CK5
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71K5 - BP71K5's Just for fun build

Looks really good but I think your first mount with the 2x4's would have held up better... [emoji14]
 
Throw a radius on those angle iron pieces where the bolt is...

Please. :deal:


-G
 
As I'm waiting for the paint to dry on the seat mount, I realized my stereo amplifier doesn't fit under there anymore. :doah:

I need a really small 4 channel amp, with minimum 60 watts RMS per channel. The subwoofer is going to need something else so this is just for my door speakers.

Anyone use these things before? The you tube reviewers say it's good.

http://www.rockfordfosgate.com/products/details/pbr300x4
 
JL Audio makes some really small multichannel amps these days...

I was thinking about replacing my four "old school" a/d/s PQ20s with the JL ones since they will be a lot easier to tuck into small spaces, and I can build a ~1600W system with only two amps instead of 4.

-G
 
Alpine makes an inline unit that is designed to plug behind the deck and stay tucked up under the dash to boost the speakers. I'm not sure of the rating but it sounded decent and definitely improved the speaker sound
 
Looks like JL and alpine are a couple decent options, but JL has a couple that are water proof at about the same size and price. But with these micro amps it looks like I'll need to bridge a couple together if I want the full 60 watts per channel. I guess starting small and adding a second one later if I'm desperate for more decibels is a reasonable plan.
 
Update 8/28/2915:

Drivers seat is 95% done. Even done enough to take it out for a test drive up a lonely street. My seat belt order was delayed so I'm waiting on that to finish it up.

Bent up the rear bracket for the seat hold down and added some of the additional bracing for the latch to hold it down.









There's a small square hole in the angle bar that connects the front and back half of the mount. It catches that snap latch when the seat isn't tilted forward.


Skipping ahead a little, there's a hole for an alignment pin at the rear of the mount along with two tube "pads" that supports the tilting half of the mount. The rubber pads keep it from rattling around and take up a little bit of tolerance needs to make sure the latch functions smoothly.





This is the upper tilting part of the mount. You can see the round rubber pads and a 3/8" pin welded in the center. The pin adds a bit of triangulation to the whole assembly and kinda guides the seat back down so it latches. It's pretty similar to how the factory mount did it.



And all painted up.



In this shot you can see a silver colored part underneath. It's a bent wire rod (not very well bent) that actuates the latch so I can tilt the seat forward. It's nice that I can just grab near the big bend in that tube and then squeeze that latch while lifting up in one motion.


I even tried climbing into the back. It's not an nice as a BMW, but hey it works.


A shot from in the back while it's tilted up. You can see my rough draft of a latch handle. I've got a plan to make a fixture that will make cleaner bends.


And some of the clearance on the console side for seat belt when it gets here.


I did move the seat forward one hole since my original position was a little too far back when I actually test drove. It also feels like I'm sitting a little higher than I used to. I found that these seats don't have as much "sag" in them when you sits down. The old seats had big bouncy springs and so I think setting these at the same height as the stock seats maybe why it feels higher. It lets me see a bit better over the hood so I think I'll keep it that way.
 
Update 8/28/2915:

Drivers seat is 95% done. Even done enough to take it out for a test drive up a lonely street. My seat belt order was delayed so I'm waiting on that to finish it up.

Bent up the rear bracket for the seat hold down and added some of the additional bracing for the latch to hold it down.









There's a small square hole in the angle bar that connects the front and back half of the mount. It catches that snap latch when the seat isn't tilted forward.


Skipping ahead a little, there's a hole for an alignment pin at the rear of the mount along with two tube "pads" that supports the tilting half of the mount. The rubber pads keep it from rattling around and take up a little bit of tolerance needs to make sure the latch functions smoothly.





This is the upper tilting part of the mount. You can see the round rubber pads and a 3/8" pin welded in the center. The pin adds a bit of triangulation to the whole assembly and kinda guides the seat back down so it latches. It's pretty similar to how the factory mount did it.



