New Seats For An Old Suburban

[swissarmychainsaw]

So I am *finally getting around to putting the new seats in my
1973 K10 Suburban 350/350

It's funky as can be and much loved by me and the family.

Sit back and ride along as we install some 2013 Honda Odyssey Middle row Minivan seats in my rig.

That might be moss growing on the Suburban Emblem ...

[swissarmychainsaw]

Carboncrew did a great build and write, and inspired me and several others.

I read this build, and was completely motivated to do the seat conversion.
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=556103

Here are some pics of what "2013 Honda Odyssey" seats look like in our squares:


So based on CarbonCrew's build I found some seats on Craigslist.
turns out it was from the same guy who sells these things are car shows and swap meets all over the west. These are take offs from new minivans that get made into handicap vehicles where the middle seat is not needed.

I have been sitting on them for a couple of years now, but I think I paid $350 for the seats (?)

[swissarmychainsaw]

First, out with the old.
The original bench comes out with 9/16" bolts.



FUGLY!

Next comes the Home Made carpet kit. This was attached with sheet metal screws! Due to a cab leak, they are getting Funky.



And THIS. THIS is what Nightmares are made of.



I see daylight!



Good thing there is some pretty blue. So ... calming.

[Gregski]

Excellent start, keep the pics coming, I am going to get a cup of coffee and sit back and absorb, can't wait to see how the Subonda turns out, ha ha

[swissarmychainsaw]

Well, the drivers side pan is bad too.



The Seam at the rocker panel is bad.



Test "fitting" the drivers seat.




I bought some 10' length of flat steel, maybe 1/8th inch thick from Orchard Supply.

I used my trusty Stanley Hacksaw to make a slight notch where the bends needed to get made.



Then I put it in my trusty vice (in what looks like a junkyard) and then bent the steel to match the angles of the original seat bracket.



Do that a few times, plus drill some holes... and presto!







One seat bracket. And yes, it's raining.

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by swissarmychainsaw

Test "fitting" the drivers seat.

"drivers seat"? well either you is testing us, or you must got one of them You're A Peain' Square Bodies.

[swissarmychainsaw]

Here is bracket No. 2

Note the square. As if anything has been measured!





For reference:



I Drilled two of my largest drill bit-sized holes next to each other, then filed them like crazy to get this guy to fit.

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by swissarmychainsaw

Note the square. As if anything has been measured!

Measurements are for accountants, lovin' this thread!!!

[swissarmychainsaw]

Then I went to The Home Despot to get a welding mask.
Went crazy and spent the $98 on an auto-darkening helmet.
The auto-dark feature is awesome, but it looks like you can easily pay only half that money online.

Someone gave me a craftsman 110 welder years ago, and today I broke it out for the first time ever. I have done a touch of gas welding, but never liked the 'feel' of MIG very much. Was just trying to tack this thing together so I can work with it a bit.

Brace yourselves people, what you are about to see is some real ugliness.
I tried two 'heat' settings, 2 and 5. This is gas free.

[swissarmychainsaw]

Oh, and here is what "Mr. Blue" looked like the day I rolled him home:

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by swissarmychainsaw

Someone gave me a craftsman 110 welder years ago, and today I broke it out for the first time ever. I have done a touch of gas welding, but never liked the 'feel' of MIG very much. Was just trying to tack this thing together so I can work with it a bit.

Brace yourselves people, what you are about to see is some real ugliness.
I tried two 'heat' settings, 2 and 5. This is gas free.

Grinder and Paint make me the welder I aint! LOL

seriously you can weld 1/8th steel with Flux core no problem the thinner stuff is more difficult, are you sure you are using a shielded spool of wire. Sounds like you may have a combo welding machine, one does both MIG and Flux core, but you can't just not use any gas and expect to use MIG wire, in order to weld gas free you need special wire called FLUX Core, Home Depot sells it.

good luck

[swissarmychainsaw]

Good call guys!

About to rectify all this.

[cheepin]

Reverse the polarity on your welder.

[slotard]

If you didn't know, Suburban seats and single cab truck seats mount differently. Since you're going custom not too big of a deal.

I have a gas setup and the exact same welder. I could probably be talked into loaning it to you if you want. Still not great, but better...

[swissarmychainsaw]

Thanks slotard I do seem to remember the guy who bought a Sub seat off me said he had to force it into is pickup!

Ok, some minor progress today. But not one single moment was spent "at work" so, winning!

Went to the local store to pick some some flux welding wire.
Saw this guy in the parking lot. Wanted it.

Custom sticker:


Hard to see but the interior had the same metal flake treatment as the roof.



