removing seat mountings

[andyasskwoo]

Hey TeamMightyBoy members.
I have become the owner of a very interesting shell and engine that will hopefully be back together and on the road sometime this year!
It came without seats, but that is no big drama as I have a set of E36 coupe seats that would actually fit in there nicely, if not for the MB factory mounts. Although if I were only 5'5" then they would be great!!

Now for the question. If I cut out the factory mounts at the rear (that have already cracked by the way and need welding up), remove the front rail and weld a 3mm steel plate along the sides, complete with lateral bracing across the body and seat mounting points how hard would it be to get engineered? Seeing as it is going to be stronger than the original mounting points anyway.
Pic showing the front rail and rear points here https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10158172338668939&set=a.10158172329273939&type=3&theater

I can always get some Brides, but I already have coupe seats with the fold lever to allow parcel shelf access so......

[Psi_Wagon]

i just fitted some bride lowmax in mine using the standard mounts and they are perfect.  But im also not happy with how flimsy the standard floor mounts are and am going to brace/ redesign them myself.  cant help you with the engineering side of things but cant imagine anyone being unhappy with clearly improving safety!

[andyasskwoo]

Found this on Mats Build. http://www.teammightyboy.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=28&t=8482

From what I can gather it is a common fault.
Going to go off https://www.tmr.qld.gov.au/Safety/Vehicle-standards-and-modifications/Vehicle-modifications/Light-vehicle-modifications#qcop and manufacture a low level bracket from 20x40x3mm RHS and 3mm plate with M10 bolts tapped and welded into it with crush tubes so I have a heavy duty mount point. Then I can remove the front and rear brackets completely.

[Brayden]

I've bottom-mounted Sparco seats in my MB and found that the front rail height was perfect once I removed the rear mounting points and lowered them about 40mm. This gave an ideal amount of rake to support my thighs while dropping my arse down enough to provide good headroom. But if you're going to use adjustable side mounts then yeah, I'd cut all of the factory mounting points out.

[86BOY]

I basically wanted to tie both mounts in together. I knew if I tried to even strengthen each side, they would more than likely crack and pull away from the floor again at some point. I kept the same bolt spacing as factory specs so any standard MB seat/seat rail can bolt right in.

[andyasskwoo]

Well the mountings have been removed as there were small cracks and dodgy holes in all of them.
Currently fabricating some mounts for a set of Subaru seats. The footprint is too wide, but if you change the mounting positions and install flat fixings instead of the angled ones it seems to work ok.