Simple Seat Rail Jig for 70 Ghia

[moon-dawg]

There are many ways to weld in a seat rail but I chose to make a simple jig out of 1x3 pine to hold the rails the proper distance apart and keep them vertical while I concentrated on welding the rails to the pan.

This particular jig was for the passenger side outer rail. you can see the outline of the rail where I spray painted it with weld through primer. The outer rail on a 70 ghia is shorter and sets down in the well of the pan. I had to cut a diagonal on the left side to clear the pan as the rail plunged into the well.

The jigs are identical for both sides however the sawblade notch has to be cut on opposite sides.

For the outer rail mount the overall length is 23 inches. The width is 2-1/4 inches at the front and 1 inch at the rear. The diagonal taper starts 10 inches from the rear. The sawblade notch is centered at 1/2 inch from the top.

For the inner rail mount the overall length is 23 inches. The width is 2-1/2 inches at the front and tapers to 1 inch at the rear. The sawblade notch is centered at 1/2 inch from the top.

The front and rear cross-pieces determine the width and must be cut to exactly 18-9/32 inches. The rear cross-piece is 1 inch tall. The front cross-piece is 1-3/4 inches tall.

The two top braces are 19-5/8 inches long and 2 inches wide.

I assembled the pieces using 4 corner clamps so that they were square and then glued and screwed the top pieces on to keep them square. I drilled 3 holes in the seat rails and used screws to hold them to the inner and outer pieces.

It worked well and on the first attempt....good luck!

[moon-dawg]

The seat rails I used were purchased from KGPR. They are not exactly the same as the original equipment but seem to do the job. They are missing the cross piece between the inner and outer rails. From what I gather the cross piece is used to mount a spring which keeps the seat from coming too far forward and falling off the rails. I have looked around but so far have not found anyone that sells this piece. The rails seem sturdy enough without it but if it becomes a problem I will fabricate something of my own.

The dimension from the outer edge of the rails is 18-5/8 inches (47.3 cm). when doing a search I found numbers like (50cm) but I am not sure where that measurement was made from. When I measured the back of my seats from inside the rail edge to the other it was a little greater than 18-11/16 inches (47.5 cm) so that allowed me some slack. They slide on without binding so I am calling it good enough.

From the side view you can see the 3 holes that I drilled in the outer rail to mount the rail to the jig. You can also see some pretty crumby welding but after a bit of grinding and skim coat of filler you will never see the plug welds. Did I mention that this project was the first time I have ever touched a Mig Welder.

[Rome]

Good work! Thanks for the tips. Hope you can get the car back together quickly so that you can drive and enjoy it this season!