Let see homemade bomber seats

I am been looking for bomber seats but do not want to spend $500.00 a pair. lets see some that you have made...

 

yeah! me to.

 

Check these out...

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=185582&highlight=bomber+seat

 

...and this too....

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=141891&highlight=bomber+seat

 

...and this..

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=107397&highlight=bomber+seat&showall=1

and this...

http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=109454&highlight=bomber+seat

 

Here are the pair in my Track T. They are .050" steel and they are welded.

 

I made this one out of .040" steel (14 Ga. bottom) with a 1/4" Dia. rod edge brazed for stiffness. Maybe ten bucks in the whole thing.

Needs paint.

 

These are mine, 062 3003 aluminum with 3/16 stainless rod rolled around the edges.

Rex

 

Here are the ones I made for my '36 from .040. I've since mounted them on tracks from conversion van captains chairs and trimmed the side down a little by the seat. They'll be padded and have a cushion.

 

I have some pics on my build thread here: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=324744 . I will post up some pics when I get home from work so folks don't have to wade through that thread to find them. The are all riveted (hand bucked), I am making some that I have for sale but considring the time I spend on each set I would be giving them away if I didn't ask at least $450-$500 a pair. I could see some of the welded versions being less as they are most likely not as time consuming.

My personal preference are the riveted seats. I love it when folks ask where the welds are.

 

Here they are. I know you don't want to spend the cash.... I just wanted to post up some pics and testimony why they are $500 or more.

 

Here is one of mine. Used .080" 5052. Welded them together but will finish them with a couple hundred rivets. What are you guys using for piping around the edge? i was thinking about using some aluminum tubing and slice it up the middle and thin smash it flat and rivet it around the edge of the seat.

 

Kinda Bomberish,,seems they were stock in old Chevy and GMC school buses 50's early 60's

 

Hows it feel to sit in those for a while? They do look really cool.

 

Bench?

 

thats cool! i would like more details on that please.

 

.080 aluminum over a 1/2 inch aluminum tubing frame. All TIG welded.

 

These are great guys!

 

I snuck this off of NAS Norfolk back when I was a metalsmith in a helicopter squadron in the early 90's.
Thinking of putting this in the Dodge, but I'll have to fabricate another for the passenger side. Shouldn't be tough, just time consuming.
For now it sure makes a great conversation piece though.


Send me a PM if you want more detailed photos.
~Jef

 

They may seam like torture chambers but throw a boat cushion or something in the bottom and they are surprisingly comfortable. The piece down in the crotch of the seat helps with back support, I don't think I would like them without it. I am limited on space in my truck so I will only be running a arse pad to allow me to sit back further. I think tipping them back with the seat risers also helps comfort.

Some of the seats on here are a little too straight up and down for my taste. Different stroke for different folks though.

 

here are the seats in my truck,they are made from all flat stock and the back is adjustable in and out. I used scrap aluminum and had less than 30 bucks into both.
Crafty

 

I just use flat stock and bend it over something. You have to anneal it to get it to bend without cracking. Some folks talk about bending with the grain of the aluminum but I don't know how to tell where the grain is. I still end up with some very slight cracking sometimes. I imagine there is something out there available that will do the same thing from a specialty supplier... I am too much of a tightwad for that though. You may be able to mill a slot in some round stock, cutting with a grinder would be a pain and probably would end up looking less than stellar... if you went the tubing route I would get the slit in there somehow and just weld it on.

 

couple more pic's of seats

 

How do you do the rivets on those, I want to do some aluminum stuff on my coupe and those rivets on the seats look really cool, and I have no idea how you go about doing it.

 

They don't show on the photos of the seats I posted in my '36, but I used Olympic bulb rivets to attatch the back to the seat base. I'd bought the rivet shaver for almost 300 bucks doing some panel replacement on our Spartan Manor trailer, and felt I'd better get my money's worth of use for the thing! The rivets are "pop" type rivets that the stem breaks off about 1/4" proud of the head, then you snip it of as close as possible with side cutters (or whatever), and the shaver trims off the rest and polishes the head. Looks like a bucked rivet, used in Airstream trailer repair when you can't get to the backside of the panel to buck the rivets. Also works if you want to justify having the tool... I'm also going to attatch the aluminum door, kick and quarter panels to the interior with 'em.

For the base, I made hammer form, cut the aluminum to size, clamped between the forms, and viola, "bomber" seats. Actually copied the shape from a pair of "Speedster" seats from Rotlieb that we have on a car.

Brian

 

they are hardened pound in rivets that you dont have to peen the back on,you drill the correct size hole and the rivet has thread like flutes on it and will twist inself into the hole. This style rivet is used alot for holding info tags on machines..hope this helped
Crafty

 

All of mine are hand bucked, different that what the previous folks have explained. Google, rivet setting or rivet bucking, here is one that I found: http://www.vansairforce.net/articles/NotesOnRiveting/NotesOnRiveting.htm
They don't show you the air gun very well but I think it does a better job explaining that I would.

 

thanks, Ive seen the rivets they sell at the restoration supply shop and Ive used normal rivets but I want to try some different styles, like on the seats.

 

Here is a couple pics of mine during mockup. They are made of 16 gauge perforated sheet and 1/2" round on the edges. With a cushion in the bottom they are pretty comfortable.

 

QMOTOX.......I like those, nice and cool in the summer!