TheSamba.com :: View topic - can I bolt in my seat humps and get by fine?

Sat Mar 20, 2010 5:10 pm

I'm putting in my floor halves.

I tried welding the hump in.. but man.. I suck. I practiced but everything I had was thicker and fit together better. Trying to weld that hump was like trying to weld tin foil to tin foil. At least at my skill level. I only worry in the event of an accident. Not that much will save you in a beetle.. but.. having the seat stay where it should be is nice.

Was thinking about bolting them down with 3 or 4 bolts per flange and a piece of 1/2"x1/8" bar as a "washer. It will both cover up my "welding" and help hold it. Maybe with some medium sized 1/2" carriage bolts or something. And .. what material is good for bolting things like floors and other stressed bodies. I used stainless on my land rover after my "grade 8" all snapped like twigs under torquing them down.

My neighbor says stainless shears easily but is very strong tensile wise (bad Idea for seat belt anchors etc).. he's worked in industrial food service repair for decades and laments drilling out bolts..

Sat Mar 20, 2010 6:56 pm

there is really nothing "wrong" with bolting the seat tracks in, but you don't want to do that. have you tried a plug weld? if not, google it. its strong as can be and easier than trying to weld an edge to an inconsistant surface like a rusty floorpan.

Sat Mar 20, 2010 7:25 pm

I tried the plug weld. Think my welder combined with my skill is not good.
It would vaporize one metal and not get penetration on the other.

these are new pans.. and not seat tracks... its the seat hump (really you can buy floors with loose seat tracks?)

On the one hand, it has to hold the seat from moving in the event of a collision.. which has the benefit of not squishing someone against the seatbelt as hard. But its just the weight of the seat, which will be pitched against the tracks as well.

Still looking at it. May do steel rivets through a bar and fender washers. Be just as strong as a weld.

Sat Mar 20, 2010 8:26 pm

Hey zero. I was just thinking about this today, as I found it kind of annoying that I couldn't get the hump out without grinding the welds off. I guess since it's not something that needs to be dealt with too much, welding it is best, but I noticed it have holes on it that made it look like it was for bolting down, but wasn't :? Let me know how it goes.

Sat Mar 20, 2010 10:33 pm

It went like this.

I decided to rivet it in.. got me some steel rivets.. and that 1/8"x1/2" bar I was talking about and riveted it down.
Then I drilled it out.. because I noticed JBUGS sent me 2 drivers side seat humps.
SO.. rather than deal with them.. I managed to weld the pipe onto the other side (thicker metal .. its still horrible but its on)

Then I riveted it down again.

Its on there. It'll rip a hole in the pan before those steel rivets (3/16") pull out. I used the rivet anchors on the bottom and that bar stock on the top.
the rivets themselves have a 1/2" head, so I put 3 on each side 2. One in each corner one in the middle.

I tried the plug weld.. but the metal was just too thin for my welder. I ought to get a spot welder. its the way to go.

Anyway. Probably going to rivet in the pans along the tunnel as well. Hate to drill it. But .. hate to weld it too. I may bring the next set to a welding shop.. just to make it look better. Plan on covering up my handiwork with rhino liner or something similar. Its not pretty.

But like I said. Its on there. I'd hang my kid over a cliff with those anchors.. no problem I gave it a good whack with a 4x4 and no movement at all.

Frankly.. probably much stronger than a similar number of spot welds or plug welds. Just due to the crappy nature of the metal.

Now the seat humps that come in the stock floor pans are solid. The ones in the Brazilian ones are shit. They'll be good enough... don't buy the Jbugs pans if you're picky at all. I saved a ton on shipping vs wolfsburg.. who has also been out of them for a while. But .. blech. Zito something or other brand.

I can't figure out how to get the seat hardware back together though..