We finished adding the plastic spiral hose wrap to the remaining hydraulic hoses we wanted to cover; the high pressure supply line to the six-way valve, and the return line to the hydraulic system remote fluid cooler. Also, the lines going from the orbitrol to the steering cylinder.
The next step was installing the front seats. But, first we needed to finish up the front rubber floor by using a rubberized sealant and caulking the rubber flooring material intersections where different pieces butt up against one another. We also needed to seal the locations where the hydraulic hoses penetrate the floor. Pics:
The original seats had some tears in the vinyl and they needed to be reupholstered. The shop I successfully used for years has become more expensive and less reliable; not a winning combination. They did the reupholstery on TUG’s seats, and while they looked great, the quality of their work was excellent and the price was okay, the stock Tucker seats weren’t as nice to begin with as the DMC seats in TUG. Costs have increased since TUG’s seats were done in 2021, and spending even the same money on the original Tucker seats seemed like a poor use of funds. Yes, new seats would be more expensive, but they’d be nicer and more comfortable, too. Much back-and forth with WBJ1, and he ordered a set of new seats and had them shipped to us. I ordered new seat sliders and when they arrived it was time to fabricate some mounting brackets and install the seats.
Scott and I talked about different ideas for mounting bracket designs. We also discussed how much we wanted to raise the seats off the floor, and how much front-to-back seat bottom cushion angle we wanted. WBJ1 had ordered the same seat brand and model we put in Thundercat; Corbeau GTS II. It’s not so much that these seats are the cat’s meow, but rather it’s very hard to find seats that fit in a Tucker with a “factory” six way blade and the valve's placement inside the cab. The plan had been to use the original seats, and knowing those fit okay, we pretty much installed the valve in the same place as Tucker did. That decision was now limiting what seats we could use.
With Thundercat, we had scrapped Tucker’s floor system entirely and started from scratch with our own design. Knowing the factory seats were headed for the dumpster, we cut off the factory seat mounting tabs welded to the frame. When it came time to mount the seats, we had freedom to mount them however we desired. But P-Z had the factory floor pieces, and we had left the factory mounting tabs in place. That meant our bracket design had to incorporate the factory installed mounting tabs and hole alignment. We had all the seat components on hand that had been originally installed on P-Z, so after taking some measurements we “knew” what parameters our brackets had to meet. Yes, the quotation marks around “knew" are leading up to something….
After determining our game plan, we cut pieces of angle and flat bar needed for the driver’s seat bracket configuration. Holes were drilled and then Scott tack welded the pieces together. That was fortuitous because when the brackets were put in position... the holes didn’t line up with the factory’s mounting holes at all. WTF? Yup, good old Tucker! It seems commonsensical one would want their seats parallel with the snowcat, yes? Not in Tucker’s world, it’s anything goes.
So then the problem became how can we mount the seats in the proper orientation and utilize the steel pieces we had already cut? The factory mounting tabs at the front had to be aggressively slotted; the left side tab hole moved forward by about 1/8” and the right side tab hole moved aft by about 1/8”. The bracket covers the holes, so an observer won’t see the manufacturing sloppiness. The seat hides most of the bracket in the rear so an observer can’t really see that the holes are not nicely centered in the pieces of flat bar, either.
So with new seats and new seat sliders in hand, one would think “Eazy-peazy, just bolt the sliders to the seats. I mean, how hard can it be, right”? Well… we’ve all heard of Murphy’s Law, but Murphy was an Irishman, and St Patrick’s Day is just around the corner…
The seat sliders have a rail that bolts to the seats, and another rail that bolts to the brackets that mount to the floor. There’s a spring-loaded locking bar that one actuates to move the seats fore and aft. One rail was too short for the seat mounting bolt locations, so we’ll use the other rail, even if we have to slot the hole a bit. That was my plan, and we did that. But upon getting the seats mounted in P-Z, we found my plan was flawed. The actuating bar was attached to the mounting brackets not the seats, so the bar protruded significantly with the seats slid back. It was a Homer Simpson “Doh moment”. I hate those….
So both seats were removed and everything was unbolted. But we still had the problem that the correct rail was too short to mount to the Corbeau seats using their mounting bolt hole locations. The issue then was what’s the best way to extend those rails. We searched through the available materials at Scott’s shop and the best option was to use short lengths of unistrut with the top portion removed. The modified unistrut looks like a U in cross section, with square corners at the bottom of the U. Scott used his TIG welder and welded the unistrut extensions autogenously. (That means fusion welding without using filler material.) I took the modified seat sliders home, media blasted them, and touched up the paint with some rattle can satin black. Then everything was reassembled and bolted into place. Murphy had fun with us….
Here are the seats installed and covered with plastic to protect them. (I need to get some pics with the plastic off for the full effect. I’ll get them for the next update.) We’re pleased with how it's coming together…. I didn't mention it above, but we re-dyed the steering wheel (bought used) and installed that along with the horn button.
