fishdonotbounce
Registered Zombie
- :
- 08.5 CWP Speed3
OMP WRC seat and brackets:
Ummm, you sir are not going ANYWHERE once you are in those seats haha.
magnumP5's RX-7 Build Thread
- Thread starter magnumP5
- Start date
Ummm, you sir are not going ANYWHERE once you are in those seats haha.
You will if the bracket seperates from the car when a weld brakes.
Yep, this is what I plan on doing. The unit I purchased is supposed to also come with a DVD so I'll see how that is. I have been reading up on welding lately and talking to some more experienced folk. What you said about the sheet metal is exactly what a co-worker mentioned as well. My only quesiton for you is how did you have your amperage set? When welding thicker metal to sheet metal everything I've read/heard has said to use the lowest setting/sheet metal setting. I've also already picked up an auto-darkening helmet. The only things I haven't picked up are some extra wire (will be running gas), some spoons (need to patch some holes in the floor pan where spot welds were) and MIG pliers.
Gee, thanks for the confidence
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PrinceValorum
Member
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- 95 626 FS, 89 Toyota Derux 4x4
It was my first time doing it, so I read a lot of forms (welding web, and others) and set my amps for the thicker 1/8th in. That's why I started on it, let it pool a bit and then dragged it onto the sheet metal for just an instant and killed the arc. It's pretty easy to blow through it on the higher setting (especially if there's rust on the back, it weakens/thins it), but it needs to burn into the 1/8th in, and it won't if you've got it set for 20ga or whatever. You don't want to lay a pretty but cold weld on the 1/8th in, it'll break right off of it under stress.
mymmeryloss
Member
- :
- 13bT Mazda B2600i
I can tell u from personal experience since i have cut one of these cars in half that the front seat mounting points are definitely structural, but u could get away with cutting them out and welding in a brace ir crossbar!Thanks, let me know!
Nope, no sliders. Just side mount brackets. The bottom of the seat sits about 1/2" off the brackets so I could technically drill out the drear holes 1/2" but I don't know if that's safe or legal, LOL.
Ah no 22V in my garage and no easy way to get it there
Here are some pictures for you guys...
Aeromotive FPR:
Sparco 345 wheel (temporarily installed in this picture):
OMP WRC seat and brackets:
Seat in the car. It actually fits really well; it's just too tall.
Here's what I've got to work with under the carpet:
In typical unibody fashion nothing is level or flat. The piece running from the door to the transmission tunnel with the holes in it is the forward mount for the stock seat. I've read people say it's structural and it's not structural so I don't know. It is boxed in, but the metal is 20 ga at best so I don't know how much stiffness it's offering (I could calculate this). The rear culprits are the rear mounts as they determine where my head goes. Rear right is the limited case and by removing that altogether I gain about 1".
If I had a welder, my plan would be to first cut out the right rear mount. I would then cut down the left rear mount so it was level with the right rear. Next, I would notch out the front mount so it's level with the two rear mounts. I would then run 1/8" or 3/16" flat stock to connect the rear mounts and re-box the front in with the same. I would then have front and rear mounting surfaces that are flat and level and the lowest possible without modifying the floorpan.
Cheap idea is to just cut out the rear mounts and leave the front mount and mount the backets on an angle. I would have to use a spacer on the left rear mount. I have plenty of adjustability in the seat angle so that's not a concern. Again, it's safety and legality.
EDIT: Oh yeah, I got a call from the shop yesterday about my intake manifold. They are supposed to have the flanges in tonight and once they come in they're going to get right to work on the IM.
The rears are solid, but are just a bunch of layers of sheetmetal pinched together with a nut welded to them. Trust me, if it takes two sawzall blades to cut through one rear mount, theyre solid.
U could just run plating with a nut welded to the bottom side for these. Thats all the factory does.
Other than that a piece of 1x1 square tubing to box your floor would be sufficient!
Goddamn i wish u were closer so i could do some fab on ur car!
mymmeryloss
Member
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- 13bT Mazda B2600i
Preheating is your friend with welding!
U can get away with stitch welds and then pulling a bead for inch segments after the metal is warmed up.
U can get away with stitch welds and then pulling a bead for inch segments after the metal is warmed up.
PrinceValorum
Member
- :
- 95 626 FS, 89 Toyota Derux 4x4
Does propane get hot enough for that, or do you need oxy-acet?
mymmeryloss
Member
- :
- 13bT Mazda B2600i
s***, u could use a cigarette lighter if u dont mind burning yourself.
The idea is to heat the strip of metal to creats better bond.
If u do small patches, then the heat will spread rapidly and stay hot for quite some time so if u bridge the gap between welds it will heat in between each spot and make the metal more efficient to work with!
It's funny something .020" thick can be considered structural. The wonders of hollow beams...