Butch!



Squared away SON!



See how much better it looks now??? (cough! Cough!)



Grinding to welding time spent: 5:1






Hey look a (maybe) functioning prototype!



A good day.

[Zach079xxx]

Welding is an art, atleast in my eyes it is. Atleast you're having some fun while working on your truck, and these corny (I mean GREAT :P ) jokes!

[slotard]

You can likely find steel a lot cheaper at a steel yard than a hardware store if you're doing much.

I think I'm the guy you sold the seat to.

[enaberif]

Get some 80 and 120 grit flap discs for the grinder... Goes way faster and easier.

[Gregski]

all these welds will be hidden so at this stage in your metal sticking career I would not grind off too much as that will weaken the welds, you can also go over your welds a second time, try for a full bead, so go back over it and fill in the gaps or at least that's what I would do, also I would perform a drop test or two, that is when you weld two pieces of metal together (as in your brackets) and then after it cools off of course you pick it up over your head and drop it on the concrete floor of your garage if they separate you put the welder back in the box and pay a pro to do it, no just kidding you just do it over again, etc

also it don't look like you are cleaning your area before welding, remember this metal usually has some coating to keep it from rusting, or it is already dirty or rusty, and you can't weld rust or dirt, now I am not picking on you as I am a newb at welding too, but we need all the help we can get when we are staring out so clean the areas really nice and shinny with an angle grinder disk or a wire wheel on your angle grinder before you go welding them together that will eliminate the contamination situation

just trying to help

[68Timber]

Originally Posted by cheepin

Reverse the polarity on your welder.

Originally Posted by swissarmychainsaw

Good call guys!

About to rectify all this.

Wow. That's the eye of experience there, knew it just by looking at the welds.

Originally Posted by Gregski

all these welds will be hidden so at this stage in your metal sticking career I would not grind off too much as that will weaken the welds, you can also go over your welds a second time, try for a full bead, so go back over it and fill in the gaps or at least that's what I would do, also I would perform a drop test or two, that is when you weld two pieces of metal together (as in your brackets) and then after it cools off of course you pick it up over your head and drop it on the concrete floor of your garage if they separate you put the welder back in the box and pay a pro to do it, no just kidding you just do it over again, etc

also it don't look like you are cleaning your area before welding, remember this metal usually has some coating to keep it from rusting, or it is already dirty or rusty, and you can't weld rust or dirt, now I am not picking on you as I am a newb at welding too, but we need all the help we can get when we are staring out so clean the areas really nice and shinny with an angle grinder disk or a wire wheel on your angle grinder before you go welding them together that will eliminate the contamination situation

just trying to help

I bought a little MIG a few years ago and just started using it two weeks ago, so you're not the only one learning here, thanks for sharing. The only thing I can add to what Greg said is something I heard somewhere about listening to the sound and trying to get the "sizzle". Something I've noticed is that if it's popping instead of sizzling then I need to get the tip a little closer. I know that's real scientific, but my welds do look better if I keep the tip close enough to get that sound.

Edit to add - I've already welded my vice grip clamps to my project twice, so you're doing better than me. lol

[Zach079xxx]

^ sorry, but that's funny! You guys make me wanna get a welder and mess around on some wild project!

Anyways, keep us posted, I'm very curious to see how they look finished.

[Rich84]

I've attempted this welding too it's not for the faint of heart..I almost set the garage on fire. Spark landed on an old towel I was using for a rag and it burst into flames..

Be careful whats around you.

[ironroad9c1]

I had that same welder , its actually a decent unit made by Century, You can get a gas regulator for it still and use reguler wire but I have welded miles of flux core in mine.

[Gregski]

Originally Posted by ironroad9c1

I had that same welder , its actually a decent unit made by Century, You can get a gas regulator for it still and use reguler wire but I have welded miles of flux core in mine.

Have you welded any sheet metal like 16 or 22 gauge, I had trouble with the Mustang floor boards on my '68 the Flux Core wire setup was burning right through on the lowest setting.

[ironroad9c1]

Originally Posted by Gregski

Have you welded any sheet metal like 16 or 22 gauge, I had trouble with the Mustang floor boards on my '68 the Flux Core wire setup was burning right through on the lowest setting.

yea flux core isnt really good for thin stuff, I could do some exhaust, but it wasnt good for much thinner than that. also as someone said , Slow down your wire and turn up the heat a bit, your welds are pretty cold. Practice to get a feel for how hot you can go before burning through and then back off and speed up the gun a bit .
Kinda like this, This was flux core on the same machine