Draker's 1972 1200 Sedan - "The Pickle"

[Draker]

1 minute ago, Duncan said:

 

 

 

 

I told you not to tell anyone!

[Draker]

The thing I really like about these particular seats is size wise they are very similar to stock and they are offset to the center of the vehicle which means the bolsters clear the inner door handle. This is particularly annoying when you shut the door and it just bangs into the seat. Or when adjusting your seat with the door close it hangs up on the inner door handle.

 

[Lockleaf]

After reading your comments about these seats i decided to check some out.  My sister in law has a like 2010 or 2012. Jetta.  I was talking with her and my wife in her garage and then just wandered over to her car and jumped in.  The look of confusion my wife gave me was pretty great.  I wiggled around in the seat some and then got back out.  My wife asked me what the hell?  I just laughed at her and the look on my sister in laws face and said i wanted to see if they were as comfortable as i had heard and then grinned.  They both just shook their heads at me.  Not the first time I've done something odd in the name of the hobby.😁

[datsunfreak]

20 hours ago, Draker said:

Sitting in the seats, they are comfortable. The positioning seems to be good. I just think the front could drop about 1"

 

I had the same issue with mine. I ended up attaching the seat rails to the vertical bit of the crossbar instead of the horizontal section. This got me an inch lower. 

[Duncan]

In my old 1200 Coupe, I used Miata seats with the Mazda seat rails.  The back mounts needed one hole drilled on the rear x-member, and I bent the front mounts 45 degrees down with a torch.  Worked great.  Lower and butter smooth adjustment with the late model seat rails.

 

They had good clearance on the sides, as well.

 

 

 

[Draker]

I haven't made much progress on the seats. I've got a bit of decision paralysis with the rails. The seat rails are rather long which means If I cut them short they wont adjust forward and back very far. Also they are spread very far apart. Both which make it difficult to lower. The other part is that the seat has a mechanical height mechanism to raise and lower the seats. This would be great if the seats sat too low. Right now I have the choice of medium to bar stool.

 

I've sat looking at the mechanical linkage to see if I could modify the seat to drop it down. Not happening, and it would be for marginal gains. I'll likely just try to level out the seat and build some mounts. Also I need to get the car off jack stands to really get a good feel for position.

[Lockleaf]

I get installing them for now just to keep moving.  Have you considered completely switching rails as a future idea?  Tucking something like the miata rails previously mentioned up under the seat more?

 

Might mean sacrificing the height adjustment though.

[Draker]

19 hours ago, Lockleaf said:

I get installing them for now just to keep moving.  Have you considered completely switching rails as a future idea?  Tucking something like the miata rails previously mentioned up under the seat more?

 

Might mean sacrificing the height adjustment though.

I made a bit of cardboard aided design progress last night. 

 

The seat rails are pretty heavily integrated, I did consider it but it may be tough. I’ll take another look at it and take some pics. 
 

Im still waiting for carpet so I’ve got some time. 

[Draker]

On 11/26/2020 at 12:18 PM, Draker said:

I’ll take another look at it and take some pics. 
 

 

On 11/25/2020 at 5:06 PM, Lockleaf said:

I get installing them for now just to keep moving.  Have you considered completely switching rails as a future idea?  Tucking something like the miata rails previously mentioned up under the seat more?

 

Might mean sacrificing the height adjustment though.

 

Here are the pics of height adjustment mechanisms.

[Draker]

aaaand I just realized those are terrible pics. 😐

[Draker]

As mentioned before, I started to mock up some idea for the seat rail mounts.

 

Edited November 28, 2020 by Draker

[Draker]

I'm toying with the idea of extending the seat mount back to the seatbelt anchor, then adding a third mount location similar to this. It would be out of something thicker than 1/8" steel. It would put the belt in a good position. Safety first, so I am trying to plan this out a bit more. But would look something like this:

 

[Draker]

Started to tack together the mounts and test their actual function. So far I've only these two, but they put the seat at a level position and seem like they will do the job. I'll add a small gusset or two. These are made of 1/8" steel, probably plenty strong already.

 

 

Edited November 28, 2020 by Draker

[Draker]

Carpet and floor mat samples arrived today. I've settled on the actual carpet material, now having a difficult time with the floor mats. I think I've narrowed it down to either brown or silver checkers. Here are samples compared with various parts of the car.

 

Edited November 28, 2020 by Draker

[Dguy210]

I personally like the silver more than the brown.

 

Also, watching this with interest as I went with MR2 seats in my 1200 and it is a 71 without the shoulder straps. Given I shoved a KA in it and made it a deathtrap I've been giving serious thought to changing the seatbelt situation up at some point. I also broke the shoulder strap on my old 1200 (72 sedan)  when I wrecked it so I've been giving it a lot of thought for a 5 point harness.

 

Edited November 28, 2020 by Dguy210

[datzenmike]

Dark gray, charcoal or black are fairly neutral colors and go with anything. Plus dirt doesn't show as much. Center right  with the larger loop pile is easiest to clean.

[Draker]

3 hours ago, datzenmike said:

Dark gray, charcoal or black are fairly neutral colors and go with anything. Plus dirt doesn't show as much. Center right  with the larger loop pile is easiest to clean.

Im gonna go with the larger loop 👍

[Draker]

I got the passenger side seat brackets done enough to bolt in the seat. They fit, but still they sit a bit too high. Not much I can do without modding the mounts in the car. I've started on the driver side and I am relieved to note the seats aren't high enough to mess up the set to steering wheel clearance. I was worried about that and was kicking myself for not starting on the drivers side first. Derrrp. It didn't burn me, it'll be fine.

 

I'm going to keep plugging away, but these seats might be temporary. We'll give them some time. Pics when I have something to share.

[datsunfreak]

9 hours ago, Draker said:

I was worried about that and was kicking myself for not starting on the drivers side first. Derrrp. It didn't burn me, it'll be fine.

 

No, you ALWAYS start on the passenger side first. Make all your mistakes over there, so you do it better on your side.  😃

[Draker]

3 hours ago, datsunfreak said:

 

No, you ALWAYS start on the passenger side first. Make all your mistakes over there, so you do it better on your side.  😃

 

lol! That was my exact thought! My next thought was, what if I just spent hours and hours making these seat brackets and the steering wheel is touching my knees on the driver side.

[Draker]

Alright got the driver side mounts tacked up enough to mount the seat on all 4 corners. The front of the seat is still bit high, but lets face it its a small car. It feels pretty much normal. The gap between the steering wheel and the seat could be a bit wider, but it's fine. Next step is to figure out the seat belt mounts and finish welding up the seat brackets.

 

[4perrev]

Man, that is a nice car and a beauty!!  Well done Sir.  There are some inspirational great ideas going on here.  Never really thought about GTI seats, but they look awesome and are sure better that Dodge Neon seats that I put in my 521.  Might have to use your idea for the Goon.  Nice work!!

[datsunfreak]

I know it's a 1200, but those do look kinda big...  😁

 

I used Miata seats because they were the smallest/narrowest I could find and they were still too big...  😄

[Draker]

2 hours ago, datsunfreak said:

I know it's a 1200, but those do look kinda big...  😁

 

I used Miata seats because they were the smallest/narrowest I could find and they were still too big...  😄

 

They are just too tall. They are actually basically the same size as stock.

 

[Draker]

Tall meaning base seat height, not total height 🙂