by John Niolon


I've had my bucket seats for a while.... nice and securely covered in plastic sheeting to keep them clean and they've been patiently waiting to be installed... the problem being that the cab was on it's back for about 2 years getting and waiting to get body work complete on it's little bottom.

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So, when I finally got the cab upright, I could start trying to fit up the seats. I looked around on several sites and while I found some suggestions, I didn't find exactly what I was looking for. I put out a request for some pictures from the other Ford truck guys and John Bates (56panelford) had just what I was looking for. He even had the same seats that I wanted to mount... how cool was that? Our seats are from similar Chrysler products... mine being from a 2001 Chrysler 300... 6 way tilt/slide/raise...manual lumbar and heated lowers. If it only had a vibrator !!!

So, first things first. I have to give the idea, the expert design, master's fabrication and installation detail of the prototype to John. The seat frame is really expertly excuted but a look in his gallery will show you what a master craftsman he is in body work and fabrication. After a couple of private message swaps and a phone call he send me all the pictures and details he had on his seat frame and answered about a zillion questions. He is a true gentleman and a fine example of what us old truck guys do best.... help each other out.

Johns design is basically a flat frame set at the right angle for comfort that supports both seats with ample room for a home made console box between them... but the ingenious part is below the seats... Two nice metal drawers on ball bearing slides that give the user lots of storage space in the small cab... something that is sorely missing. You sure miss all the nifty cupholders, pouches, and cubbie holes that the late model truck/SUV makers stick in. Of course their cabs are much more roomy than the old F-100s. Here's some pictures of John's installation. I hope with my pitiful skills I can duplicate this artwork.










John was fortunate that his material came to him free. Good scrounging, John. it was mostly 3/4" x 1-1/2" light gauge rectangular tubing and a piece of Hat channel...a little bit of flat plate, bolts, pop rivets and some drawer slides (which weren't free...and good ball bearing slides ain't cheap. I had to purchase mine and settled for 1" x 2" stock and found my slightly different hat channel at a metal roofing/butler building fabrication shop. I'll be scouring Ebay for drawer slides and the rest is in stock in the shop. now to the build.
MAIN FRAME

My main frame material is piled up here and the next pic is the frame showing dimensions.


The overall length is 50-3/4" and the depth is 19". If your seats are configured differently or a different size you will have to come up with your own frame size to suit your seats... remembering if you change width and depth of the main frame... it will also change drawer width, length and the drawer slide lengths probably.



I began by cutting my tubing all to length for front, back and cross braces. Using basic fabrication techniques I built a box... make sure you keep it square and flat... clamps, magnets and a framing square work here. The end pieces are cut to the full depth (19") and the front and back pieces (46-1/4") are welded inside these ends. All the welds were ground down pretty and the ends capped ... it makes a nicer piece of work.

You'll see a notation on the pic above for 3/8" id crush tubes. The cross braces were drilled at the location of the rear seat mounting bolts and the holes were enlarged to weld in pipe inserts that will prevent the tubing from crushing when the seats were bolted in. This isn't necessary on the front bolts...the mounting technique is different.. more later. The cross braces are located centered under the seat tracks... the dimensions for mounting the cross braces, drilling the mount holes and welding on the front mount tabs is in the sketch below





just to make sure... I set the frame up and put the seats on it... all the holes lined UP !!!!!!!...and yes I know I put them on opposite... but all the holes lined up !!! (I didn't notice that till the picture showed up here !)





RISERS

Once the frame is complete and you've got everything ready to attach the seats the next step it to build the uprights that will hold the frame to the floor. John's mount used all the original mounting holes and 3/8" bolts. I must have done something different/wrong... I had interference/fit problems with the riser and the seat bracket on the front... so I used one original hole and drilled one on each of the front risers...gonna have to drill holes for the center leg anyway... what's two more... As far as the original holes, Ford was nice enough to weld in nuts on the bottom of the cab. But, mine only had one nut welded in on each side... so I'll have to add a backing place and nut there. They might need to be chased with a tap to clean them up/out... but they are there. Working alone offers different 'opportunities' fitting stuff up... had lots of fun trying to support the frame at the right height and get the legs and mount plates where I wanted them... but perserverance and cursing got it done..



Progress has been slow... other commitments and the heat has been a killer... but I do a little when time and temperatures allow...yesterday (Sunday pm) I got the rear legs/supports welded on and the mount plates attached... a trial fit showed that everything lined up and fit as planned... the next step was cutting two pieces of hat channel that will support the drawer slides... The picture below shows 4 of the legs in position and the hat channel clamped onto the legs... Ignore what I just wrote about the hat channel... and the picture below... I took another path....see the detail below. You can look at the picture though, if you want to see the floor mount plates in place... but don't look at the hat channel... hard not to see it when I tell you not to look ain' it ??

The remaining two legs (one middle front and one middle back) will be done soon... These aren't absolutely necessary... the frame is 'substantial'. But will add some support and bracing.