And all painted up.



In this shot you can see a silver colored part underneath. It's a bent wire rod (not very well bent) that actuates the latch so I can tilt the seat forward. It's nice that I can just grab near the big bend in that tube and then squeeze that latch while lifting up in one motion.


I even tried climbing into the back. It's not an nice as a BMW, but hey it works.


A shot from in the back while it's tilted up. You can see my rough draft of a latch handle. I've got a plan to make a fixture that will make cleaner bends.


And some of the clearance on the console side for seat belt when it gets here.


I did move the seat forward one hole since my original position was a little too far back when I actually test drove. It also feels like I'm sitting a little higher than I used to. I found that these seats don't have as much "sag" in them when you sits down. The old seats had big bouncy springs and so I think setting these at the same height as the stock seats maybe why it feels higher. It lets me see a bit better over the hood so I think I'll keep it that way.



Nice work!! I like how that turned out, and I really like the detailed drawings:thumb:
 
Thanks everyone. It felt good to drive it even if only for a half block. And the radiator isn't leaking yet either!
 
Nice work Bri! :waytogo:

Does the seat stay forward on its own when it it leaned against the steering wheel?

It unique to see to flip-forward on the drivers side.... Didn't seem like there would be enough room to pull that off. :)


-G
 
Nice work Bri! :waytogo:
Does the seat stay forward on its own when it it leaned against the steering wheel?
-G

No it doesn't. The steering wheel is in the way. The passenger seat should be able to tilt forward and stay there because it tilts all the way over the top of the dash pad. But this is good enough for me to hold it up (or let them hold it) to let my kids get through there without getting their muddy shoes on my seats while they climb over the front seats.
 
Update 9/5/2015:

Seat belts arrived and it was a pretty straight forward install. The company missed a couple shoulder bolts so I'll have to call and get the right ones before I can call it 100%.

It's a very basic and boring 3-point retractable belt. The bottom two points mount in the stock location. The only weird thing I found was that the driver seat had a different retractor hole location than the passenger side. So I added a hole in the drivers side to match. I'm guessing the factory didn't want the retractor in the way of people climbing in the back. Since my drivers seat tilts forward now, it seemed logical to make it match the passenger side.


The upper 3rd point is on the roll cage b-pillar. You almost can't see it which is kinda what I was going for. It's pretty difficult to take a picture of myself seated in it, but the belt angles are pretty close to the recommended placement you'll find all over the place. The lower belts should be about 45 degrees back and the shoulder point should be about level with the shoulder.


The buckle style is a very un-fancy end release type which allows it to fit between the seat and the console. Here it is looking from above.



And farther up. Almost looks stock?:haha:


The retractor mounts down at the cage plate right below the shoulder mounting point so there's a straight shot up.


And following the belt upward, I used one of those threaded weld washers from ruff-stuff. You just drill a 3/4" hole in a tube and weld this little bung in there and it's thick enough that it has plenty of threads to make sure it's strong. This one was a 3/8" fine thread version which I drilled out and retapped for 7/16" fine thread which is what the belt manufacturer provided hardware for.



The belt is tucked in between the two b-pillar tubes so its out of the way but still functional.


I have to say it's kinda boring and a little disappointing that there isn't more options for street legal seat belts. They all look the same although you can get different buckle types and colors. But I have to tell myself that these have an important job to perform so if they do their job better than the 40 year old 2-point belts, I'll be pretty satisfied. Still gotta get the right bolts to get some seat time, but until then the passenger seat is next and finally the rear bench. Not sure about what kind of belts I'll use back there. I may just end up with the same type and get a belt lock to prevent my kids from getting too much "freedom" back there until their old enough to know better.
 
Good work. If they are fairly new style belts if you pull the belts all the way out like when you buckle kids in then let go or feed back in they will ratchet and lock at the point when they hit their body. Then if you want them to return to allow movement just have them get out and then pull them all the way out again and they should return to normal where they don't lock unless you get a jolt.
 

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