Christopher Sanchez
Well-Known Member
Oh I see what you mean now.. I will check mine to see if I used spacers in the front to clear the bar
Ark's City Goblin #187 (2008 SS/TC donor)
- Thread starter Ark :D
- Start date
Christopher Sanchez
Well-Known Member
I used 4 washers to clear the bar
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Ark :D
Goblin Guru
Well since I was able to get to the hardware store today and pick up some nuts, bolts, and washers, I figured I would actually mount the driver's seat and hopefully get clarity on whether this was going to work without any modifications, or not.
First, I was correct: 3/4" spacers between the rear of the seat brackets and the mounting points on the floor pan worked out perfectly.
Second, I was also correct about the front 1/4" or so of my sliders resting perfectly on the frame crossbar. Once it was all tightened down, there's zero play whatsoever in the seat, and no bending or anything going on with the seat bracket.
The only problem is, the seat does not go far enough back with the sliders that came with them. I'm not a tall guy, but I fear I'm going to be too close to the steering wheel, and there's a good half foot to spare behind the seat when it is at the furtherest-back position.
I found another set of sliders that should give me a couple more inches to play with. Failing that, I will try to see if I can make some adapter plates to move the seats back a couple of inches, independent of the sliders. Anybody willing to make and sell me something like this out of steel?
First, I was correct: 3/4" spacers between the rear of the seat brackets and the mounting points on the floor pan worked out perfectly.
Second, I was also correct about the front 1/4" or so of my sliders resting perfectly on the frame crossbar. Once it was all tightened down, there's zero play whatsoever in the seat, and no bending or anything going on with the seat bracket.
The only problem is, the seat does not go far enough back with the sliders that came with them. I'm not a tall guy, but I fear I'm going to be too close to the steering wheel, and there's a good half foot to spare behind the seat when it is at the furtherest-back position.
I found another set of sliders that should give me a couple more inches to play with. Failing that, I will try to see if I can make some adapter plates to move the seats back a couple of inches, independent of the sliders. Anybody willing to make and sell me something like this out of steel?
Ark :D
Goblin Guru
Got both seats installed this weekend on the new sliders. I gained a couple inches I think. Either way, I won't worry too much about fitment until I get the power steering unit in.
Looks pretty good in my opinion, though the passenger seat has a little bit of a flaw in the material up next to the left-shoulder restraint hole. I guess that should be expected from SUPER CHEAP SEATS lol.
Looks pretty good in my opinion, though the passenger seat has a little bit of a flaw in the material up next to the left-shoulder restraint hole. I guess that should be expected from SUPER CHEAP SEATS lol.
Desert Sasqwatch
Goblin Guru
Ark, they look great and seem to fit really well inside the frame. Look like they should be very comfortable so you can take those long drives once the rest of your build comes together. 
Ark :D
Goblin Guru
Thanks DS, yeah, having the seats in it makes me want to put the pedal to the metal so to speak and get that first start. I got my DF-produced hose puller today along with my redrilled wheel hubs, so I'm going to try to get the hoses pulled through the frame this weekend. Also have to take the fuel tank to get powder coated still, so I'll do that over my lunch hour one day this week. The last wiring video should be up soon as well.
Exciting!!
Exciting!!
Ark :D
Goblin Guru
Yesterday and today, it was a sunny and beautiful 65 degrees just south of Lancaster, PA. Very unusual for January, for sure, so I decided to capitalize on the relatively warm conditions in my garage and pull my heater hoses through the frame.
As documented in another thread (sorry for the hijack), I had a hell of a time.
First of all, I made things easy on myself (or so I thought), by buying one of DF's hose puller tools. If you weren't aware, it's a $35 device of DF's design, that screws down to a 2x4 which is attached to the rear of the frame, where the subframe mounts. You do one side, then move your assembly to the other side, and repeat. Well, not for me. I failed all three tries I made yesterday, and damaged the DF tool in the process. I was not careful and let the nylon strap wind funny as I ran my drill on the first attempt, and it ended up somehow doubling back on itself and fraying a bit along one edge, I believe because of the sharp edge of the washer on that side of the tool. It worsened on the second and third attempts. I called it a day after failed attempt #3.
