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floor pan question

Posted By: plmczy

floor pan question - 12/21/09 04:25 AM

Ok, here's my delimma, the floor pan was cut out from in front of the front seat to fire wall. From under the front seat back is really solid with the exception of the sides there is some rot. I'm putting in a set of low back bucket seats w/power seat frames since I don't have the original bench seat. Now the floor under where the front seat is humped up in the middle. I need to make up a riser to bolt my power seat tracks to because they are not high enough. Do you guy's have any suggestions? I hate to cut out the good metal to put a flat floor in so the buckets are level. Thanks, later shawn
Posted By: poorboy

Re: floor pan question - 12/22/09 04:02 AM

We make seat brackets all the time from 2 pieces of angle iron at each floor contact point. One angle bolts on the floor pan with the flange pointing up, the 2nd angle bolts to the seat bottom with the flange pointing down. The you drill holes at each end of both angles and bolt the 2 flanges together so that your seat sits the way you want it to. If there is a radical difference between the front and rear or between the 2 brackets per seat, we use a filler piece of flatstock between the angle flanges.

Hope that all makes sence, it really is pretty simple. Usually 1/8" thick 2" x 2" works well, but if your concerned, you can use 3/16" thick. Keep in mind, most factory seat brackets are only made from 14G sheet metal, and 1/8" is almost 2x as thick. Gene
Posted By: moparx

Re: floor pan question - 12/22/09 02:30 PM

gene has a good idea that is super simple to fab if you lack many tools. another option would be to make a riser from 12g. strip. start by detirmining how high the riser needs to be. include in this measurement an additional 1 1/2-2" for the bottom flange and 1" for the top flange. form the riser to fit the floor either as a single [both seats will attach to the top, and the riser will be clearanced to fit the trans/driveshaft hump] or as individuals [each seat will be attached to it's respective riser, possibly saving fab time for the hump]. bend the top and bottom flanges 90*. for the single riser. you will then have to make a top that will support both seats. start by cutting 2 pices of 1x1x 1/8 wall square tube that will attach to the front and rear walls of the risers. these will be positioned where the inboard mounting legs of your chosen seats will attach. be sure to center these pcs. on the mounting bolts. the outer legs will mount to the upper flange. drill mounting holes as necessary, but be sure to use spacers in the inner tube suports to avoid crushing the tubes when tightening. an easy way to fab the tubes, is to use common black pipe.[3/8 or 1/4", depending on your bolt size. first drill the proper size holes in the appropriate places. next, measure the od. of the chosen pipe and drill the TOP holes only in this size. cut the pipe into 7/8" long pcs. this will insure the spacers will be flush with the top of the square tubes. insert and tack to the tubes top surface. as for the attaching nuts, you have 2 choices. first, you can just use the appropriate nuts-n-bolts and bolt up as usual, or you can weld the nuts to the bottom of the tubes [as i would do], allowing you to only have to use 1 wrench to tighten.
next, measure and cut your 1x1 tube to fit side-to-side between the front-to-rear tubes. this will usually consist of 2 long and 1 short pc. remember to make sure these tubes are at the same surface height as the front flanges. weld as necessary.
next is the top surface. since there will be less structural strength needed on the top [due to using the 1x1 tube as central mounting points] you can form the top from 16-14g. flat sheet. if you feel uncomfortable whith this choice of material, use 12g. or 1/8". this will only add unnecessary weight[in my opinion.] i like to put 5/16" holes on 1 1/2" centers above the 1x1 tube and plug weld to the tube in addition to welding the outer perimiter of the top plate surface. you are now done !
as for the dual risers, you can form to fit the seat mounting bases and use the upper flanges as mounting points for the seat bolts, therby negating the need for the 1x1 tube.
perhaps one of the guys can sketch out what i have just described ? i would if i knew how. i think the above words are pretty self explanitory if you think about it a little bit. hope this helps out a little.
Posted By: fstfish66

Re: floor pan question - 12/23/09 04:54 AM

Quote:

Ok, here's my delimma, the floor pan was cut out from in front of the front seat to fire wall. From under the front seat back is really solid with the exception of the sides there is some rot. I'm putting in a set of low back bucket seats w/power seat frames since I don't have the original bench seat. Now the floor under where the front seat is humped up in the middle. I need to make up a riser to bolt my power seat tracks to because they are not high enough. Do you guy's have any suggestions? I hate to cut out the good metal to put a flat floor in so the buckets are level. Thanks, later shawn





early mopar mini vans used a metal base/pedestal to mount bucket seats to, to make them high enough. ide guess late 1980s,,,and most of them on the passenger side had a locking drawer,,if your roof isnt chopped these may work for you,,i grabbed a set a few years ago at a U pull it for 10 bucks,,when i get to the bucket seat part of my 40 ill see if they become of some use,,
Posted By: plmczy

Re: floor pan question - 12/23/09 06:42 AM

Hey guy's , thanks for the suggestions. This will give me something to think about. I need to get my seat tracks attached to the bucket bottoms so I have something solid to mock things up with. later shawn
Posted By: B1arno

Re: floor pan question - 12/23/09 04:37 PM

I had the opposite problem. I had to take all the power seat stuff off to get my seats low enough. It amounted to lowering the seats 7". How high is the hump?
Arno
Posted By: plmczy

Re: floor pan question - 12/23/09 06:49 PM

The floor starts out low torwards the door and gradually starts raising up towards the center of the floor and goes back down again on the opposite side. later shawn
Posted By: moparx

Re: floor pan question - 12/24/09 12:21 AM

Quote:

The floor starts out low torwards the door and gradually starts raising up towards the center of the floor and goes back down again on the opposite side. later shawn



that may present a challenge to using the minivan pedistals, as the minivan floor is, for all intents and purposes, flat. however, it may be possible to pie-cut the mv pedistals and add/subtract a slight wedge of steel and still be able to use then with a few slight mods.
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