SLIDES

I can't go any further until the drawer slides arrive... UPS says tomorrow between 3pm and 7pm... Might get back on it Wednesday. I'm having trouble with my welder... I'm reasonably sure the problem is operator problems... I've got to figure out my settings and see what I'm doing wrong... my welds hold but ain't pretty at all... lots of grinding and rewelding.

We interrupt this article for a change in course... I decided not to use the hat channel... My material wasn't exactly like John's and I wasn't pleased with it... So instead of the hat channel I used 10 gauge x 1-1/2" Flat bar (actually sheared from 10 gauge sheet material. It is heavier and worked out better for the slide placement on the frame, and I can actually get a little wider drawer. I simply stood it up flush with the inside edge of the frame... held it with a magnet or two and tacked it in place... after the slides were installed and working properly I added a few more welds...



Note of caution here... make sure when you're setting up the frame in the cab that you are far enough forward for the drawers to miss the rear door frame...or your drawers will only open about 6".


The drawer slides will mount as shown below on the flat bar.



This shows the inside of the frame from the bottom and how the flat bar fits to the frame.. the slide will mount to this side of the flat bar.

The slides were 24" full extension ball bearing slides.. found them on Ebay ...really affordable and they are excellent quality..they even have a little catch when retracted to keep them closed...you can find them on amazon or ebay for around 20 bucks a set or less.



Ignore the black bar in the middle of the picture... it's a brace I used to hold the frame vertical for welding and to install the slides and I forgot to remove it for the picture.

But, the picture does show one slide mounted inside the flat bar... the next pic shows how the slides are mounted. I used self tapping sheet metal screws to hold the slides in place. I'll use pop rivets to hold the slides to the drawer sides. picture to follow. You'll need some type of fastener with a low profile head.. when the slides nest together the screw heads have to pass between the slide sections.





I need to figure out exactly where they go .. the width is pretty much set in stone... the distance between the two slides (duh ?) But I need to determine the height of the drawers and exactly where the slides will attach to the drawer sides. My next door neighbor has a nice metal break that can make the drawer bends... then I just have to tack the front and backs on them If his break will handle it I want to use 12 gauge metal (.120") for the drawers... second choice is 14 gauge. (.102")... either will be ample and won't bend or warp. I'm stuck till he returns home from vacation to finish up...

Here's a shot of the frame with the installed slides extended..... just use your imagination and see drawers slid out on each side.




DRAWERS....

You ever notice how things you think will happpen don't ??? My neighbor's brake wouldn't handle the material... so I started searching for a fab shop or sheet metal shop to do the bends. Not a lot to offer in Birmingham. I found three that could do it... and prices are all over the place. Basically I ended up using a sheet of 12 gauge metal 26" x 49" that needed two bends along the 4' sides. This sheet will make both drawers. NOTE: 12 gauge is way heavy for this project... with full support from the slides you could go down to 20 gauge and still have very strong drawers. We're not going to be loading them down with gold bars or 300 pounds of tools... just travel stuff or detailing supplies. But, I used what I had... metal is expensive these days and a penny saved.....



This isn't a major complicated project. Maybe 10 minutes tops. One shop told me $50.00.. another shop said $75.00 ... what ?? that works out to a 450.00 an hour rate. Finally I found a guy 8 miles from my house with a shop in a hundred year old building... I called him and gave him the details... he paused and said "Oh, less than 10 bucks". I was there the next morning. Brought my material, showed him my scribes and 10 minutes later...



My metal was too wide and too long so after shaving off all the access metal (I used a Metabo 6" angle grinder with a .040" cutting wheel) and making the cut across the width I have two very nice drawer pieces.



The finished dimensions are 14" wide - 24" deep and 3" high... the raised rails in the floor limit the drawer depth and don't forget the thickness of carpet if you're adding that. A caution here the ridge that runs across the cab to support the seats is actually crowned... higher in the middle than at the ends.... keep that in mind when figuring the depth for your drawers... ask me how I know



The next step was drilling the sides for the slide mounting... a little measuring and drilling and holes are in place for #10 machine screws and lock nuts. Originally I had planned on using pop rivets but opted for screws...just easier and should I need to remove them...easier again.

Ends are next... really simple. I took a piece of material about the same thickness of the drawers, held it up to the end and marked it... cut, grind, cut grind and it's done. The front of the drawer is taller than the back to cover the frame sides... it's only that way for appearance. I tack welded the ends to the drawer body... This isn't a structural member so tacking was adequate.



Next pic shows both drawers completed. Now it's time for a trial fit and fix if necessary.



The drawers are held to the slides with #8 x 1/2" machine screws... original plan was pop rivets but screws make it easier to remove them if necessary. First drawer fit perfectly... second had a little interference with the mount place so I drilled another set of holes to raise it up 1/4". Everything is smooth as can be now. Couple more things to do... I need to notch the back of the drawer to clear the rear seat bolts and add a dust cover to the top... and add the middle legs for support... I'll mount the frame in the truck and bolt it down... then fab up the front and back middle legs to fit. Maybe another half day total... or longer depending on this heat.




Some final pics of the seats on the frame






A couple of shots of the frame with the seats in the truck







This will do it.... after a couple of coats of rattle can Dark Bronze Metalic Rustoleum... maybe two more coats to do