I got back at it today. I prepped the end of the hose for the 4th time, lubed the frame tube up good, soaked the hose good, and went for it. Here's the result:
I just about threw in the towel at that point. I had already chipped away at the length of heater hose so much, I didn't think I would have enough, and to make matters worse, I managed to damage my $35 puller tool. I started to clean up, but then I thought, no ... it's 65 degrees outside, it's a beautiful day, I'm not going to be beaten by this **** hose. I knew there were plenty of people on here that pulled these hoses through without the DF tool, so I started to look around to see what I could use to mimic its functionality. I don't have a winch, and there's nothing laying around to make a makeshift one out of.
What I ended up doing was, I took a long length of nylon rope, doubled it back on itself, and mimic'd the DF tool at one end:
I took a piece of scrap lumber I had in the corner of the garage and knotted the other end of the rope around it, then wound up most of the slack around the lumber. I put the rope through the frame, prepped the end of the hose, lubed up the tube and the hose, and started pulling. It was easy at first, but got very difficult, very fast. I ended up laying on my back with my arms wrapped around the lumber, and using my legs to push against the frame. Paydirt:
I lucked out ... this is all the hose I had left!
Shout out to DF for sending more than enough extra hose for idiots like me that screw up a lot .... errr... have lots of "learning experiences".
As documented in another thread (sorry for the hijack), I had a hell of a time.
First of all, I made things easy on myself (or so I thought), by buying one of DF's hose puller tools. If you weren't aware, it's a $35 device of DF's design, that screws down to a 2x4 which is attached to the rear of the frame, where the subframe mounts. You do one side, then move your assembly to the other side, and repeat. Well, not for me. I failed all three tries I made yesterday, and damaged the DF tool in the process. I was not careful and let the nylon strap wind funny as I ran my drill on the first attempt, and it ended up somehow doubling back on itself and fraying a bit along one edge, I believe because of the sharp edge of the washer on that side of the tool. It worsened on the second and third attempts. I called it a day after failed attempt #3.
I got back at it today. I prepped the end of the hose for the 4th time, lubed the frame tube up good, soaked the hose good, and went for it. Here's the result:
I just about threw in the towel at that point. I had already chipped away at the length of heater hose so much, I didn't think I would have enough, and to make matters worse, I managed to damage my $35 puller tool. I started to clean up, but then I thought, no ... it's 65 degrees outside, it's a beautiful day, I'm not going to be beaten by this **** hose. I knew there were plenty of people on here that pulled these hoses through without the DF tool, so I started to look around to see what I could use to mimic its functionality. I don't have a winch, and there's nothing laying around to make a makeshift one out of.
What I ended up doing was, I took a long length of nylon rope, doubled it back on itself, and mimic'd the DF tool at one end:
I took a piece of scrap lumber I had in the corner of the garage and knotted the other end of the rope around it, then wound up most of the slack around the lumber. I put the rope through the frame, prepped the end of the hose, lubed up the tube and the hose, and started pulling. It was easy at first, but got very difficult, very fast. I ended up laying on my back with my arms wrapped around the lumber, and using my legs to push against the frame. Paydirt:
I lucked out ... this is all the hose I had left!
Shout out to DF for sending more than enough extra hose for idiots like me that screw up a lot .... errr... have lots of "learning experiences".
Desert Sasqwatch
Goblin Guru
Wow, that was definitely determination on your part! Great work. Dreading when I have to do this myself, since it sounds like it is hit or miss on whether the hoses will pull through or just be royal pain.
Torchandregdoc
Goblin Guru
i wonder if anyone has tried pulling a vacuum on the hose to collapse it, then push it through and re-inflate? I think this is everyone's dreaded part of the build. Sounds like the "use a bigger hammer" philosophy prevailed once again.
Ross
Goblin Guru
The best method I know of is to preheat the hose & frame before squeezing it thru the frame. Warm hose = flexible hose.