The rear brackets actually cut pretty easily with a metal cut-off wheel. You can see from a few pics up I left a little on each side. The plan is to run some 1/8" flatstock to connect both sides and I'll close up the holes with some 20 ga or something. I plan on doing something similar to the front but because it's taller I won't be completely cutting it away. There'll be like 1/2" left and I was going to box that all back in with 1/8" flat stock and sheet metal (I really need to make a diagram). It'll be shorter, but made out of thicker metal so hopefully the rigitity will still be there. I'm sure I could calculate this If I wanted.
To mount the seat I was planning on just drilling through the floor and using backer plates, but I like the idea of using welded nuts. The rears will likely still have to be through the floor as the seat is going to be essentially sitting on the floor anyway.
So basically tack all the way around until there are ~1" gaps between the tacks and then pull a bead to close the gaps?
The gauges are Marshall Instruments. They're all electric with a 270 degree sweep angle and they perform the ever-loved "start up ceremony". They also have peak recall and warning features accessed via a remote button (mine are where the AAS switch was located). They come in any combination of black and white faces with black and silver bezels. All that for <$100.
So is this done while stitch welding, while filling the 1" gaps or both? I have a relatively small butane torch so heating large areas and keeping them hot will be difficult.
So I wanted to elaborate on my plan for the seat mounting some. I apologize for the crappy paint picture...
So this is kind of what I have in mind. The marked up picture above shows the rear mounts intact but I've obviously already cut those out as laid out. The blue lines represent 1/8" flat stock I want to use to build the seat support and the red area is where the 20 or 18 ga will go. I think those thicknesses will be sufficient. So as you can (or can't) see I plan on cutting out a section of the stock front seat mount so it will be level with the rear, which is not basically the floor. I'm then plan on running the 2" x 1/8" flat stock connecting both sides of the mount again. As I mentioned previously I may try to weld some nuts to the bottom of this piece so I'm not mounting the seat through the floor board. The rear is essentially the same with the major difference being the 2" x 1/8" piece is basically sitting on the floor. The pieces running front to back aren't set in stone yet. They're mainly for additional stiffness and more seat adjustability but they may not be needed. I think over all this is a little more elegant than my original plan, which was to just weld in a giant square plate. Comments and criticisms are welcome!
So this is kind of what I have in mind. The marked up picture above shows the rear mounts intact but I've obviously already cut those out as laid out. The blue lines represent 1/8" flat stock I want to use to build the seat support and the red area is where the 20 or 18 ga will go. I think those thicknesses will be sufficient. So as you can (or can't) see I plan on cutting out a section of the stock front seat mount so it will be level with the rear, which is not basically the floor. I'm then plan on running the 2" x 1/8" flat stock connecting both sides of the mount again. As I mentioned previously I may try to weld some nuts to the bottom of this piece so I'm not mounting the seat through the floor board. The rear is essentially the same with the major difference being the 2" x 1/8" piece is basically sitting on the floor. The pieces running front to back aren't set in stone yet. They're mainly for additional stiffness and more seat adjustability but they may not be needed. I think over all this is a little more elegant than my original plan, which was to just weld in a giant square plate. Comments and criticisms are welcome!
Wow, talk about your markup... You may be better off calling them directly and seeing what they can do. The prices have gone up a little it seems: ~$110 for oil pressure and oil temperature and ~$100 for water temperature. That's still not too bad all things considered.
mymmeryloss
Member
- :
- 13bT Mazda B2600i
Yes, do hot tack welds and then stitch in between.
U can see how the heat transfers through the metal and how long it takes to completely cool.
When im welding on my truck the welds r still cooling hours later. U can see and hear pops and tinging sounds even after uts cool to the touch...
U will be fine welding the brackets in even if u bubble gum weld them, but i would practice a lot before i attacked them though!
Get used to welding thin metal first and u will be golden
U can see how the heat transfers through the metal and how long it takes to completely cool.
When im welding on my truck the welds r still cooling hours later. U can see and hear pops and tinging sounds even after uts cool to the touch...
U will be fine welding the brackets in even if u bubble gum weld them, but i would practice a lot before i attacked them though!
Get used to welding thin metal first and u will be golden
Got it. I've got an old treadmill bracket thing I've stripped and cut up I'm going to use for practice. I'm going to try to put it back together and see how it looks in the end. It's not sheet metal (I don't have any iron or steel sheet lying around) but it's a start. It's probably .060" thick so kind of in the middle of what I'll be welding. I think I'm going to start a welding thread.
Yep, we've spoken via PM a few times on this.
It's been hard finding time to work on the car lately. I'm averaging about 2-3 hours every other day or so and I'm going to be out of town this week. All the stock mounts are cut out now and I'll welded all the holes in the floor shut (that wasn't fun). The next step is to start welding in the new mounts but I still haven't quite figured those out yet.
PrinceValorum
Member
- :
- 95 626 FS, 89 Toyota Derux 4x4
I was just thinking about this build today at work. Are you getting the hang of your MIG?
