My 1970 GMC “Project Splice”

[Kronald_70GMC]

Originally Posted by sakustoms

How do you like the Upol high build?

My son ordered this and I just got it yesterday. Hoping to spray soon.

It's hard to say how much I like it so far. It sprays pretty nice so that's good. Haven't done any blocking on it yet so I can't say if it's any good in that respect as of yet. My dad has used it alot and likes it. I haven't used evercoat primers before but I like their fillers so I can't see that they would have bad primer.

[sakustoms]

Originally Posted by Kronald_70GMC

It's hard to say how much I like it so far. It sprays pretty nice so that's good. Haven't done any blocking on it yet so I can't say if it's any good in that respect as of yet. My dad has used it alot and likes it. I haven't used evercoat primers before but I like their fillers so I can't see that they would have bad primer.

Let me know how it sands.

We pretty much use Evercoat exclusively at the shop. They make great products. Fortunately my brother inlaw has extra bottles of the activator that he is going to give me so my son didn't have to spend another $40 for that. This stuff is already expensive enough.

[Kronald_70GMC]

Today I was able to "extract" the passenger side filler piece from the mould so to speak. I got a layer of cloth layed down on the back side so I will be ready to build up the front to the same thickness as the other side. Once I had that done, I stripped the old nasty cover off of the passenger side seat and repaired all the bent areas around both seat bottoms. I then got a couple of angle irons made up and bolted them to the bottom of the seat. My next move will be to temporarily weld on some steel rod to the angles so that I can place my seat and pull measurements for the rest of the brackets.

The first picture is what the seat bottoms looked like before straightening, they were both like this. The second picture shows after I had straightened the corner out. I'm not too sure if these seat foams are in "usable" condition or not but I would like to clean up and paint the seat frames and as far as I can tell, I have to completely ruin the foam to get it off of the frame? If there is anyone put there who has any info on this, I would be greatly appreciative.

[Kronald_70GMC]

On a side note, it would appear that my buckets were originally in a blazer. You can see the holes were the fasteners held the back covers on and where they were touching the foam for many years.

[chewychevy67]

Looks good. I took mine down to metal as well ad painted them. Mine were real rusty on the driver side where the cover ripped. They should have been sealed before foam.

[Kronald_70GMC]

Originally Posted by chewychevy67

Looks good. I took mine down to metal as well ad painted them. Mine were real rusty on the driver side where the cover ripped. They should have been sealed before foam.

I agree. Where did you get your new foam from or did they just custom make it at the upholstery shop?

[ryans69chevy]

You are cruising! Sorry if you have mentioned this before, but are you going to do the foam and cover on these seats yourself? Or farm it out?

Also I've been trying to clean up my firewall and I keep remembering what you did to yours as far as slicing the drivers side "tunnel". Did you do that for symmetry or so your engine valve cover would clear? What engine/transmission or are you going with?

[Kronald_70GMC]

Originally Posted by ryans69chevy

You are cruising! Sorry if you have mentioned this before, but are you going to do the foam and cover on these seats yourself? Or farm it out?

Also I've been trying to clean up my firewall and I keep remembering what you did to yours as far as slicing the drivers side "tunnel". Did you do that for symmetry or so your engine valve cover would clear? What engine/transmission or are you going with?

I haven't quite figured that out yet. If I can, I'd like to buy the foam and covers and do it myself.

As tor the firewall. I did it mostly for symmetry but also I have a 396 BB and I know the valve covers get tight there on that corner so it was also partially to avoid that. The transmission will probably be a turbo 400 so I shouldn't have any issues there.

[Scurry67]

Some serious time and effort into those seat frames already. Looking forward to the finished product! I’m taking the easy way out on my bench seat and taking it to a shop. Good for you jumping right into it

[Kronald_70GMC]

Originally Posted by Scurry67

Some serious time and effort into those seat frames already. Looking forward to the finished product! I’m taking the easy way out on my bench seat and taking it to a shop. Good for you jumping right into it

Thank you. The foam is for sure not very easy to remove from the frames. I think it will all be worth it in the end.

[Kronald_70GMC]

This afternoon was spent welding up all damage on the driver's seat frame and getting it set up in the correct (to me) location in the cab. I was surprised to find that the driver's seat sat 7/16" higher than the passenger side with the same height of steel pegs for mock up. So the driver's side seat will sit 7/16" closer to the floor so that the backrests will sit at the same height. Works for me as I need all the space I can get being 6' - 2" tall. Next up will be fabricating my seat brackets.

