Re: My 1970 GMC “Project Splice”
 

Tonight I just layed down my last juicy coat of fiberglass resin on my passenger side filler panel. After a sanding with 80 grit, it will be at the same point as the driver's side one.

Re: My 1970 GMC “Project Splice”
 

Well they look pretty darn close side by side and they will be about 6 feet apart so I think I'm pretty happy with my first fiberglass pieces made. :metal:

Re: My 1970 GMC “Project Splice”
 

Well today, I got the foam stripped off my driver's side seat and I believe that I have confirmed these seats are out of a truck that was in an accident. Both seats have twisted backrests and the driver's side seat has a few other areas that are broken or separating. Good thing I stripped them. They will be welded up good as new, blasted and actually painted this time around.:lol:

Re: My 1970 GMC “Project Splice”
 

Looks good. I took mine down to metal as well ad painted them. Mine were real rusty on the driver side where the cover ripped. They should have been sealed before foam.

Re: My 1970 GMC “Project Splice”
 

You are cruising! Sorry if you have mentioned this before, but are you going to do the foam and cover on these seats yourself? Or farm it out?

Also I've been trying to clean up my firewall and I keep remembering what you did to yours as far as slicing the drivers side "tunnel". Did you do that for symmetry or so your engine valve cover would clear? What engine/transmission or are you going with?

Re: My 1970 GMC “Project Splice”
 

I agree. Where did you get your new foam from or did they just custom make it at the upholstery shop?

Re: My 1970 GMC “Project Splice”
 

I haven't quite figured that out yet. If I can, I'd like to buy the foam and covers and do it myself.

As tor the firewall. I did it mostly for symmetry but also I have a 396 BB and I know the valve covers get tight there on that corner so it was also partially to avoid that. The transmission will probably be a turbo 400 so I shouldn't have any issues there.

Re: My 1970 GMC “Project Splice”
 

Some serious time and effort into those seat frames already. Looking forward to the finished product! I’m taking the easy way out on my bench seat and taking it to a shop. Good for you jumping right into it :metal:

Re: My 1970 GMC “Project Splice”
 

Thank you. The foam is for sure not very easy to remove from the frames. I think it will all be worth it in the end.

Re: My 1970 GMC “Project Splice”
 

This afternoon was spent welding up all damage on the driver's seat frame and getting it set up in the correct (to me) location in the cab. I was surprised to find that the driver's seat sat 7/16" higher than the passenger side with the same height of steel pegs for mock up. So the driver's side seat will sit 7/16" closer to the floor so that the backrests will sit at the same height. Works for me as I need all the space I can get being 6' - 2" tall.:lol: Next up will be fabricating my seat brackets.

Re: My 1970 GMC “Project Splice”
 

More pics...

Re: My 1970 GMC “Project Splice”
 

And the finished product of the day...

Re: My 1970 GMC “Project Splice”
 

That looks comfortable... :) you are going through that truck with a fine toothed comb and doing a mighty fine job at it. Every step is well thought out.

I was back tracking through your build again the other day and noticed you took out that indent on the passenger side for your vintage air kit. I was thinking of doing that as well, but didn't know if I wanted to go through all the work of cutting the cowl piece that you also removed to access all that stuff. The way you did it made it look pretty easy. Maybe I should just go for it. I already patched a few spots, but haven't cut apart all the rust where my firewall is lapped. The way you did might actually be easier than getting new metal in around those wicked bends.

Re: My 1970 GMC “Project Splice”
 

Haha they look like rat rod seats now. I can't sit in there and pretend.:burnout::lol: Thanks for the compliments. As for the cowl, with what you are dealing with for rust, I do agree that it would most likely be easier to eliminate that sharp curve. Just go for it! Its only metal and it can always be welded back up.:metal:

Re: My 1970 GMC “Project Splice”
 

Well after a bit of a break from the truck, I finally got a little bit accomplished today. I have made a template and cut out the sides of my seat brackets for the driver's seat. I then got those pieces welded to my angle irons. The driver seat is now sitting where I would like it to be. I have a little bit of adjusting to do as I need a 1/8" shim under the outer rear corner to get it sitting flat without rocking. A little bit of welding and grinding will get that fixed up. I went way overboard and used 1/4" plate for these pieces because that's what I had and everything is so expensive these days :lol: I think I may have to cut some speed holes in these so the seat doesn't end up weighing 100 pounds. I'll have to put some thought into it to come up with a decent looking design.

