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'73 1200 Coupe Project, aka Timmy


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Well. these kinda suck but......(or, suck butt)

This one is the best of the bunch.

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The hoop from the seat goes into this slot on the vertical of the floor pan.

 

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So, the short part of the hinge attaches to the seat back and the long part attaches to the body.

 

If you need me to take out the seat and take pics I can but will have to wait until the weekend.

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If you need me to take out the seat and take pics I can but will have to wait until the weekend.

 

No sir, that is exactly what I needed. :thumbup:

 

It will save me from having to install it 3 times to figure it out. I'm not as flexible as I used to be so I want to just do it once...   :rofl:

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Some mission creep seems to have happened with the seat debacle...   :P

 

 

Rear seat should be back from the upholstery shop in the next two weeks so I got started on some "prep"..

 

I removed the rear door panels, scrubbed them down an redyed them blue again because they were looking a bit haggard...

 

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The chrome on the little ring that goes around it was peeling so I scraped it all off before the dye went on. I have a few notions on how to recreate the chrome finish, so stay tuned...

 

I also scrubbed up and redyed the vinyl patches on the wheel humps but elected to do those in place since they probably would have ripped or crumbled if I tried to take them out...   :rofl:

 

Also repainted the floor under the seat black because it was partially visible with the seat installed (and it's all white). No pics because it was just too dark inside the car to see anything. You'll see it when it's done...

 

Next week I'm going to do the front door panels, and possibly the new front seats as well. Also going to try and build/modify the seat brackets for the new front seats as well. Then when the back seat comes back I'll be ready to put it all back in for good... 

 

 

 

 

I do seem to be missing one of the rear ash trays, so if you have one, hit me up...   B)

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Picked up some leather seats from a 2010 Miata. Note the single-sided seat belt holder. That will be important later...

 

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Started by removing all of this...

 

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Then peeled the seat cover off (you'll see why shortly). This was a lot tougher than it looked...

 

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That made it easy to remove the air bag at least...

 

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I had some extra seat foam leftover from another project so I just filled the air bag cavity with foam to keep the shape...

 

With all that wiring and the air bag removed it took about 5 pounds out of each seat...    :P

 

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Then I peeled the seat foam off the frame to get access to this, the bracket that holds up the seat belt holder...

 

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So I took measurements of that bracket, built one that was a mirror image, and had Tim weld it on for me...

 

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Then took a long knife and cut a square hole in the foam for the bracket to fit through (just copied the other side), used a razor blade to make a couple of small holes in the leather cover, and now I have two seat belt holders...   :thumbup:

 

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The front brackets are at a 45 degree angle stock, but not too tough to bend them to a 90 degree angle to better suit the 1200...

 

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Fit is decent but need to make some spacers for the rear...

 

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I really wanted to keep the stock plastic trays on the outside of the seat, but the seat really needs to go about 1/2" closer to the door so those may have to go away... 

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The front brackets are at a 45 degree angle stock, but not too tough to bend them to a 90 degree angle to better suit the 1200...

 

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I had Miata seats in my old 1200 Coupe.  I did the same thing on the front mounts.  Bent them over and used one of the stock 1200 mount holes, and I drilled for the second one.  I used 2"x 2" square tubing for the rear spacers. 

 

I found them very comfy, and they fit the 1200 very nicely.  Nice job :thumbup:

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I had Miata seats in my old 1200 Coupe.  I did the same thing on the front mounts.  Bent them over and used one of the stock 1200 mount holes, and I drilled for the second one.  I used 2"x 2" square tubing for the rear spacers. 

 

Then help me out on two questions, please.   ^_^

 

It looks like you can't keep the plastic side trays because with the seat here, the inside rail is too close to the tunnel. Did you mount them closer to the tunnel or take the trays out? 

 

Based on my measurements, using 2" blocks would require removing the (now unnecessary) stock rear mounts. Did you remove yours? 

 

I'm trying to resist the urge to use 1" blocks (or even no block) to get the seat lower, but I think that will tilt them back at too much of an angle...

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Then help me out on two questions, please.   ^_^

 

It looks like you can't keep the plastic side trays because with the seat here, the inside rail is too close to the tunnel. Did you mount them closer to the tunnel or take the trays out? 

 

Based on my measurements, using 2" blocks would require removing the (now unnecessary) stock rear mounts. Did you remove yours? 

 

 

 

It's been about ten years since I did this, but here's what I remember..

 

I used just one of the front mounting bolts, then drilled and welded a captive nut where the second bolt went.  I don't remember if the existing mount was the tunnel-side, or the outside point.  I did have the trays on mine, and I remember the seats were pretty close to the tunnel.

 

I don't remember what the stock rear seat mounting points looked like.  I don't remember removing them, but that could have happened.

 

I cut some wood blocks to stick under the rear seat mounts so I could play around with the rear height of the seat. That was my template to determine how high for the rear mount.  After I cut the tubing, I made steel plates with captive nuts and welded them onto each end of the tubing.  (The nuts were welded on first, then the plate welded onto the tubing so the nut would be INSIDE the tubing, leaving the top and bottoms flat) I did that so they would bolt through the floor, and the seats would bolt onto the mount.

 

I still have some left over 2x2 square tubing from that project in my metal stash..

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Atleast someone else has a older build thread then me... 

 

Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if it's the oldest one on this forum...   :rofl:

 

 

Thought those were going into the Z? 

 

They were.   ^_^

 

We will burn that bridge when we get there..

 

It's been about ten years since I did this, but here's what I remember..

 

Thank you sir.   :thumbup:

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