764 replies to this topic

[Tupers]

After picking up some 20MM steel tube this morning I made a cardboard bend template for the side of the seat base.


Once I had the template all figured out I miged a couple posts to a steel plate to bend the tube around.


I used the oxy to heat the tube up and a bar in the end to lever against the the opposing posts to bend the tube.


The I miged another post on and used the oxy again to heat it up before bending.




Before I cut the tube down I check the fit against the arch.


And after a bit of cutting and adjusting I got it all welded up.





I also did the same for the other seat base, next job narrow both bases and join them together.

[Tupers]

I got a lot more work done on the rear seat frames done today and started by narrowing down the base frames and welding them together.

Here's how they looked when I started, a bit to much overlap me thinks.


I welded a brace onto each frame and cut off the end.




Did a bit of trimming (115MM to be precise) and welded them back together. Who'd have thought it'd be that simple.

[Tupers]

Having the base done and knowing it's final width meant that I could now narrow the back. I started buy removing the hinges and vertical supports.




Here you can see the overlap of the two seat bak on the narrowed base.


To get the width right and spacing of the groves right I cut the long seat back into three pieces.


Here are both sides modified and ready to weld together.


I braced the back pieces together, bolted them up to the base and test fitting them in the Estate to make sure I'd got my cutting right.




I don't think I'm alone in thinking this looks really cool.


Once I was happy I welded the frame together at the top.


I also added a section to the top of the seat back that I cut off of one of the unused sides.






Due to the width of the hinge bosses there was a gap in the seat backs frame so I made a frame section up and welded it in to make up the difference.






The final job for today was to get the centre of the seat back welded back in.

[Tupers]

I felt the seat base was a little to flexible for my liking so today I coped the ends of a piece of tube and put a bend at one end of it to clear the battery box and welded it to the frame.





I made a plate to fill the hole in the bottom of the seat back.




I also cut a section out of one of the scrap pieces to fill the gap at the bottom.



I also took the welds down on the seats back and sprayed the joint to make it stand out a bit more for the pic.



Tomorrow I'm going to replace the bump that just to the left of centre with a matching rib section and see if I can figure out the forward hinging system.

Edited by Tupers, 27 October 2010 - 06:34 PM.

[mighty mini jack]

Top work as usual mate, keep it up.

[Tupers]

/\ Cheers Jack /\


The bump in the seat back really had to go so I chopped it out and welded a new section I'd made.





In an effort to use original parts I decided to use the inner hinges from the metro seats.


This presented a problem as both of the hinges pointed the same way but they needed to be mirror images.


After cutting the weld holding the hinge base together I clamped it in the vice and bent it backwards by 180*.




I also bent the larger mounting face by 180* and re-welded it leaving the a pair of symmetrical hinges.





With the hinges sorted I mounted them to the seat base and car but instantly ran to an issue with the seat frame fouling on the centre console.


To counter this I braced the frame yet again and cut the centre out allowing the base to go fully vertical. Fortunately this plays into my plans for the seat design quite nicely.




I thought I'd better bolt up the seat back in as well to make sure it wouldn't foul on the front seats. As you can see there's loads of room and the front seats are as far back as they'll go.




And I'll still have a GIANT boot with the back seats folded up.

[olds_kool_lews]

want to do the same to my estate rear floor? lol looks brilliant mate! top work as usual! wish i had a workshop to do my cars in, only got a poxy gravel drive!

[sonikk4]

Liking the fab work a lot

[daveeeeee]

so much grinding! nice work.

[Tupers]

want to do the same to my estate rear floor?

Hey if you want to bring it down we can do whatever you want to it.

lol looks brilliant mate! top work as usual! wish i had a workshop to do my cars in, only got a poxy gravel drive!

Having a fully equipped shop to work in helps, as does having a Dad who's worked on Minis for over 26 years straight.

Liking the fab work a lot

Thanks, I love doing this kind of stuff it's much more fun than just cutting out rust.

so much grinding! nice work.

Don't remind me I'm trying to put it off for as long as possible.



I did a bit of CAD and made a template up for the recess in the seat frame.




Once I was happy with the template I cut 5 pieces of steel to from the recess and welded them together.




Here it is fully welded after being cleaned up on the wire wheel.


I welded the new piece to the seat frame and would you believe it it all clears.




I thought I'd also bolt on the seat back as a final check.


I actually think it looks better now with the centre pulled in.



Tomorrow I'm gunna have a look and see if I can find a pair of Metro clasps to hold the seat back up and figure out how to mount them to the body.

[Tupers]

I wasn't able to start fitting a set of Metro seat back clasps as they weren't where I though they where but I did finish off mounting the seat base.

For the mock up I'd been using beefy self tappers to hold the hinges on. Obviously they wouldn't do for the long run so I started making some captive plates with 3 holes for some big bolts.




I welded the nuts onto the steel before cutting the two plates away to make the whole proses a bit easier.


Once the welds had cool I cut the two plates off and rounded off the corners.


Of course I also had to drill three holes on each side of the heel board and then bolted the plates to check the fit.






Once I was happy with both sides I painted the back of the plates and heel board before welding them on.




I re fitted the original Metro seat diaphragms but I think I'm going to make my own as these aren't really work anymore.



I also had a bit of a play with another set of wheels. These are 10x6 Weller reverse rims but sadly they're kinda sold so I've got to try and find my own set.




They're just so deep.

[mighty mini jack]

Really impressed with this, & as for those wheels..

Perfection.

[olds_kool_lews]

love them wheels mate!

[Tupers]

love them wheels mate!

They're amazing aren't they.

[mini danny]

loving this project i want them wheels for my estate how much did they set you back if you dont mind me asking

dan