Re: My 1970 GMC “Project Splice”
 

I'm scratching my head trying to figure out the best/easiest way you can make holes in those brackets to make it lighter. If it was lighter gauge, I'd say to rent a knockout set used for making electrical knockouts. I have one on my van made by Southwire. I have the dies to make up to a 4" hole. It works really slick, but I just looked up the specs on it and it maxes out on 10 gauge steel. Other companies make them too, maybe theirs cuts through heavier stuff. You might just have to go buy a couple really nice hole saws and cutting oil. Also buy extra pilot bits. You will probably break a few going through that thick of steel. Or use a carbide one shot hole saw, but that won't make as nice of a hole as a Diablo hole saw or good brand named one.

Maybe you have other ideas on how to make the brackets lighter or making going to a completely different design than circular holes. Just throwing out a suggestion or two.

Re: My 1970 GMC “Project Splice”
 

Mag drill just came to mind. Rent one of those if you dont want risk breaking your wrist with a regular drill, but you would still have to buy the hole saws for it. Or make a template out of a piece of lumber and clamp it to the brackets to help hold the hole saw straight. Or easier yet, mark the holes and sub it out. Might be cheaper, but maybe not as rewarding.

Re: My 1970 GMC “Project Splice”
 

I have got my brackets fitting correctly to the floor now and have come up with an idea for some weight loss on the brackets. I have taken the idea from the 88-98 seat bracket. I'm not sure if I should take out all three or leave middle section and just do the two outer ones. Any input here would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Re: My 1970 GMC “Project Splice”
 

I think I have come up with a final plan.

Re: My 1970 GMC “Project Splice”
 

Well I ended up having more time out in the shop today than I thought I would so I made an executive decision. The weight loss operation has begun. :lol: So far I have managed to cut out a nice even hole, now if I can manage to do that 7 more times, I'll be happy.;)

Re: My 1970 GMC “Project Splice”
 

Oh yea, that's gonna look good. For some reason I kept thinking of round holes. Didn't even think what you are doing. I like it.

Re: My 1970 GMC “Project Splice”
 

Thanks! I kinda stole the idea from the 88-98 seat bracket. I just made some slight modification as I wanted it to flow with the floor instead of just being flat with a void under the front.

Re: My 1970 GMC “Project Splice”
 

Looking great there boss. Are you able to use your existing seat mounting spots in your floor with the custom made brackets?

Also I can't remember if your fiberglassing a middle piece too. I still got a lot of that fancy 1708 from my boat rebuild.

Re: My 1970 GMC “Project Splice”
 

Thanks! I will be able to use the existing mount holes with custom built brackets. I still need to finish the side brackets and come up with a plan for the cross pieces that will work and look good. I'm trying to have everything look like something that GM would have done hence the brackets resembling the 88-98 style.

As for the center section, the current plan is to attach an 1/8th inch piece of hardboard to the frame and then build speaker boxes that will mount to the frame and get bonded to the back of the hardboard. If I find that the hardboard isn't strong enough after that then I would consider the fiberglass as an option to go over the hardboard and stiffen everything up.

Re: My 1970 GMC “Project Splice”
 

I managed to squeeze in a day of work on the truck toady. I've been very busy with yardwork as per usual during our short summers. I have got the outer driver bracket all cut out and got a start on the inner. It is taking alot of time to get these done but I think the finished product will be worth the effort.:metal:

Re: My 1970 GMC “Project Splice”
 

Wow, it's been a while since I've worked on the truck. Page 3?! Haha as usual, summers around here are crazy busy with lake time and yard work, :blah: I'm sure everyone can relate. Anywho, I finally had a spare minute and decided 2 months is long enough! So I went out to the shop this afternoon and finished up the weight loss program for my driver's seat brackets.;) Next will be fabbing up the remainder of the bracket so that I can actually bolt it in place. Feels good to get something done!:metal:

Re: My 1970 GMC “Project Splice”
 

I made a bit more progress tonight with seat brackets. I had some 1/2" solid steel lying around and figured that it will be as good as anything for this. I have decided that drilling through the seat supports would give me the best possible strength. Now I plan to weld some 1/4" plate tabs to the rods which will give me my mounting points. I think the general idea is coming along nicely, let me know what you guys think.

Re: My 1970 GMC “Project Splice”
 

Today I fabbed up a piece of flat stock as a mounting plate. I'm thinking it is looking a little bit large though. I got some input from a buddy and I may end up narrowing it where the bolt goes through and leaving the back where it will be welded to the rod wide for strength.

