My Twist on a Rear Seat Delete

Discussion in 'Car Builds, Projects, Idea's Experiments' started by smokintires, Apr 30, 2014.

  1. smokintires

    smokintires New Member

    Feb 11, 2014
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    ive been looking into removing my rear seats for a while, theyre unpractical and essentially, atleast for me, a waste of space. $250 for a rear seat delete seemed ridiculous to me, and i wanted to have the option to easily replace the seats if i needed them. ive also wanted to be able to carry around a basic tool kit, some extra coolant, etc; without it rolling around or taking up space in the trunk. so i decided to make a sort of hybrid delete.

    Without the seat pad, the seat backs sit at a downward angle, so i made 4 u brackets out of steel flat bar. they have a flat bar across the top as well, and are bolted to the floor. I then bought some black felt from my local fabric store. the first piece of felt is held down by the bolts for the brackets. For the rest of the area i used headliner glue and spread the felt along the floor. I used smaller strips along the edges to give it a clean look. And i covered up any glue over spray with black spray paint, which blended well with the felt.

    So now i have a surprising amount of space beneath the rear seats to hold stuff. i have a bottle of windshield washer fluid that fits easily in there. on the seat backs, the rubber mat is held in place with a few zip-ties, and 4 eyelets allow me to place a cargo net across to hold cargo in place. yet i can still remove 8 bolts and place the seat pad back in.

    so what do you guys think? im rather happy with it, i can hide cargo and carry stuff without it rolling around, but i can utilize the rear seats if need be
     

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  2. Zapski

    Zapski Well-Known Member

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    Pretty interesting. I may consider going that way when I pull mine out this summer. :)
     
  3. ScottinBend

    ScottinBend Space Cowboy
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    I like....any pics with the seat down?
     
  4. Crashton

    Crashton Club Coordinator

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    One day I'm going to do a RSD. The rear seats in a MINI are useless. Nice job, thanks for sharing your idea.
     
  5. GokartPilot

    GokartPilot Well-Known Member

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    Neat idea, clean finish. Any pics with the seat down?
     
  6. Different Computers

    Different Computers New Member

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    Mac Guy
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    That works, but not for me. I never ever have to haul >2 people, but I often have to haul several duffel bags full of martial arts gear and more. So the seats have to be entirely out for me.

    $250 seems excessive to me too, so I'm going to make my own seat delete kit from some kydex sheet I have lying around. I also want to be able to stow stuff beneath it, so any thoughts on latches or hinges would be appreciated.
     
  7. smokintires

    smokintires New Member

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    the hinged for the rear seats are just a round bar with a pin going through it. theres one on the right and left out edges of the seats. you could just get some metal bar stock from home depot and secure it with some brackets

    as for a latch, im not sure of the weight of the kydex, but you shouldnt need one. unless your going to overstuff the space below the delete it should just rest there without a problem. you could do a little pull tab, like the strips of fabric that make a loop to grab on to help lift up the deck.

    and ill post the pictures of the seats down tomorrow!!
     
  8. GokartPilot

    GokartPilot Well-Known Member

    Jan 9, 2012
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    Pulling the seats and adding a delete is not going to give you much storage under it. You will have to build up the area to get any "contained storage", which means more weight. There is some give and take in this project.

    The GP has a factory built delete kit, very, very little room for "contained storage".

    [​IMG]
     
  9. Different Computers

    Different Computers New Member

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    Mac Guy
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    #9 Different Computers, May 2, 2014
    Last edited: May 2, 2014
    That's an interesting idea I hadn't considered. I'm going to go look at that right now--well, after I pull all the martial arts duffel bags out from practice last night!

    [​IMG]
     
  10. Zapski

    Zapski Well-Known Member

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    SCAdian, eh?
     
  11. Different Computers

    Different Computers New Member

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    Mac Guy
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    I would LOVE to see some pictures of detail on this from any GP owners!
     
  12. GokartPilot

    GokartPilot Well-Known Member

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  13. Different Computers

    Different Computers New Member

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    Mac Guy
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    Thanks for the link. Man, that's one expensive set of gear!
     
  14. smokintires

    smokintires New Member

    Feb 11, 2014
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    very true,my storage space is as big as the seat pad. but if don't raise up the deck that 4 inches you'll pretty much only be able to fit a little tool kit and a flashlight.

    and here are the picture of the seats down with the eyelets installed
     

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  15. smokintires

    smokintires New Member

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    and this one
     

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  16. GokartPilot

    GokartPilot Well-Known Member

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    Haha, you aint kidding. Same reason most people that want a delete make their own. There are a few vendors out there that have kits, Helix has one that seems to be pretty reasonable.

    Mini Cooper Rear Seat Delete Kit - Helix Motorsports
     
  17. Different Computers

    Different Computers New Member

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    Mac Guy
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    yeah, see even that seems expensive to me for what it is. Especially since I have a sheet of heat-formable Kydex in my shop just waiting for me to finalize designs.
     
  18. Different Computers

    Different Computers New Member

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    Mac Guy
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    [deleted mistaken post]
     
  19. GokartPilot

    GokartPilot Well-Known Member

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    keep us up to date, I am curious to see what you come up with.
     
  20. Different Computers

    Different Computers New Member

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    Mac Guy
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    I bet it will help me if I can get pics of what you have.
     

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