anyone ever make their own seat delete with sheet metal??

[black94gt50]

I've been planning on doing a rear seat delete for a while, but i just got the time last night to sit around and think about it.After I got the rear seats out I started thinking it really wouldnt be very hard to make the delete out of sheet metal. I've seen alot of companys make them out of sheetmetal, but I've never seen a single person at home do it. Everyone ive seen do it has made the delete out of particle board or plywood or something, which I dont get, because the particle board is fairly heavy. Anyways, mom is the secretary at a place that does air ducting for commercial buildings and i can get a guy up there to bend the sheetmetal if I need to, and I've got a welder here at home I can do some work with. Just throwing my plan out there and seeing if anyone else has done this.

 

[Swarzkopf]

Fairly heavy? LMAO...particle board is super light. My entire rear seat delete probably weights 5lbs.

There is no way sheet metal is going to be lighter.

 

[ProKiller]

depends on the thickness. if you got something like 1/4in it would prolly work. if its too thin, i can see it bowing a lot and looking bad. I think you would have to make up some kind of bracketing to keep it stable.

not a bad idea, but i see it being more work than what its worth.

 

[black94gt50]

understandable swarzkopf how thick of particle board did you use? I really wasnt thinking of how little i will have to use, I see that it wont be very heavy now

 

[urban96]

i think a sheet metal one would be pretty neat


i used some MDF and made a piece that covers just the lower seat area and left the upper empty

 

[black94gt50]

haha thanks urban96 i thought it would be a pretty neat thing to do also, but i do think the particle board or something would be easier

 

[TurboSnake95]

I had my father in law take my Particle board Rear seat deleat to work and he traced the pattern and fabricated a copy out of sheet metal, looks very nice, and is a perfect fit. All I have to do is glue the black carpet from the old one to the new sheet metal one. I will post pics tomarrow if I get a chance.

By the way, the reason I ended up going with sheet metal was becuase at the NHRA drag stip here, if you have a N2O bottle or fuel cell, or flamable stuff, you have to have a sheet metal Back seat delete if you get rid of the mormal back seats I was warned at the track, so I just went and had it made.

 

[SeventyMach1]

Yeah, but if you have a particle board delete, and cover it completely in carpet .... chances are, they're not going to say anything about it. Not because of the safety .... but becasue they kind of "overlook" it. I've seen several guys at the track running batteries and/or a bottle back there like that. Not fuel cells, though.

Anyway .... I want to see those pics!

 

[SQUEEZE&STROKE]

I made one out of sheet metal, only the upper though. I havent made the bottom portion yet. It wasnt hard at all. I just removed all the rear interior panels, screwed it down with sheetmetal screws, then put all the trim back in. I had to cut 2 holes in it for the cage, but it turned out nicely. Since I have two-tone interior, (black up top, tan below, i measured the length, masked it off and painted it to match. I also painted the interior pieces while they were out so everything matches. Turned out really nice. I'll get some pics when I get home from work

 

[mo_dingo]

why not make it out of aluminum instead of steel. That would make it a hell of a lot lighter. Just use 3/16" or 1/4" thick sheets of aluminum and you should be a heck of a lot lighter than wood.

Plus, then you can weld it all together and it will be sturdy as hell.
Scott

 

[TurboSnake95]

O.k. here are the pics of the delete in the car, and to clarify what they are made of, it was aluminum not steel, was awhile since I looked at the pieces. Anyway's enjoy.

Back seat view:

Trunk view: