Seat install in the 28, dodgy, ok or just not safe?

[motard_mike]

I have just picked up some new seats for the 28 that are old school and nice and low. They are very close to bolt in on the stock rails but when i bolt up the rails they are about 10mm too wide for the chassis mounts. So thats only 5mm each side too wide.

I can make it work by just slotting the holes in the rail where it bolts to the seat and then a little on the rail to car mount but its just not "nice"

The only other way i can see is to make a sandwich plate between the seat and rails, easy enough and probably needs to be 8mm thick to work its just another thing i need to make and muck around with.

So is slotting to make it pull together too dodgy for seats?

And bonus question how do i mount the seatbelts to the floor as the new seats dont have belt mounts.

thanks in advance.

Michael

[allencr]

What's safe? A modern Volvo or 70's Toyota? 8mm plate is much thicker than any other part of the seat mount & chassis, so it's not the strength but the load it's putting on the original stuff.
'the new seats dont have belt mounts.'
I don't believe that any seats have ever had belts mounted to them!
I'd be very surprised if a 70's car didn't have a standardized threaded mount on the chassis & driveshaft tunnel & door pillar, if not the floor

["Z" UTE]

Allen is sorta correct, the body will have sufficient threaded holes/captive nuts in the trans tunnel or floor to accommodate seat belt bolts. However, the Aus delivered RA23 and Ra28 Celica's did have the seat belt buckle mounted to the seat.

Try thinking about some 2.0 to 2.5mm steel plate, bolt rails to plate, then bolt to the seat, and install. 10mm is not much to play with but unless you reinforce the "slotted holes" there will not be enough meat to keep you and the seat captive in an emergency.

cheers Chuck.

[motard_mike]

yeah i think ill do it once and do it right. ill swing into my local engineering place with a case of corona and $100 and see how i go....... now i have had a few beers and a real good look at it, ill get a single plate the size of the seat base made bolted to the seat with countersunk bolts then get holes drilled and tapped into the plate in the stock seat rail locations. then bolt up the rails and job done. If i use 8mm plate thats 4/5th's of F..K all as far as head rooom goes and the new seats are lower than stock any way so all sweet. if i use thinner plate i cant tap it and getting a nut to the seat side is a PITA....

does anyone know of any standard seat belt clips on a stalk that work with the standard celica belts? ill either find a new mount or use the rear seat mount.

[allencr]

The weight of a seat and person together is way more then any common seat mounts could handle if they're not thicker then the floor & chassis metal, spread the load out and have a doubler between or on the other side of the chassis.

["Z" UTE]

Allen, no way to get doublers on the current RA28 seat mounts. The front mounts are captive nuts in the floor. The rears are simply bolts through brackets attached to the floor and sides of the cabin. The metal on the seat base is less than 1.2mm thick with captive nuts welded to the obverse side, so not a huge amount of strength in there.

mike, the 8mm plate will be overkill, we only use 6mm plate for making engine mount brackets! Your simplest way to accommodate the 10mm difference is to remove the stock rails and have tags welded to the front and rear, then drill new holes. Half hour job for each seat, and you will be safe as houses.

cheers Chuck.