My 1970 GMC “Project Splice”

[Kronald_70GMC]

Tonight I just layed down my last juicy coat of fiberglass resin on my passenger side filler panel. After a sanding with 80 grit, it will be at the same point as the driver's side one.

[Kronald_70GMC]

Well they look pretty darn close side by side and they will be about 6 feet apart so I think I'm pretty happy with my first fiberglass pieces made.

[Kronald_70GMC]

Well today, I got the foam stripped off my driver's side seat and I believe that I have confirmed these seats are out of a truck that was in an accident. Both seats have twisted backrests and the driver's side seat has a few other areas that are broken or separating. Good thing I stripped them. They will be welded up good as new, blasted and actually painted this time around.

[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.

[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 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?

[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.

[Kronald_70GMC]

More pics...

[Kronald_70GMC]

And the finished product of the day...

[ryans69chevy]

Originally Posted by Kronald_70GMC

And the finished product of the day...

That looks comfortable... you are going through that truck with a fine toothed comb and doing a mighty fine job at it. Every step is well thought out.

I was back tracking through your build again the other day and noticed you took out that indent on the passenger side for your vintage air kit. I was thinking of doing that as well, but didn't know if I wanted to go through all the work of cutting the cowl piece that you also removed to access all that stuff. The way you did it made it look pretty easy. Maybe I should just go for it. I already patched a few spots, but haven't cut apart all the rust where my firewall is lapped. The way you did might actually be easier than getting new metal in around those wicked bends.

[Kronald_70GMC]

Originally Posted by ryans69chevy

That looks comfortable... you are going through that truck with a fine toothed comb and doing a mighty fine job at it. Every step is well thought out.

I was back tracking through your build again the other day and noticed you took out that indent on the passenger side for your vintage air kit. I was thinking of doing that as well, but didn't know if I wanted to go through all the work of cutting the cowl piece that you also removed to access all that stuff. The way you did it made it look pretty easy. Maybe I should just go for it. I already patched a few spots, but haven't cut apart all the rust where my firewall is lapped. The way you did might actually be easier than getting new metal in around those wicked bends.

Haha they look like rat rod seats now. I can't sit in there and pretend. Thanks for the compliments. As for the cowl, with what you are dealing with for rust, I do agree that it would most likely be easier to eliminate that sharp curve. Just go for it! Its only metal and it can always be welded back up.

[Kronald_70GMC]

Well after a bit of a break from the truck, I finally got a little bit accomplished today. I have made a template and cut out the sides of my seat brackets for the driver's seat. I then got those pieces welded to my angle irons. The driver seat is now sitting where I would like it to be. I have a little bit of adjusting to do as I need a 1/8" shim under the outer rear corner to get it sitting flat without rocking. A little bit of welding and grinding will get that fixed up. I went way overboard and used 1/4" plate for these pieces because that's what I had and everything is so expensive these days I think I may have to cut some speed holes in these so the seat doesn't end up weighing 100 pounds. I'll have to put some thought into it to come up with a decent looking design.

[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.