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Building hinged rear seat from scratch. Need ideas

L

leadfoot327

Member
Hey guys as a few of you know I have been restoring my 81 sport fire for the last few years now. I'm finally get back on it AGAIN. Seems like every time I start in it something happens with one of my cars that sucks up my time.

Anyway. I'm to the point now where all the floor/transom work is done. My rear seat and side panels were basically junk so I'm in the midst of trying to build a hinged seat from scratch. I was hoping that some of you guys on here may have done something similar and could post up some pics or some ideas. I'm kinda stumped on finding the best way to do this using the least amount of material as possible to cut back on weight as my floor setup is a bit more sturdy/heavy than the original setup.

I'm gonna try and pop some pics up later of what I have to work with as far as what te back of my boat looks like with the knee supports and all. I want to b able to have the base hinged to acces storage under there an have the seat back either hinged as well or removable to access batterys,bilge,tank etc.

Please any input would help. Just
Kinda hoping for something to spark my brain so I can blow thru building it instead of scratching my head.

Posted this in the resto thread instead of interior as it requires a little more fabrication skills than just upholstry and panel making.

Thanks in advance!
 
Very nice. Do you have any pictures of it all finished? Did you attach the seat back to the base and have the entire assembly flip forward? Originally on my boat the base was bolted to the floor and the back had a "V" bracket mounted on the back of it. So the back pushed down and the v bracket caught the fiberglass in front of the well. The not thing holding the back in was the pressure from the padding on the base and the back. Hard to explain but was a real bs setup. I have a few good ideas for the base just not sure what to do with the back.
 
leadfoot327 said:
Very nice. Do you have any pictures of it all finished? Did you attach the seat back to the base and have the entire assembly flip forward? Originally on my boat the base was bolted to the floor and the back had a "V" bracket mounted on the back of it. So the back pushed down and the v bracket caught the fiberglass in front of the well. The not thing holding the back in was the pressure from the padding on the base and the back. Hard to explain but was a real bs setup. I have a few good ideas for the base just not sure what to do with the back.
Click to expand...

Do you have any pictures of the area you are working with? I could throw some ideas at you if I see what you have. I just built a complete new backseat out of PVC 1x and sheet goods on my boat as well.
 
leadfoot327 said:
Very nice. Do you have any pictures of it all finished? Did you attach the seat back to the base and have the entire assembly flip forward? Originally on my boat the base was bolted to the floor and the back had a "V" bracket mounted on the back of it. So the back pushed down and the v bracket caught the fiberglass in front of the well. The not thing holding the back in was the pressure from the padding on the base and the back. Hard to explain but was a real bs setup. I have a few good ideas for the base just not sure what to do with the back.
Click to expand...

I used a piano hinge that attached the seat bottom to the seat box. The back rest was held in place with slide hooks and just lifted up. With the piano hinge I was able to tilt the seat bottom forward giving me access to storage under the seat. When I needed access to the bilge the entire seat box would tilt forward.
 
I'm gonna try and get some pictures together to post in here. Jupiter that sounds about like what I want to do. I'm not too concerned about having the entire base flip forward. My gas tank is easily removable and I think if I build te base right I should have plenty of room to et to everything when I need too as long as I have enough room to slide the tank forward and out
 
I just redid my interior and put the entire bench on a hinge I used a continuous gear hinge from an aluminum door just build you base box and then through bolt an angle to the Top of it the mount hinge and then the bench builds on top of that a piano hinge would work as well the gear hinges are just stronger
 
jazzy said:
I just redid my interior and put the entire bench on a hinge I used a continuous gear hinge from an aluminum door just build you base box and then through bolt an angle to the Top of it the mount hinge and then the bench builds on top of that a piano hinge would work as well the gear hinges are just stronger
Click to expand...

So your base was stationary and the bottom and back of the Bench hinged as one piece on the base? Any pictures. :cheers:
 
Here's what I have so far. I got the front of the base mocked up. The 4x4s I was planning on notching and running a 1x1 from side to side for the base to sit on. But I'm thing that may not cut it. I may extend the knee supports to the front of the base. Notch them near the back and lay a 2x4 in there to the base to sit on and the back to lock in to.

1000001202.jpg

IMAGE_5437E08F-AC3B-4F0E-BBCF-00CC48BB0416.jpg
 
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Here is a picture that I was basing my ideas off of. My issue with hinging the seat back that way is that I plan on having the back come up higher than the back of the boat there where it is hinged. Hence not allowing it to open a full 180*

IMAGE_69F0B6A2-2889-40D6-B4C2-BDEBC1E6454B.jpg
 
Leadfoot, put the brakes on!! Are your transom knees attached to your stringers or do you plan on glassing them just to your floor???? They need to be tied to your stringers, transom and topdeck for the best structural integrity. It looks like you have them sitting on your floor...
 
They are not attached to the stringers. My original floor had knee supports that we're even further away from the 1 center stringer. these are much closer and much stronger than my original floor even when it was at its prime when new. With my boat being as small as it is the area under the floor that provides enough room for stringers would be under the gas tank unless my stringers were only 2" tall. Catch my drift. I def wanted to tie them in but with the way my boat is laid out it def wasn't a happening deal unless I got a gas tank that was 6"wide.
 
I do have them screwed and glassed to the floor. And they catch one of the cross supports that spans the width of the floor. Maybe I'll grab a few stainless bolts and run them thru the knee supports into that cross brace.
 
JUPITER PULSARE said:
Leadfoot, put the brakes on!! Are your transom knees attached to your stringers or do you plan on glassing them just to your floor???? They need to be tied to your stringers, transom and topdeck for the best structural integrity. It looks like you have them sitting on your floor...
Click to expand...

Jupiter I hope you didn't take any part of my responses as being cocky. Was just trying to explain my dilemma with the knee supports. I fully agree with You in how they should be I just didn't really have a way of doing it.
 
Here is how my knee supports are. The other pic was before they were finished. These are glued,screwed,and glasses to the transom and floor. I also picked up some stainless lag bolts to tie them into the cross support that connects my stringers.

IMAGE_2B4B77E1-3584-496B-9E64-CF8836178D70.jpg

IMAGE_F4CE546F-EC51-4127-B3F7-76C6A23DE175.jpg
 
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