Removing seat skirt on a 53

[Big Irish]

I am about to tacle removing the factiry seat in my 53 . What is the best way to remove the skirt that remains ? Thanks .

[MrDude_1]

Air Hammer/chisel seems like the only real way... was a real pain for me, as i didnt own one.

Last weekend, I tackled the same thing.
First thing friday, i looked carefully at it and decided to cut down by the back, then go around from there. i put a new cutoff wheel on my grinder and... it was a HUGE pain in the butt. i managed to mangle about 5 inches, but i also mangled up my floor pretty good... I did some research on here, online, and after talking to some other more knowledgeable people, i found out an air chisel is the only way.
at this point, it was late, but I stopped at home depot.. they had their brand one for $35 with chisels, or $15 for a CF brand one without.. i decided to wait until tomorrow.
so the next morning, i went to the local harbor freight.. for $17 i got a much nicer, larger air hammer with plenty of chisels.

of course being happy with my new toy, i jump right in when i get home, i screwed on a new air chuck ($0.33 at HF, get one when you buy it), loaded a chisle with a notch in it (to catch on the spot weld and pop them out).. pulled the trigger and.. OUCH. THE NOISE!
now i am not a wuss. i daily drive a sportbike. i shoot guns. i work on drag cars. loud shop noises are not new to me... but this air hammer, in a metal cab had to be the loudest shop noise i had ever done. painfully loud. so i threw on some motorcycle ear plugs.. still loud, so i put my shooting ear muffs over that.. at this point, it was perfectly fine. i recommend you use muffs or some kind of hearing protection before you start. if you dont have any, thats another couple bucks at HF... worth every penny.

ok, so now i can work.. i put the chisle under the seat edge. pull the trigger and... like butter. it just pounds through.. SOOOOOO easy. un belieavably easy. a "why didnt i buy this too before?!!" easy. i love this tool.
and then, i angled it down slightly...
that easy pushes through metal like butter applies any angle you put it. i punched a nice hole in my floor. luckily its on the only spot im already replacing with a new floorpan piece (right by the battery tray)



so lessons learned:
air hammer is the best way to do it.
you NEED hearing protection to use it
go slow and aim the chisel very carefully when you do it. the longer chisels give you a flatter angle.

[BIG CHEVY 3600]

With anything you want to remove, check to see how it was put where it is. Is it spot welded, cut the welds; is it bolted, unbolt it or cut the bolts off; is it all part of the sheetmetal, use your saws-all or cutting torch. Working on these old trucks you will have plenty of opportunity to scratch your head and figure it all out. Do you have a factory assembly manual? If not I would suggest you get one. It will save you a ton of time.

[MrDude_1]

Originally Posted by BIG CHEVY 3600

With anything you want to remove, check to see how it was put where it is. Is it spot welded, cut the welds; is it bolted, unbolt it or cut the bolts off; is it all part of the sheetmetal, use your saws-all or cutting torch. Working on these old trucks you will have plenty of opportunity to scratch your head and figure it all out. Do you have a factory assembly manual? If not I would suggest you get one. It will save you a ton of time.

its spot welded about every 3" to the floor around the floor, with the vertical part spot welded to the back brace with a couple spot welds.

the only part of it that unbolts is the slider tracks. they use two 1/2" nuts on the front, and two more on the rear vertical brace.

[Big Irish]

i dont have a compressor so I think the cut-off wheel is looking like the way I have to do it .

[MrDude_1]

Originally Posted by Big Irish

i dont have a compressor so I think the cut-off wheel is looking like the way I have to do it .

buy/rent/borrow/beg one.. i dont own one either, but im borrowing one from a friend. well worth it.

[52 Rat]

Spot weld removal tools works great and you will not destroy your floor pan. I have several styles of spot weld removal tools and they all work great. Also an air saw works great. I like making a longer blade from a Lenox hacksaw blade. This way you can curve the blade and get close to the floor. Then go back and drill the spot welds out. Look on line for spot weld removal; tons of info. Good luck.

[Big Irish]

thanks

[mr48chev]

I usually have taken them out with my air chisel but even then I have cut the base down with a torch or sawzall so I only have the strip around the bottom to bring up with the air chisel or just a hammer an chisel. At those times I wasn't interested in saving the seat base though. Probably the best way is by using a spot weld cutter as 52 Rat suggested.

[Big Irish]

I am going to try and find a spot weld bit tomorrow .thanks
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