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914World.com _ 914World Garage _ Floorpan cross tube thingies

Posted by: campbellcj Mar 28 2004, 10:26 PM

I finally made some more progress on the car this weekend -- finished the engine compartment side of the fuel line and Weber fuel bar replacement, redid the rear f/g bumper mountings (dzus) and pulled the seat to begin a bunch of interior stuff.

To mount my new seats, I will need to channel or completely remove the box section that goes across the floor pans (i.e. approx. under your knees). The seats will be on alloy sidemounts that are bolted directly to the floor, which I'll reinforce a bit.

Question is, should I hunt down a plasma cutter or cutting torch (i.e. pay a shop) or can this be done decently with what I've got, i.e. just about anything else (cutoffs, grinders, drills, etc)??? I don't want to butcher the floors as they're fairly clean and I don't have a welder, either.

Thanks again 914 gurus!

Posted by: SirAndy Mar 28 2004, 10:41 PM

plasma cutter is the easiest. just remember to angle it up a little bit, otherwise you'll torch through the floorpan. it also helps to have the tar removed prior

i supose a cutoffwhell would do the job too.
i'm not sure, is the crossbar spot-welded? if so, you could try to drill them out and remove it as a whole.

ADDED:
if you go with the plasma cutter cut about 5mm above the floorpan to avoid melting the floor.

Andy

Posted by: Brad Roberts Mar 28 2004, 10:46 PM

Chris,

Just notch them and fold them forward for your seat. Cutting it without a plasma or a cutoff wheel would be a ton of friggin work. You could drill out the spot welds... but you stand a chance of drilling through the floorpans..plus you would be there all week trying to drill them out while hanging from the cage.

B

Posted by: campbellcj Mar 28 2004, 11:10 PM

Thanks guys...I was starting to think that just notching them would be the "way to go". They do appear to be spot welded but a LOT of spots! Plus I figure the remaining metal will add some degree of stiffness to the floors.

I'll try notching, folding forward and then cutting/grinding off the excess sheet metal.

Posted by: Brad Roberts Mar 28 2004, 11:14 PM

If you dont fold them forward the seat bottom will sit on it before your holes line up for the bracket.

OH! OH! OH! DONT line the seat up straight with the steering wheel. The left seat bracket needs to be about 1/4 forward of the right seat bracket. If you dont... the high side bolster of you seat will have your right knee hyper extended trying to bend towards the gas pedal...so angle the seat a *little* towards the gas pedal. If you notice.. the steering wheel is not lined up straight with driver.. so the seat position works out perfect even at a slight angle.

B

Posted by: campbellcj Mar 28 2004, 11:40 PM

I was actually looking at the angles (hanging upside down from the cage half the time) for quite a while this afternoon.

Is it fair to say that I want to stick with the lines of the stock seat mounts? They are clearly not "centered" with the steering wheel but they obviously work quite well in the real world.

Oh yeah, if nobody guessed yet, my "old school" Koenig race seats were on the stock rails. Time to get rid of that less-than-solid mounting setup, and the 45lb seats...

Posted by: Brad Roberts Mar 29 2004, 12:00 AM

They work well because the stock seat has no side bolster to speak of. Just be careful. I know I cannot mount Momo's or Sparco's in line with the stock holes..and forget a Kirkey or something similar.

B

Posted by: Jeroen Mar 29 2004, 04:27 AM

Slightly related...

What's the best way to reinforce the floor without gaining too much height?

Anyone got any pics of the floor before the seats/side brackets are mounted?

cheers,

Jeroen

Posted by: synthesisdv Mar 29 2004, 06:57 AM

we made a pretty heavy duty bracket welded to the floor, at least .125" steel, maybe more. It is only about .25" off the floor at the rear and about 1" at the front to angle the seat back.

Also the frame is drilled out where the stock lap belt mounts are and the anti sub mount is welded to it at the center.

The frame needs to be extremely strong. It has to withstand a huge amount of force if and when you go off hard.

dr

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Posted by: Lawrence Mar 29 2004, 08:52 AM

Got pics of the old seats? Whatcha gonna do with them?

-Rusty

Posted by: synthesisdv Mar 29 2004, 09:12 AM

they are sitting in my office.

someone on the board wants them but they are too expensive to ship.

any ideas?

dr

Posted by: seanery Mar 29 2004, 09:22 AM

ship 'em Greyhound.

Posted by: James Adams Mar 29 2004, 09:25 AM

I concur - Greyhound.

Posted by: jonwatts Mar 29 2004, 09:27 AM

Yeah, that way they can charge passengers to sit in them

But seriously, they would be perfect for this. Cheap and reliable.

Posted by: Jeroen Mar 29 2004, 03:41 PM

Thanks for posting the pics!

cheers,

Jeroen