Post by martin42006 on May 13, 2021 8:57:21 GMT
We got a bit of a break form the endless rain at the weekend so i finished blasting the front bulkhead and also did the radiator hanger while i was at it.
A bit of paint on the areas i wont be able to get to later and it got weld through primer on any inaccessible flanges that will be welded
Clamped up
And welded
Such a relief to have that lump back in, just the radiator hanger to weld on now and thats all the chassis crash damage work complete.
On goes the radiator hanger then
Here is something i have been after for years and a pair finally came up locally and at a reasonable price so i snapped them up.
Half leather seats out of a low mileage GT86 (around 20k), they are heated too so i can keep my heated seat switches.
There are rumours that they bolt up to the rear mounting holes and then just need an L bracket for the front. Test fitting them tells a vastly different story.
Size wise they are brilliant, but factory seat rear mount points are angled whereasthe gt86 rails are flat so they would either never be properly tightened up or the rails would deform.
The fronts would bolt up with a bracket but because its sat on the rail the front of the seat is about 2" too high even with the adjuster all the way down, im not tall but hardly have any head room left with the seat in that position, i also like adjustment so want the ideal position for me to be around the middle of its range.
Luckily i have a grinder and a will to use it.
With a chunk lopped out we can test fit the seats, now they are 1" lower on the front and i have also packed up the rear of the seat by about 1" to give a much better idea of how they should be sat.
Before
After
Sitting in a much nicer position and there is now enough head room that i can wear a helmet if I needed to.
Once i have the drivers seat mounted and im happy with it ill be making the same alterations for the passengers side.
Clearly i cant bolt the seat up to a gaping hole like that so it calls for a plate to cover it up.
And because i like my seats to be somewhat more secure than a self tapper through a tin can i made a thicker plate to go inside the cavity as it spreads the load and provides a secure point to bolt the seat up to.
This is welded to the new top section and will weld to the original rail hopefully adding some rigidity.
Unfortunately i was unable to find any fine pitch m10 square nuts so i made a couple from 10mm plate which is why the hole isnt quite central.
Thats one mounting hole made just got the other 3 to do for this side and then all of the same thing to do on the other side.
Continuing on with the drivers seat mountings we follow the same process for the inboard mounting point,
New top plate
And a thick fixing plate.
First one welded in, cleaned back and primed
Im happy with that result, just need to get the others in now.
A bit of paint on the areas i wont be able to get to later and it got weld through primer on any inaccessible flanges that will be welded
Clamped up
And welded
Such a relief to have that lump back in, just the radiator hanger to weld on now and thats all the chassis crash damage work complete.
On goes the radiator hanger then
Here is something i have been after for years and a pair finally came up locally and at a reasonable price so i snapped them up.
Half leather seats out of a low mileage GT86 (around 20k), they are heated too so i can keep my heated seat switches.
There are rumours that they bolt up to the rear mounting holes and then just need an L bracket for the front. Test fitting them tells a vastly different story.
Size wise they are brilliant, but factory seat rear mount points are angled whereasthe gt86 rails are flat so they would either never be properly tightened up or the rails would deform.
The fronts would bolt up with a bracket but because its sat on the rail the front of the seat is about 2" too high even with the adjuster all the way down, im not tall but hardly have any head room left with the seat in that position, i also like adjustment so want the ideal position for me to be around the middle of its range.
Luckily i have a grinder and a will to use it.
With a chunk lopped out we can test fit the seats, now they are 1" lower on the front and i have also packed up the rear of the seat by about 1" to give a much better idea of how they should be sat.
Before
After
Sitting in a much nicer position and there is now enough head room that i can wear a helmet if I needed to.
Once i have the drivers seat mounted and im happy with it ill be making the same alterations for the passengers side.
Clearly i cant bolt the seat up to a gaping hole like that so it calls for a plate to cover it up.
And because i like my seats to be somewhat more secure than a self tapper through a tin can i made a thicker plate to go inside the cavity as it spreads the load and provides a secure point to bolt the seat up to.
This is welded to the new top section and will weld to the original rail hopefully adding some rigidity.
Unfortunately i was unable to find any fine pitch m10 square nuts so i made a couple from 10mm plate which is why the hole isnt quite central.
Thats one mounting hole made just got the other 3 to do for this side and then all of the same thing to do on the other side.
Continuing on with the drivers seat mountings we follow the same process for the inboard mounting point,
New top plate
And a thick fixing plate.
First one welded in, cleaned back and primed
Im happy with that result, just need to get the others in now.