The next step was installing the front seats. But, first we needed to finish up the front rubber floor by using a rubberized sealant and caulking the rubber flooring material intersections where different pieces butt up against one another. We also needed to seal the locations where the hydraulic hoses penetrate the floor. Pics:
The original seats had some tears in the vinyl and they needed to be reupholstered. The shop I successfully used for years has become more expensive and less reliable; not a winning combination. They did the reupholstery on TUG’s seats, and while they looked great, the quality of their work was excellent and the price was okay, the stock Tucker seats weren’t as nice to begin with as the DMC seats in TUG. Costs have increased since TUG’s seats were done in 2021, and spending even the same money on the original Tucker seats seemed like a poor use of funds. Yes, new seats would be more expensive, but they’d be nicer and more comfortable, too. Much back-and forth with WBJ1, and he ordered a set of new seats and had them shipped to us. I ordered new seat sliders and when they arrived it was time to fabricate some mounting brackets and install the seats.
Scott and I talked about different ideas for mounting bracket designs. We also discussed how much we wanted to raise the seats off the floor, and how much front-to-back seat bottom cushion angle we wanted. WBJ1 had ordered the same seat brand and model we put in Thundercat; Corbeau GTS II. It’s not so much that these seats are the cat’s meow, but rather it’s very hard to find seats that fit in a Tucker with a “factory” six way blade and the valve's placement inside the cab. The plan had been to use the original seats, and knowing those fit okay, we pretty much installed the valve in the same place as Tucker did. That decision was now limiting what seats we could use.
With Thundercat, we had scrapped Tucker’s floor system entirely and started from scratch with our own design. Knowing the factory seats were headed for the dumpster, we cut off the factory seat mounting tabs welded to the frame. When it came time to mount the seats, we had freedom to mount them however we desired. But P-Z had the factory floor pieces, and we had left the factory mounting tabs in place. That meant our bracket design had to incorporate the factory installed mounting tabs and hole alignment. We had all the seat components on hand that had been originally installed on P-Z, so after taking some measurements we “knew” what parameters our brackets had to meet. Yes, the quotation marks around “knew" are leading up to something….
After determining our game plan, we cut pieces of angle and flat bar needed for the driver’s seat bracket configuration. Holes were drilled and then Scott tack welded the pieces together. That was fortuitous because when the brackets were put in position... the holes didn’t line up with the factory’s mounting holes at all. WTF? Yup, good old Tucker! It seems commonsensical one would want their seats parallel with the snowcat, yes? Not in Tucker’s world, it’s anything goes.
So then the problem became how can we mount the seats in the proper orientation and utilize the steel pieces we had already cut? The factory mounting tabs at the front had to be aggressively slotted; the left side tab hole moved forward by about 1/8” and the right side tab hole moved aft by about 1/8”. The bracket covers the holes, so an observer won’t see the manufacturing sloppiness. The seat hides most of the bracket in the rear so an observer can’t really see that the holes are not nicely centered in the pieces of flat bar, either.
So with new seats and new seat sliders in hand, one would think “Eazy-peazy, just bolt the sliders to the seats. I mean, how hard can it be, right”? Well… we’ve all heard of Murphy’s Law, but Murphy was an Irishman, and St Patrick’s Day is just around the corner…
The seat sliders have a rail that bolts to the seats, and another rail that bolts to the brackets that mount to the floor. There’s a spring-loaded locking bar that one actuates to move the seats fore and aft. One rail was too short for the seat mounting bolt locations, so we’ll use the other rail, even if we have to slot the hole a bit. That was my plan, and we did that. But upon getting the seats mounted in P-Z, we found my plan was flawed. The actuating bar was attached to the mounting brackets not the seats, so the bar protruded significantly with the seats slid back. It was a Homer Simpson “Doh moment”. I hate those….
So both seats were removed and everything was unbolted. But we still had the problem that the correct rail was too short to mount to the Corbeau seats using their mounting bolt hole locations. The issue then was what’s the best way to extend those rails. We searched through the available materials at Scott’s shop and the best option was to use short lengths of unistrut with the top portion removed. The modified unistrut looks like a U in cross section, with square corners at the bottom of the U. Scott used his TIG welder and welded the unistrut extensions autogenously. (That means fusion welding without using filler material.) I took the modified seat sliders home, media blasted them, and touched up the paint with some rattle can satin black. Then everything was reassembled and bolted into place. Murphy had fun with us….
Here are the seats installed and covered with plastic to protect them. (I need to get some pics with the plastic off for the full effect. I’ll get them for the next update.) We’re pleased with how it's coming together…. I didn't mention it above, but we re-dyed the steering wheel (bought used) and installed that along with the horn button.
