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Hi All,I am finally to the project which led me to buy my welder. I've spent 3 months (off and on) practicing tig welding various things to get plenty of practice.So, I need to either create from scratch new seat brackets or modify the existing brackets in the seats I'm putting in my project car (4th gen Prelude seats in a 91 CRX). I was doing some googling and ran across a guy who did the exact same mod. I grabbed the pics from his post and wanted to get some feedback and/or knowledge on what exactly I should be thinking about when doing this. Metal size, etc.My plan would be to weld 3/16 mild steel to the existing rails, and drill holes so that they match the existing bolt holes, exactly like they are in this pic. If there is anyone else out there that has made or modded seat brackets, I'd like to make sure the plan here is sound. Does 3/16" mild steel seem like a good choice, or should I go with 1/4"? Is there enough contact to get a good strong join to the existing rails as shown in these pics? Any inherent risks by doing this?Thanks in advance.HTP Invertig 221Hypertherm Powermax30 XPPlus other stuff
Reply:3/16ths is thicker than the factory bracket metal which I bet is probably 16 gauge. More important is good quality seat belts which are bolted to the floor and pillar.Also make sure there is enough contact weld so it won't easily twist off the factory track.
Reply:I've modified seat brackets before, and if done well I see no problems with it in general.In each case, the seat belts still attached to the original locations and the seat bolts in the original holes, so it was a no-brainer for me.Dave J.Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance. ~George Bernard Shaw~ Syncro 350Invertec v250-sThermal Arc 161 and 300MM210DialarcTried being normal once, didn't take....I think it was a Tuesday.
Reply:3/16 is over kill. 1/8 is good and make it like a t joint or angle iron so It won't be able to bend. Throw a pic up of a t joint that you welded. Or lap joint or whatever you got
Reply:Ok thanks guys, for all the feedback. Yeah this is what I was thinking, 1/8 is probably what I will go with. This car will be a street car at first, and maybe later will get a roll cage if I get the bug to put it on the track. When I get to it I will post the weld and get a good critique.HTP Invertig 221Hypertherm Powermax30 XPPlus other stuff
Reply:I did something similar, but not to swap seats. I just cut down the original brackets and shaved off an inch all the way across get my buddy that's 6'11" some more head room. The stock brackets are fine and even 1/8" is thicker than factory. You should be good. The seat brackets aren't structural and don't really affect safety. Some bends, decent welds and holes where they need to be and you're golden.
Reply:Originally Posted by kazlxI did something similar, but not to swap seats. I just cut down the original brackets and shaved off an inch all the way across get my buddy that's 6'11" some more head room. The stock brackets are fine and even 1/8" is thicker than factory. You should be good. The seat brackets aren't structural and don't really affect safety. Some bends, decent welds and holes where they need to be and you're golden. |
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