[ryans69chevy]

I'm scratching my head trying to figure out the best/easiest way you can make holes in those brackets to make it lighter. If it was lighter gauge, I'd say to rent a knockout set used for making electrical knockouts. I have one on my van made by Southwire. I have the dies to make up to a 4" hole. It works really slick, but I just looked up the specs on it and it maxes out on 10 gauge steel. Other companies make them too, maybe theirs cuts through heavier stuff. You might just have to go buy a couple really nice hole saws and cutting oil. Also buy extra pilot bits. You will probably break a few going through that thick of steel. Or use a carbide one shot hole saw, but that won't make as nice of a hole as a Diablo hole saw or good brand named one.

Maybe you have other ideas on how to make the brackets lighter or making going to a completely different design than circular holes. Just throwing out a suggestion or two.

[ryans69chevy]

Mag drill just came to mind. Rent one of those if you dont want risk breaking your wrist with a regular drill, but you would still have to buy the hole saws for it. Or make a template out of a piece of lumber and clamp it to the brackets to help hold the hole saw straight. Or easier yet, mark the holes and sub it out. Might be cheaper, but maybe not as rewarding.

[Kronald_70GMC]

I have got my brackets fitting correctly to the floor now and have come up with an idea for some weight loss on the brackets. I have taken the idea from the 88-98 seat bracket. I'm not sure if I should take out all three or leave middle section and just do the two outer ones. Any input here would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

[Kronald_70GMC]

I think I have come up with a final plan.

[Kronald_70GMC]

Well I ended up having more time out in the shop today than I thought I would so I made an executive decision. The weight loss operation has begun. So far I have managed to cut out a nice even hole, now if I can manage to do that 7 more times, I'll be happy.

[ryans69chevy]

Oh yea, that's gonna look good. For some reason I kept thinking of round holes. Didn't even think what you are doing. I like it.

[Kronald_70GMC]

Originally Posted by ryans69chevy

Oh yea, that's gonna look good. For some reason I kept thinking of round holes. Didn't even think what you are doing. I like it.

Thanks! I kinda stole the idea from the 88-98 seat bracket. I just made some slight modification as I wanted it to flow with the floor instead of just being flat with a void under the front.

[Originalthor]

Looking great there boss. Are you able to use your existing seat mounting spots in your floor with the custom made brackets?

Also I can't remember if your fiberglassing a middle piece too. I still got a lot of that fancy 1708 from my boat rebuild.

[Kronald_70GMC]

Originally Posted by Originalthor

Looking great there boss. Are you able to use your existing seat mounting spots in your floor with the custom made brackets?

Also I can't remember if your fiberglassing a middle piece too. I still got a lot of that fancy 1708 from my boat rebuild.

Thanks! I will be able to use the existing mount holes with custom built brackets. I still need to finish the side brackets and come up with a plan for the cross pieces that will work and look good. I'm trying to have everything look like something that GM would have done hence the brackets resembling the 88-98 style.

As for the center section, the current plan is to attach an 1/8th inch piece of hardboard to the frame and then build speaker boxes that will mount to the frame and get bonded to the back of the hardboard. If I find that the hardboard isn't strong enough after that then I would consider the fiberglass as an option to go over the hardboard and stiffen everything up.

[Kronald_70GMC]

I managed to squeeze in a day of work on the truck toady. I've been very busy with yardwork as per usual during our short summers. I have got the outer driver bracket all cut out and got a start on the inner. It is taking alot of time to get these done but I think the finished product will be worth the effort.

[chewychevy67]

Those brackets look nice and snug but once you put carpet and insulation under it will the mounting holes still line up?

[Kronald_70GMC]

Originally Posted by chewychevy67

Those brackets look nice and snug but once you put carpet and insulation under it will the mounting holes still line up?

I am planning to move them back about an 1/8" before they are welded to the tabs. Then on final assembly, I plan to use bushings the same thickness as the carpet and insulation so that the brackets do not pinch the carpet at all. The only spot that I see a potential issue would be where the bracket kicks up in the front hence the moving the bracket back a touch to avoid any problems at that point.

[CG]

Good looking seat brackets. When deciding exactly where you seats should bolt in side to side have you sat on them with the steering wheel in? Its weird to drive a vehicle when the seat is off center from the steering wheel.

[Kronald_70GMC]

Originally Posted by CG

Good looking seat brackets. When deciding exactly where you seats should bolt in side to side have you sat on them with the steering wheel in? Its weird to drive a vehicle when the seat is off center from the steering wheel.

I have not because I'm missing some of my column pieces to mount it right now. But I have checked the center on that and it is right center of the seat. Must mean I'm doing something right