Re: My 1970 GMC “Project Splice”
 

I resized my mounting tabs and got two made tonight. I also got the one end of the rod welded into the seat bracket. I really like how clean it turned out on the inside with running the rod through the holes and welding from the outside. It is starting to roll along again! :metal:

Re: My 1970 GMC “Project Splice”
 

Last night I got the rods all welded into the brackets. I was going to tack the front tabs in when I had a sudden realization that saved me a lot of headache. Since I am unsure where my bucket seat is supposed to sit from side to side inside the cab, I had figured that I would center it between the console and the door. It's a good thing I didn't just go with that as I had not taken the thickness of my door panel into consideration and I think the way I had it would have been too tight to the door and the armrest would contact the seat. I will have to get a measurement off my dad's truck as he is running factory bucket brackets. That way I will know where it sits in relation to the console. Gonna have to make up the back tabs and get the rest of it welded up.

Re: My 1970 GMC “Project Splice”
 

I've measured, measured and measured again and I've finally nailed down the location of my seat. I ended up moving the outer most tab in towards the center of the cab one hole and was able to have the front tabs symmetrical with eachother using all stock floor mounting locations. The passenger side will be a little more challenging in that aspect but that will be a problem for another day. I have also confirmed that there are a small few differences in these buckets from passenger to driver seat which I had already suspected. If you look at the bottom of the seat bracket I have built, you can see how the rods are skewed about 1/2" from side to side. This actually sits parrelel to the hump in the floor where the front of the seat sits which tells me that the seat mount holes are not all in a line.
The other thing that I've accomplished tonight is the rear mounting tabs are now complete. So now that I have quadruple checked measurements and everything is sitting very nice and exactly where I wanted it, the next step will be welding the tabs on and that will complete the driver's seat mock up! :metal:

Re: My 1970 GMC “Project Splice”
 

Those brackets look nice and snug but once you put carpet and insulation under it will the mounting holes still line up?

Re: My 1970 GMC “Project Splice”
 

I am planning to move them back about an 1/8" before they are welded to the tabs. Then on final assembly, I plan to use bushings the same thickness as the carpet and insulation so that the brackets do not pinch the carpet at all. The only spot that I see a potential issue would be where the bracket kicks up in the front hence the moving the bracket back a touch to avoid any problems at that point.

Re: My 1970 GMC “Project Splice”
 

Good looking seat brackets. When deciding exactly where you seats should bolt in side to side have you sat on them with the steering wheel in? Its weird to drive a vehicle when the seat is off center from the steering wheel.

Re: My 1970 GMC “Project Splice”
 

I have not because I'm missing some of my column pieces to mount it right now. But I have checked the center on that and it is right center of the seat. :metal: Must mean I'm doing something right :lol:

Re: My 1970 GMC “Project Splice”
 

The seat bracket is now welded in place and the seat bolted into the truck. I just have a bit more metal finishing to do on the tabs to hide my welds and make it all neat and finished looking. I put some cushions on the seat and sat in there and pretended that I was driving for a bit.:lol::burnout:

I did a bit of testing with some washers and found that for every 4 washers the seat went up, I lost one washers width on the angled kickup at the front. So I figured based on the fact that 4 washers was 1/4", I needed to have 2 washers of space along that slope. Of course this is based on my hoping that carpet and insulation equate to about 1/2".:lol:

Re: My 1970 GMC “Project Splice”
 

I almost finished up metal finishing around my tabs today. The more I looked at the back tabs, the more I didn't like the way they were hanging passed the rod so I cut them back so the look like the front ones. I'm very happy with how it's coming together. I know it seems crazy to get so finicky with details like this, especially under the seat but with the cutouts in the side of the brackets and the fact that I plan to have amplifiers under the seats, someone might look in there and I want it to look good.;)

Re: My 1970 GMC “Project Splice”
 

So a week and a half ago I got my center console mounted for mockup purposes and forgot to post about it.:dum::lol: and also today I managed to get the passenger seat inner bracket rough cut to size. The console was mounted using nutserts as I am not a big fan of self tapping screws. It also has such a cleaner look to it. Before I could cut the passenger seat bracket, I had to do some fine tweaking to the seat temporary height rods to ensure that the top of the backrests were at the same height.

Re: My 1970 GMC “Project Splice”
 

Yesterday afternoon, I was able to rough cut the outer passenger bracket to size. I also got the inner one welded to the angle iron on the seat.

Re: My 1970 GMC “Project Splice”
 

I feel like I've been here before. :lol: Today I got the outer seat bracket welded to the angle iron and started to make the "speed holes" in the inner bracket.