47-59 Under seat wiring, your pics and plans/layout

[R&B51]

Ordering driveline and body harness wiring. Speartech. GM ECM and TCM under seat. Harness extension to under seat plus extension to tranny in rear.
Hope to learn from your perspective and experience.
Pictures, plans you executed?
Need ventilation? Fasteners and grommets? Audio?
80-90’s 60/40 is seat plan.
Hinge and base to access?
Posted via Mobile Device

[mr48chev]

Are you keeping the stock seat base or starting from a bare floor?

The guys with an AD that have put the electrics under the seat used the stock seat as the cushion readily pops out. When I had the stock seat in my 48 I kept tools and a few spare parts under it that I might only need if i broke down. That included a spare fan belt.

The Tilt forward thing might depend on if you can fold the 60 side of the seat and tilt it forward at all and then have room to work after you do. Will it clear the shifter? is there room for it to fold to give you room to get to the electrics from the drivers side and through the passenger door? That's going to take a cushion that folds pretty well flat.

[youngrodder]

Originally Posted by R&B51

Ordering driveline and body harness wiring. Speartech. GM ECM and TCM under seat. Harness extension to under seat plus extension to tranny in rear.
Hope to learn from your perspective and experience.
Pictures, plans you executed?
Need ventilation? Fasteners and grommets? Audio?
80-90’s 60/40 is seat plan.
Hinge and base to access?
Posted via Mobile Device

I ran my EFI computer and fuse panel for the EFI under the seat. I mounted my highway 15 fuse panel and Dakota Digital control boxed under the dash. I ran out of room fast under the seat.

Marc

[R&B51]

mr48chev-
Thanks, you are right about limited fold forward options.
Your post reminded me of that critical part of the plan that I had kind of forgotten about - I was so focused on the electrical part right now.
I had not figured out exactly what was going to happen with the seat yet. I’ve got to figure out what kind of shield or cosmetic base to make/ install that does not interfere with getting the seat out of the way.
Might be nice if it was partially removable maybe at least on the ends.
This might sound a little crazy but I had been looking at other peoples fabbed up seat support and I wondered if I could even just use a sliding square tube design where the seat tubes extending downward from the seat frame were bigger than the pedestals coming off the floor and put solid pins through there like the ones you use to keep a trailer receiver in.
I am not sure if it would work to fold the seats backs slightly forward and then just get some help and lift the whole thing out on the rare occasions I needed to work under the seat?
I was hoping that I could just use the stock manual sliding hardware on top of whatever base are used to attach to the floor.
I need to drive around to some of the salvage yards in town, I did a little bit of an Internet search and really was having some trouble just finding a decent seat frame. Probably would go ahead and use fresh foam and start up from there so it does not have to have nice upholstery on it.
That said, I am kind of poor about my ability to do searches for other builds on this site. I know I had seen some good work done by others of their electronics under the seat. Hoping to check on those as I know that on my own I usually forget some cool angle on getting that done as with everything else.

[R&B51]

youngrodder-
Thanks for the pics and text. You’re right, I think it’s going to fill up fast and I may end up having to use other places under the dash or firewall just fighting to keep it as clean as I can there. Did you find that you had a fair amount of room between the tops of all your gear and the base or bottom side of the seat itself? I’m wondering if I will even be able to layer somethings on top of each other by building some brackets there.
I had started a separate thread about using the ABS system (mr48 Chevy had some sage advice and experience about non-ABS driving experience) and I think I just found out that I have to use the body control module from the Corvette to control the ABS so that’s one more thing to find a spot for!

[youngrodder]

Originally Posted by R&B51

youngrodder-
Thanks for the pics and text. You’re right, I think it’s going to fill up fast and I may end up having to use other places under the dash or firewall just fighting to keep it as clean as I can there. Did you find that you had a fair amount of room between the tops of all your gear and the base or bottom side of the seat itself? I’m wondering if I will even be able to layer somethings on top of each other by building some brackets there.
I had started a separate thread about using the ABS system (mr48 Chevy had some sage advice and experience about non-ABS driving experience) and I think I just found out that I have to use the body control module from the Corvette to control the ABS so that’s one more thing to find a spot for!

All of my stuff is contained under the mounting surface of the seat riser. I'm trying to come up with a cup holder option and I was just looking at the space from the top of the seat riser to the bottom of the seat. I would estimate it at about 4". Mine is a Suburban so I'm not sure how different that would be compared to that of a truck seat.

Marc

[R&B51]

4 inches extra would give me some room to do some layering if I’ve got that much. I have a friend who has an AD truck with a similar seat to the one I’m wanting. I need to go crawl under his and take a look. Sure is nice to have you guys to talk with and friends who have one to check stuff out before you get too far down the wrong path.
What kind of drink holder are you talking about? I saw some cool ones on the site one time that used horse tack-big rings welded up that just swing in and out with a base to keep the cup from falling through.
You may be looking at something a lot nicer and more sophisticated than that. If you’re interested in that, I’ll try and find a picture if I can of the one I’ve seen before.
What kind of grommets and mounting hardware did you use? Any shock absorption beyond the deadening mat?

