Thread: 55 Wagon Progress

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The vise was used in making them...


Now for the top of the seat frame... We started with some 3/8-16 standoffs that are 5/8 diameter, and turn them to 1/2 diameter to fit inside the seat frame tube...














Then holes are drilled in some 1.25 square tubing...








Tacked in place and a nut used for added insurance...











Seat latches plug welded in place...





Side pieces formed....

















The side pieces will be trimmed, fitted, and welded to the wheel well...

Very nice pics showing how to cut those tubes to get the rounded corners! Thanks for that. I'll have to remember that one.

Originally Posted by 40FordDeluxe

Very nice pics showing how to cut those tubes to get the rounded corners! Thanks for that. I'll have to remember that one.

This whole thread is like a masters class in metal working & fabrication!!!!! Thanks again, Robert, for being so detailed and willing to share your expertise!

Couldn't have said it any better.. thanks R2

Originally Posted by randyr

This whole thread is like a masters class in metal working & fabrication!!!!! Thanks again, Robert, for being so detailed and willing to share your expertise!

Randyr nailed it, I'm always at kind of a loss for words on your talent so I just hit the "like" link, everything is so perfect. For you others, sometimes I just hit the "like" link to make you feel good.

Seth, .

After making the relief cuts, tap the corners around first, then worry about the flats in the center of the tube. If you hit the center first, you may wind up with a low area in the center.


Thanks for the comments guys!

It's amazing how the smallest "Tip" can make a big difference. Thanks Robert for the visual and verbal tips.


Jack.

More work on the seat back bracket... Trimming the side pieces to match the wheel well...











Adding welding flange, hammered out of 16 gauge steel..

















Test drive....





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mpFl01yHvKw





Used the Roper Whitney hand punch to make our plug weld holes..





























Next we'll close off the back area to contain the amp and bass speaker.

Had a short evening in the shop as I was busy packing the neon clock for shipment, so the remainder was spent working on some of the many final details of the rear seat. Here are the factory seat clips to hold the seat bottom in place.








In order to use these, let's do a sample and see if we cut a hole in some sheet metal that they'll fit into..














This looks like it will work, we'll get some 18 gauge strips made to hold these that 45 down to the floor, adding some bead details for strength..

Time for some brackets for the rear seat bottom retainers. Cut out some 19 gauge...





Drilled some holes for an inside radius, and trimmed the corners for the floor pan flange..





Now to fold some flanges on the sides for strength, using the Diacro press brake and a 1/2" thick lower die. By adding some rare earth magnets to the back side to serve as a back stop, we get a perfect 1/4" flange...








Then some back and forth between the Erco kick shrinker and the press brake with a narrow die inside the folds.... and we have 45* bends on either end of our brackets...





Test fit.... and trimming the retainer hole...

Had our new apprentice started today, while I cut out the hole in the second seat bracket, Mike got started on punching and drilling holes for plug welding the passenger bucket seat bracket...







After I got the bracket hole cut out, E media blasted the brackets and added some SPI epoxy using a brush. We mainly wanted to get the bottom side well covered as it will be inaccessible once welded in place..







First coat...





Two coats, that should hold us for under a seat...





Meanwhile I got out the John Deere rod bender to see if we could make up some anchors for the shoulder belt..





Bent with relief for a 1/2-13 lock nut..








Welded with short bursts and plenty of cooling between to keep the nylon lock intact..





test fit...








plug weld holes drilled and welded in place....








Mike finished up plug welding the seat bracket in place...

More awesome work. I really like the tool and idea on building that retainer!

The hoop on the back adds strength (in my mind ) and keeps someone from putting a longer bolt through the side of the car down the road...

Had a late start in the shop tonight as I had to go look at a school bus. Yeah, week and a half to go until the end of school.

Looks like something gave the spot mirror a nice push..








The mirror mount looks like it's no longer straight....





OK, so we found it hard to fathom something hitting the mirror that high in the air as the bus was driving into it, so the other possibility was something backed into this one.. A quick search of the buses parked close by revealed this one with some nice shiny metal showing...








A quick test drive showed that the mirror didn't vibrate/move around that much so we're going to address this after school is out so this one can still be used for the next couple weeks..


Back at the shop, time to weld in the seat retainer brackets...


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9Gj...ature=youtu.be








....and then started the next shoulder harness anchor bracket....