Re: Custom Seats

["Chad Urvig" <urvig@domain.elided>]

>Date: Wed, 12 Nov 1997 11:13:38 -0500
>From: tsm1@domain.elided (Tom Mandera)
>Subject: Custom Seats
--snip--
>What's the best way to go about converting a bench seat to buckets?  One
way
>would be to buy a stock Bucket Seat base and stock Bucket seats, but
barring
>that...
--snip--
>Could it be as simple as welding some angle stock or tube stock rails
across
>the top of the bench seat base ends ('box" the top of each side) and then
>bolting the new seats down to the custom rails?  What would I want to do
>about being able to adjust the seats forward/backwards (my wife-to-be
>insists on making my knees hit against the dash when I let her drive...)
>
I put some seats out of a Nissan Sentra in my Scout.  I basically used 1"
square tubing to make my custom seat bases.  It took a little work, mainly
getting the measurements.  First I propped one of the seats up in the scout
with blocks of wood so it was positioned where I wanted it (and level).
After that I took all the measurements I needed for the seat bases.  The
tricky part was getting the seat propped up where I wanted it.  It's also
important to note that floor isn't level so the inside and outside base
heights will be different (meaning more measurements).  I made 2 separate
bases so the seats would remain independently adjustable.  It wasn't the
quickest thing to throw together because I was paranoid about making mistake
3/4 of the way through so I was always rechecking my measurements.  I don't
know if I did it the best way but the seats seem to work fine so far
(although it hasn't gone down the road yet so who knows....)  I could scan a
picture of them if you want to see it.

Chad Urvig
'73 Scout II 304, MSD, CompCam, Ultimate Lining and flip font end
North Dakota State University
Northern States Power Company