Ark :D
Goblin Guru
@DS ... thanks. I'm confident that I could pull another pair of hoses in 30 minutes if I had to do it again. Once you do it one time, it's easy. It took me maybe 15 minutes to get the second hose pulled through after struggling with the first one.
@Torch ... I don't know if I would try that. I'd be worried about compromising the hose somehow. But yes, bigger hammers always seem to be better.
@Ross ... that may have just been the difference here. One thing I did not mention was, I left the full length of hose laying out in my driveway, in direct sunlight, for about a half hour before I started pulling. Could have made all the difference.
@Torch ... I don't know if I would try that. I'd be worried about compromising the hose somehow. But yes, bigger hammers always seem to be better.
@Ross ... that may have just been the difference here. One thing I did not mention was, I left the full length of hose laying out in my driveway, in direct sunlight, for about a half hour before I started pulling. Could have made all the difference.
Karter2026
Goblin Guru
That is exactly how I did the hose pull.. I used dish soap instead because I had a ton of more paint work to do and did not want the silicone all over every thing.
Ark :D
Goblin Guru
Just updating to say ... no updates recently. I did get my steering knuckles and fuel tank back from the powder coater recently. For some reason, they took more than two weeks to do them, when my frame only took them 20 hours (!!!). So now, I wait. There's some assembly I can do now (steering rack, brake booster, power steering, etc.) but I am, for the most part, waiting for warmer weather and for the last bits of the new video series, so I can finish up my harness.
JBINTX
Goblin Guru
atta boy!!!!
Motoracer110
Well-Known Member
heck ya nicely done on the hose, makes me feel better about paying goblin to do mine your build is looking great I had ran into big problems mounting my seats and ended up making a bracket out of galvanized sign posts and worked out great
your build is looking great I had ran into big problems mounting my seats and ended up making a bracket out of galvanized sign posts and worked out great
Ark :D
Goblin Guru
An Exercise in Frustration and.... Seats?!
So, I finalized my seat plan tonight, and I got the driver seat installed completely. I'm making this post to (try to) help anyone else who decides to, in the future, go against the grain and use seats/sliders/brackets other than the ones provided by DF themselves.
My two grand takeaways:
1) One thing that turned me off the Corbeaus through DF was the lack of any kind of seat adjustments. I didn't like the price tag either, but that wasn't the deciding factor. Knowing what I know now, if I could go back and re-decide, hey, maybe I would still go for cheaper seats, but I would not put near as much weight into the adjustability or lack thereof. I went for a standard-length, standard-entry, city frame and for this frame, the cockpit is literally the precise size it needs to be to fit a mounted seat plus me in it. Sizing everything up after finally getting the seat mounted, I would not have missed any of the adjustability. AT ALL. I may (and I stress, may) be an inch or so too far away from the pedals when all is said and done, but I would just go with fixed seats and the DF brackets if I were deciding again.
2) If I could go back and re-order my frame, it would be the extended length frame. It's not that the standard frame is too short; it's not. Like I said above, it's quite literally the precise size it needs to be, to fit in my seats and my body. Having the extended frame would give me a little more room behind the seats, so the adjustability would actually be worth something. I should add, I am 5'10" ... probably a little below average in height.
That being said, here's the final product.
To start off with, here's a couple of images from before I did any extra work. These are just the seats with the slightly-longer sliders, and the eBay seat bracket installed. When mounted in the frame, this configuration left about 5-6 inches of open space behind the seat, and likely would have put me too far forward to properly work the pedals and/or steer, let alone get in the **** thing.
So, I "borrowed" Motoracer110's idea for a bracket modification. I purchased two 4-foot lengths of galvanized steel sign post from Amazon (1" tubes, THESE) and cut them each into two 2-foot pieces.
Then I drilled a pair of new holes in the eBay brackets and mounted the steel pieces to the bracket.
This assembly mounted up nicely to the seat sliders. I had to include a pair of 1/4" spacers on each side because there was a bolt head in the way.
