Draker's 1972 1200 Sedan - "The Pickle"

[Draker]

Got all the mounts finished and welded up here are the seats fully bolted in.

 

[Draker]

I'll give them a shot and see how I like them. They do visually look 'big', which is the hardest part finding seats for this car because of the factory seat mounts. I've got a 620 that could use some buckets.. so no big deal if they don't work out long term.

 

[datsunfreak]

Stocks seats too have a lot more "smoosh" so you sit lower, even though the seats aren't lower. 

 

It looks good! 👍

[Draker]

5 hours ago, datsunfreak said:

Stocks seats too have a lot more "smoosh" so you sit lower, even though the seats aren't lower. 

 

It looks good! 👍

Thanks! 
 

Lol yeah a lot of smoosh in the stock ones. Mine didn’t fold forward anymore and felt like a 50 year old seat with 300k of seat time. 

[Draker]

I've been tossing idea around about the seatbelt mounts. My initial plan was to add a metal bar from the seat mount back to the lower seatbelt mount so I could add another mount point for the seatbelt anchor without the retractor. I'm now leaning towards just adding a plate under the floor and adding an anchor there. The floor is thin, but I'm sure it's just as good as a horizontal 1/8" bar. It would be cleaner too. I can always add a lot of surface area to the plate. 

 I need to get moving on this, and analysis paralysis has already bitten me. Lets get moving already.. Gonna be summer before we know it. 

[Lockleaf]

If I'm understanding correctly, you are just looking for the best way to mount the "dead" end of the seatbelt?  The side without the retractor?

 

FWIW, 720s and pathfinders at least have that side bolted down to the floor.  The retractor side is bolted to the pillar.    The bolt tab for the dead side has a slight up bend to it so the seatbelt doesn't run against the floor pan.

 

So what I'm saying is it works fine (assuming reinforcment) and it will look stock.  Get her done.

[Draker]

22 minutes ago, Lockleaf said:

If I'm understanding correctly, you are just looking for the best way to mount the "dead" end of the seatbelt?  The side without the retractor?

 

FWIW, 720s and pathfinders at least have that side bolted down to the floor.  The retractor side is bolted to the pillar.    The bolt tab for the dead side has a slight up bend to it so the seatbelt doesn't run against the floor pan.

 

So what I'm saying is it works fine (assuming reinforcment) and it will look stock.  Get her done.

 

Yep your understanding is correct. I'm looking at some options. But this is the route I'm thinking of taking.

[Draker]

I ordered some carpet for this thing. It's a kit from stock interiors. I was a bit hesitant because of the price and shipping. Shipping is a killer.. but time is money, and I don't have the time to be fucking around with carpet on this build. So I just bought the kit. Heres to hoping it fits good. 🙂

 

[Draker]

Received the carpet today. Test fit one piece and my initial thoughts are they are nice and fit one the one piece is good. Quality seems good. 
 

I’ll be ordering some floor mats to cover the floor mats..

 

[Draker]

Once I get the seat belts (more importantly the hardware) for the beige 510, I’ll get to mounting the seatbelts. Then install the carpet for good. Rear seat needs redoing and misc vinyl trim needs redone. Not sure if I’ll start the seat right away.

[Lockleaf]

You doing the upholstery on the rear seat yourself?

[Draker]

1 hour ago, Lockleaf said:

You doing the upholstery on the rear seat yourself?

yeah that’s the plan. I’ve got an industrial sewing machine so it shouldn’t be too difficult. Famous last words. 

[Draker]

Got the seatbelt hardware from planet seatbelts. 
 

[Draker]

Ordered some vinyl on Amazon to redo the interior inner rockers and below the seat. The ‘grain’ is no where close to oem. Anyone have a better source for this material? I’ve got a few local upholstery supply shops but they are by appointment only an closed on the weekend. Easier to order online.

 

[Soundline]

Might try this https://www.allvinylfabrics.com/product/kas7810-charcoal/

[Draker]

1 hour ago, Soundline said:

Might try this https://www.allvinylfabrics.com/product/kas7810-charcoal/

Ordered a sample. Thanks for the link! Looks like a close match.

[Soundline]

No problem.  I used them for some stupid s*** I did for a friend.  They seemed alright.  If you’ve done this type of work before you’ll be fine. If this is your first time I’d suggest making a good paper template then sewing it together using cotton or thin canvas.  Once you’ve got it all done you’ll see where your seams are off and just add that much to your paper template when you sew the vinyl.

[Draker]

Got one set of brackets done and painted. since the receiver is mounted to the seat, and the factory seat mount is spot welded to basically nothing I added a mount to the  factory seatbelt mount location. Will it hold in a wreck.. maybe? It’s 1/8” steel. Would the factory mount hold, absolutely not. 
 

Finished the seatbelt receiver mount. Tossed the seat back in and gave the seatbelt a try and happy to report they work fantastic and they are not in the way.

 

 

 

[Draker]

On 2/28/2021 at 11:47 PM, Draker said:

Ordered a sample. Thanks for the link! Looks like a close match.

got the interior vinyl sample but it’s not like the factory pattern. It’s better than what I got on amazon, but a smaller print for sure.

 

 

got the drivers side seat brackets finished and painted. I had to modify one bracket to add an anchor to the factory seatbelt mount since I relocated the mount to the seat.

[Draker]

Welds are ehhh.... but they’re strong. I could have got after it with a grinder, but they just fucking seat mounts. Besides these pics, no one will see them. 
 

got the other seatbelt out of the 69 dime. Started mounting it in the this car. Same procedure, through the floor, seal, bolt down. 
 

still hunting for more appropriate vinyl. I’ll check locally. Not holding my breath.. I don’t really want the inner rockers to look like an extension of the seats. 

[datsunfreak]

5 hours ago, Draker said:

I don’t really want the inner rockers to look like an extension of the seats. 

 

Dumb question: Why not? 

[Draker]

9 hours ago, datsunfreak said:

 

Dumb question: Why not? 

 

I'll hit ya with a dumb answer, just don't wanna(if I don't have-ta) 🤣

It might look okay, but I thought if I could get a more factory look it would separate the seats from interior panels. In my mind I keep envisioning how some people upholster their entire car with the exact same color and texture and it looks like a can of red dye exploded in the car and they called it done. I don't want that. Nothing wrong with that style, it's just not what I'm going for.

The mix of textures could be bad too.. I dunno. I figure can't go wrong with a factory look. I do have the material already to proceed with the faux leather vinyl as pictured.

 

[Lockleaf]

Wrinkle finish paint?  Change it up completely?

 

Sorry just wildly spit balling all over your thread.

[Draker]

23 minutes ago, Lockleaf said:

Wrinkle finish paint?  Change it up completely?

 

Sorry just wildly spit balling all over your thread.

naw the metal finish isn’t straight enough to make that look good. I can see the similarities to the vinyl texture though!

[Draker]

I found some vinyl with texture more to my liking. So to get started I removed the rest of the old scraps for patterning and removed the rear seat. PO must have loved the beach cause it was a desert under there.

 

 

 

Edited March 25, 2021 by Draker