[youngrodder]

Originally Posted by R&B51

4 inches extra would give me some room to do some layering if I’ve got that much. I have a friend who has an AD truck with a similar seat to the one I’m wanting. I need to go crawl under his and take a look. Sure is nice to have you guys to talk with and friends who have one to check stuff out before you get too far down the wrong path.
What kind of drink holder are you talking about? I saw some cool ones on the site one time that used horse tack-big rings welded up that just swing in and out with a base to keep the cup from falling through.
You may be looking at something a lot nicer and more sophisticated than that. If you’re interested in that, I’ll try and find a picture if I can of the one I’ve seen before.
What kind of grommets and mounting hardware did you use? Any shock absorption beyond the deadening mat?

Keep in mind that 4" estimate is without anyone sitting in the seat. I'm sure you loose a little headroom due to the sag of the springs. Some more than others depending on the condition/tightness of your springs.

I'm adapting a cup holder solution from LS Fab. I know the cup holders that you speak of. Two drawbacks as I see it. 1 the costs and 2 I'm out of restate on my lower dash panel tp mount it. I will show more on my build thread once it has been all sorted out. Check out my build thread for more details on the wiring grommets. There you can find more detailed pics.

Marc

[R&B51]

Yes, seems like I mash that seat harder and deeper the older I get, not all muscle more and more fat as I get older. I’d like to see the ones that you’re adapting. The ones I was thinking about I think maybe came from this website and I just screenshot it them.
Maybe from orrieG?

[youngrodder]

Originally Posted by R&B51

Yes, seems like I mash that seat harder and deeper the older I get, not all muscle more and more fat as I get older. I’d like to see the ones that you’re adapting. The ones I was thinking about I think maybe came from this website and I just screenshot it them.
Maybe from orrieG?

OK, I remember seeing these. God solution. I had after market ones in mind that fold out/in.

I share if my solution pans out.

Marc

[R&B51]

And now that I look at those one more time, might be a way to flip a big ol piston upside down and attach from side to swing out maybe with a connecting rod on short chunk of crank, bearings and all!
Probably been done…

[mr48chev]

if you are using the 68/early 90's split bench what about slide out drawers for the electronics under the seats? Even a stock seat riser could be set up with slide out drawers or trays.

[R&B51]

mr48chev
Sliding drawers or trays is a great idea. I have seen some really low profile compact computer equipment pull out trays that might work mounted horizontally and in a pinch I could fab some up with leftover hardware from the garage cabinet business I have had on the side for years. Some of those full extension slides are pretty solid and should not rattle too much. I’m gonna drop by a friends house today who has an AD with the same seat and look at the support he has for his - do some figuring on this. Plan for maybe a foot and a half extra loose cable on everything mounted in there to allow extension.
I’ll consider both ways. But hinging the seat I just can’t figure out a way that would work unless you use a really thin profile seat and back which might not end up being real comfortable.

youngrodder
Thanks for your pics and response. That is exactly what I am needing. I’ll check the build details!

Anybody else have pics of yours or more advice?

[PhilnTX]

Not mine, but I am going to try to duplicate this.

[PhilnTX]

https://www.whichcar.com.au/features...t-3100-pick-up

[mr48chev]

That truck is loaded with more tricks than a 3 ring circus. Great job of putting the electronics in and that seat is one you can do 6/700 miles of road burning a day in and fell like doing something when you get done driving for the day.

[youngrodder]

Originally Posted by PhilnTX

Not mine, but I am going to try to duplicate this.

That's talent right there.

Marc

[layinrocker65]

I have the ecm, engine harness relay block, additional relay block and my stereo all under my seat. My harness is a standard length BP Automotive LSA harness that comes up through the floor under the seat. Plenty of room for activities under the seat.

[Rickysnickers]

Originally Posted by youngrodder

I ran my EFI computer and fuse panel for the EFI under the seat. I mounted my highway 15 fuse panel and Dakota Digital control boxed under the dash. I ran out of room fast under the seat.

Marc

That's a very nice, clean install. What are the two large red and black leads for?

[youngrodder]

Originally Posted by Rickysnickers

That's a very nice, clean install. What are the two large red and black leads for?

Thank you. I was not happy with the wiring I did on my last build so I tried to improve it this time around. Those are just a place to grab 12v or a good ground. Seems like you cant have enough 12v terminals or grounds.

Marc

[57tailgater]

I have contemplated this idea as well for my '57 as fuse panel up under the dash would require me to be a contortionist to an extent which isn't getting any easier! The removable seat bottom would be a good way to access it but I currently have a 1980'ish Caprice seat in mine so no removable bottom. Had thought about the drawer/slide out/flip down thing but I also want to keep the gas tank in the cab. Was a little concerned with electricity that close in proximity. Another location under consideration is the glove box. I had also thought about a flip one down on the bottom left of the dash but that's where my e-brake handle is.