG welder last X-mas :D

But yeah, i know what you mean... i would TRY to find someone who welds that could do the welding for you, you will get a much better product if you weld it together.


-Jonathan

[thomas_niji]

hey jonathan

why is welding better? just the way it look or does it really hold the seats better?

if it is just the look then i would probably still bolt it down coz i will be covering the whole thing with maybe plywood and carpet.....

but if it holds better than i should look into finding someone to weld for me....

thanx everyone!

[super vw]

Well it depends on the design, you have way more design options if you can weld. Its more limited if bolting is the only option.

just be creative....

[thomas_niji]

thanx jonathan

now that i can find a good friend to weld the brackets for me, i think i will go for the welded bracket approach. but it seems bolting that to the stock track is a better idea than welding.

anyway, i will post up some pictures when it's done........

thanx everyone!! :)

[super vw]

No problem... sorry i cant give you any indepth info on this, as im not to familiar with standard seat tracks as i own a 74 super beetle.

But im with you on not welding to the car, bolting it will be better in most cases (racing only, i wouldent worry about welding to the car...) as this is an easy thing to fix if you want to go back to stock seats or whatever.

Let us know how it turns out!

Jonathan

[thomas_niji]

as matters turn out, i will have to bolt everything together.......
so, i have done the first part now....cutting and bolting the first part of the bracket together........

here are some pics of the thing....

[KaferChris]

Here are some $40 Eagle Talon seats I put in my Uncle's `71 a couple weeks ago. `71/`72's have odd-ball tracks and someone had boogered up the chasis trying to weld in 'normal' seat tracks. It's only a baja anyways.

http://photo.starblvd.net/Silver77/3-4-2.jpg
http://photo.starblvd.net/Silver77/3-4-4.jpg

[super vw]

as matters turn out, i will have to bolt everything together.......
so, i have done the first part now....cutting and bolting the first part of the bracket together........

here are some pics of the thing....

Lookin good, creative yes! only thing i have to add is this... triagulation!
meaning add a brace to keep the thing from calapsing. becuase bolts wont stop that! but if you put a brace from on corrner to the other lets say you would have on sturdy mount.
Follow me?

cant wait to see how it turn out!
Keep us posted ;)


Later
Jonathan

[BWE]

Hello folks! Sorry I got to this thread late. Here's what I did in my '70 std. I mounted Corbeau seats to the stock track/seat base assemblies. The cross bars are plain black steel (water) pipe (schedule 40??) and the steel uprights were cut from flat steel 2"x1/4" that i found lying around. The seats bolt through both cross bars. Full slider action retained! and they are very strong (but a little heavier than I expected! :rolleyes: )
Good luck!
Dave

[thomas_niji]

Wow Dave yours looks like they are made by a factory or something.... rock sturdy! :eek:

maybe i should have used some steel tubes instead of those angles...