Finally, I turned the assembled seat over and mounted it in the frame. The idea here is that the steel pieces extend slightly beyond the front edge of the bracket, and rest perfectly on the crossbar of the frame. Additionally, the steel pieces extend well past the back of the bracket, and rest perfectly on the back crossbar. The fit is quite tight (though I did have to slightly bend the eBay bracket to get the steel pieces to rest on the back crossbar), so I don't think I am going to bother running bolts through the crossbars and steel pieces.
Notice there's now next to zero space between the back of the seat and the firewall.
And last but not least, here's an image comparing how the new driver's seat mounting system compares to what I had, with only the sliders and brackets.
My only regret right now is that I did not paint or powder coat the steel pieces before installing them. I used a bit of red ThreadLocker so I believe if I do anything more at all, I will just mask the frame and seats well and throw some paint on the steel pieces while they are installed.
Sorry for the super-long post. Hopefully it's helpful for some people.
So, I finalized my seat plan tonight, and I got the driver seat installed completely. I'm making this post to (try to) help anyone else who decides to, in the future, go against the grain and use seats/sliders/brackets other than the ones provided by DF themselves.
My two grand takeaways:
1) One thing that turned me off the Corbeaus through DF was the lack of any kind of seat adjustments. I didn't like the price tag either, but that wasn't the deciding factor. Knowing what I know now, if I could go back and re-decide, hey, maybe I would still go for cheaper seats, but I would not put near as much weight into the adjustability or lack thereof. I went for a standard-length, standard-entry, city frame and for this frame, the cockpit is literally the precise size it needs to be to fit a mounted seat plus me in it. Sizing everything up after finally getting the seat mounted, I would not have missed any of the adjustability. AT ALL. I may (and I stress, may) be an inch or so too far away from the pedals when all is said and done, but I would just go with fixed seats and the DF brackets if I were deciding again.
2) If I could go back and re-order my frame, it would be the extended length frame. It's not that the standard frame is too short; it's not. Like I said above, it's quite literally the precise size it needs to be, to fit in my seats and my body. Having the extended frame would give me a little more room behind the seats, so the adjustability would actually be worth something. I should add, I am 5'10" ... probably a little below average in height.
That being said, here's the final product.
To start off with, here's a couple of images from before I did any extra work. These are just the seats with the slightly-longer sliders, and the eBay seat bracket installed. When mounted in the frame, this configuration left about 5-6 inches of open space behind the seat, and likely would have put me too far forward to properly work the pedals and/or steer, let alone get in the **** thing.
So, I "borrowed" Motoracer110's idea for a bracket modification. I purchased two 4-foot lengths of galvanized steel sign post from Amazon (1" tubes, THESE) and cut them each into two 2-foot pieces.
Then I drilled a pair of new holes in the eBay brackets and mounted the steel pieces to the bracket.
This assembly mounted up nicely to the seat sliders. I had to include a pair of 1/4" spacers on each side because there was a bolt head in the way.
Finally, I turned the assembled seat over and mounted it in the frame. The idea here is that the steel pieces extend slightly beyond the front edge of the bracket, and rest perfectly on the crossbar of the frame. Additionally, the steel pieces extend well past the back of the bracket, and rest perfectly on the back crossbar. The fit is quite tight (though I did have to slightly bend the eBay bracket to get the steel pieces to rest on the back crossbar), so I don't think I am going to bother running bolts through the crossbars and steel pieces.
Notice there's now next to zero space between the back of the seat and the firewall.
And last but not least, here's an image comparing how the new driver's seat mounting system compares to what I had, with only the sliders and brackets.
My only regret right now is that I did not paint or powder coat the steel pieces before installing them. I used a bit of red ThreadLocker so I believe if I do anything more at all, I will just mask the frame and seats well and throw some paint on the steel pieces while they are installed.
Sorry for the super-long post. Hopefully it's helpful for some people.
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KSLunsfo
Well-Known Member
Makes me glad I've basically settled on the easy option (corbeaus) ha. But I am a tiny bit nervous about having no adjustment, but I'll just have to deal with that as it comes. If I get uncomfortable I'll just pull over somewhere for a bit and talk to the small crowd that will quite likely emerge and remember why I'm riding around in said seat/car!