Back seat delete

[Ptoneill]

My project is still moving however at a much slower rate, my plans have out paced my disposable income........!
Here is the metal shelf that my buddy Brad and I came up with, the credit for the metal work goes to Brad. We used 14 gage steel for the shelf which makes it totally self supporting. I plan on installing " Spiderpoints" custom leather interior, I will cover the metal with padding and leather. The hatch lid will get a lock mechanism.







Sorry, the pictures are too large and are cutting off, the full pictures are on the photobucket link below....anyone know how to change he photobucket pictures to fit the capacity of th forum......

[johndemar]

Right click, view image, all is good.

[dirtybob72]

I have seen other post from members building a shelf in place of their back seats and like the idea, but it looks like your putting speakers in yours. How will you deal with the inevitable rain that will pool in the speaker with no way to drain.

[Ptoneill]

Good question,

I live in Western Washington and we do get our fair share of wet weather, that being said......I will still have the convertible soft top and I have a hard top. This started out as a "few" minor improvements about 3k ago, I am firguring that I will have close to 15 k more into it so it will not be out in the hideous storms on a regular basis. I have a buddy in the car audio business and the speakers are marine rated........probably doesn't really mean anything other than they can add 50 dollars to the price.

[124JOE]

My project is still moving however at a much slower rate, my plans have out paced my disposable income........!


Sorry, the pictures are too large and are cutting off, the full pictures are on the photobucket link below....anyone know how to change he photobucket pictures to fit the capacity of th forum......

free of charge
go to photobucket hover over the pic a lower box appers
the first line says "share EDIT delete move
click edit
then look for resize
it may take a bit to load
theres a scale that says WIDTH/HEIGHT
click the line under width colse to the h
at the bottom of pic
click replace origanal
all future displays will be smaller
it works good for me
just dont make them big they will get blurry

[spiderrey]

Thats a pretty cool set up. But it seems when the top goes down it will hit the end of the enclosure,

[Ptoneill]

I sure hope not! I did not even think to measure it, my top has been off for about 7 months. The edge is lined up to the bead where the floor pan is welded to the vertical wall. You can reference the height from the seatbelt brackets. could someone and me a picture of their car with the top down so I can compare?.......this is what I like about the forum, people look at things with a fresh set of eyes.

[124JOE]

your boned

[Ptoneill]

Reference the clearance issue, I went back thru the forum and found where spider Jim had a post showing his setup. Looking at his pictures the rear bow rests above the seat belt retractors so I should be good!?? If anyone has done this and has any recommendations PLEASE feel free to bring them up, I have plenty of time to modify this setup. Thanks allot!! If anyone wants a paper template when I am finished let me know, I will copy it onto heavy craft paper, just send a stamped self addressed envelope.

[Ptoneill]

your boned

Like that's never happened on a project I have started......it's half the fun!! I can always cut the edge resting on the center tunnel and trim the back edge....much easier to make smaller than larger....especially at my age!!

[Ptoneill]

I pulled forward an older link of a shelf made by Foster48x, his shelf has the same back height as mine, his looks shorter because he went on top of the cross member. Here is a picture of his, you can clearly see the seat belt retractors, if I remember correctly the shoulder belt does no come into major contact with the soft top so I should be good!

[DocGraphics]

Height wise you can see the clearance between the back edge of mine & where my top folds down is plenty, I made the speaker box like foster too & it fits on top there with no issues w/ top down so you should be fine there.

The problem I see is at the sides, the SIDES of his shelf (as well as mine) only go to the inside edge of the interior side panels when installed & not all the way to the body, the side windows fold down into that area behind the interior panels.

This pic of how I did mine that shows how it stops short on the sides & the tip of the side window does need clearance there



Nice job with what your doing though, as you have said just trim the sides for clearance to put the side panels in & all should be well.

Here's a pic after the carpet install w/ the speaker box, I will velcro the front edge of the top piece of carpet & my storage is totally hidden.

[spiderrey]

Your doing a nice job. I could be wrong, but if not, its an easy fix.

[Texasbull]

Nice job on the sheet metal! I see where others claim a clearance issue with the top frame where they connect to the sides of the car, but definitely an easy fix with a couple of pieces of cardboard shaped like your existing piece to be used for test fitting before cutting the sheet metal. Looking forward to seeing it finished out like the others!

[TX82FIAT]

Another consideration may be the plastic side panels. They tuck into the side of the seat a little and some cutting and securing of the original plasic panels may be needed. I really like the idea. After all if set in place, measured up and reassembled. do you intend to weld the 14 guage steel into place? The back of the car has two pieces of sheet metal. One behind the back seat that you can see in your picture and the second in the trunk for support. Looking at your design a good weld may further reduce body flex. I think this metal replacement idea may have some merit. The tack welds every so many inches may be required to avoid some vibration given the location of the exhaust. Please keep us posted on this post. I'd love to see how it all comes together.