Mounting Navigator Seat

sledhead · January 06, 2015, 04:32:45 PM

sorry .. but even from 1986 - 1990 there is a big difference

dave

Tikvah · January 06, 2015, 05:08:39 PM

Mine is a lot like the pics. I can get in about 6" from the stairs. I can reach a little through the heat duct.

86102A3 · January 06, 2015, 05:42:49 PM

I have been thinking about how I am going to mount my navigator seat as well. I am thinking about making a hole from the front, then taking some steel 3/8" thick flat stock and weld a nut on it, slide it back to where the seat bolt hole will be and sandwich the floor. Effectively it will give you a way to hold the nut and also spread out the load over a larger area. I am on the hunt for seats as well.
Here is a picture of where I am talking about making the hole. Not sure if yours is the same.

Dawgs · January 06, 2015, 06:55:26 PM

Looks like I also will be on the search for a pair of seats. That way I can weld in some mounting plates before the floor goes down.

86102A3 · January 08, 2015, 10:25:33 AM

Yea I wish I had gone ahead and welded plates in before the floor went down, but then I would have had to get the seats first.

Dawgs · January 08, 2015, 01:05:47 PM

I've got time to shop, plus i will be making a trip to north Indiana in March. I'll just have to find my way up to Elkhart will i'm there.

Seangie · January 09, 2015, 02:49:40 AM

Dave,

Our passenger seat and bunks all have bolts that go through holes that were drilled all the way through the floor. To reinforce the seat/bunks we cut a piece of 1/4" steel and drilled out holes to match the top plate. Then when we dropped the bolts through the floor (you can see the bolts come through the wheel well) and slipped the 1/4" plate over the bolts from underneath and nutted them on.

It makes a "sandwich" so to speak and in all cases the sandwich straddles at least one piece of steel frame from the bus.

I hope that makes sense?

-Sean

86102A3 · January 22, 2015, 10:24:38 AM

Yea I am thinking a trip to Elkhart as well. My buddy wants me to go with him transport some cars from Chicago area, hopefully we could make it over to Elkhart then.

John316 · January 22, 2015, 11:47:24 AM

Dave,

Mounting the copilot seat was something that we put a lot of thought into. We wanted a sliding floor, and we wanted something solid to mount the seat to. We ended up welding a huge setup together. It probably weighed at least 100lbs. We bolted it to the original seat rails that we left in. The concern was that the chair becomes the copilot launcher in a wreck.

The captains chair is mounted to the original frame.

As Clifford can attest, we kind of tended to overthink the conversion.

mung · January 22, 2015, 07:30:19 PM

As long as you have a big red button to launch the co-pilot you are golden!

Tikvah · January 23, 2015, 04:14:44 AM

Quote from: mung on January 22, 2015, 07:30:19 PM
As long as you have a big red button to launch the co-pilot you are golden!

Vern, where do I get the big red button? I need one of those!

mung · January 23, 2015, 05:14:30 AM

Modify one of the Staples buttons so that when you launch her it says "that was easy"

Oonrahnjay · January 23, 2015, 08:51:43 AM

Quote from: mung on January 23, 2015, 05:14:30 AM
Modify one of the Staples buttons so that when you launch her it says "that was easy"

I don't want a big red button, I want a copilot who will get the joke when I talk about an ejection seat!

mung · January 23, 2015, 08:59:28 AM

Is there a Just for James Bond Fans dating site yet? I mean there is every other one out there.

Gordie Allen · January 25, 2015, 05:14:46 PM

Mung,
Find a junkyard that has a late model Toyota Sienna. The second row seats are awesome. Comfortable, well built, integral seat belt. I have four in my 4104. They all have recliner style leg rests that fold out, adjustable arm rests, recline, and the look great. My Nav seat is mounted right at the edge of the stairway. Nav just uses the leg rest when moving. Folds into the seat, out of the way when parked. Photos on my blog. http://this-old-bus.blogspot.com/
(Dec. 21st, 2013)