MORRIS-TYPE JB VAN (AUSTIN-101 Version): 2014

Passenger seat

Passenger seat-Dec 2014
While the weather has been not too warm for painting in the past few weeks I decided to have a go at making a passenger seat for my van.
As my tube bending capabilities are limited to a hand bender I based my design on making a copy of the drivers seat as this has just a single tube bend construction. The original design of passenger seat needed more complex bending.
The drivers metal seat box that supports the seat frame and back I made in two parts....a metal support frame, to take the seat loads and a wooden box that copies the outer form of the original box, just for appearance and to hide the support frame. The metal support frame sits inside the outer box and will be bolted to the van floor. The seat rails bolt to the support frame. No back and forward adjustment of the seat...just a fixed position.
The seat pan and back I formed from steel angle and sheet using a riveted and bolted construction plus a 6mm plywood base to seat pan The rails use 20 mm steel tubes I managed to bend using a hand bender after filling them with sand and duct taping the ends to seal them. Tube bends collapsed very little, probably less than 5%. The seat pan and back rest both bolt to the rails.
The edges of the back and seat pan are covered with a 6mm round rubber edge trim to protect the upholstery.

I will have the seat upholstered to copy the drivers seat, sometime in the new year.

Here are some photos of the near finished items....going to change the hinges on the box door to a piano hinge...no bolts shown in photo to fasten the seat frame to the support frame, just the mounting holes..

Support Frame

Uses -20 mm box section and 20 mm angle riveted to position and finally welded.

Seat rails sit either side of frame , supported by top angle.

Outer box.

Uses 13 mm plywood and has side access door to allow storage and access to

bolts for fastening frame to floor and seat rails to frame.

Frame inside box

Seat frame and back sat on base

Seat back bolted to seat rails

Curved seat back uses 1.5mm sheet steel.

Seat rails mounting holes...to be bolted both sides.

Fuel Filler

Fuel Filler Position... 24 Oct 2014

After having extensive work done to get the body to sit on the chassis in the correct position I noticed that the petrol tank filler cap and the access hole in the body no longer aligned. In fact the cap sat about 50mm forward of the access hole and low, making undoing the cap very difficult. After some 'considered 'thought I felt the better solution was to introduce a flexible filler tube between the tank and cap...so I set to work to find some suitable rubber tube, fashion some brackets and modify the fuel tank pipe.
See photos below of my efforts......the cap now sits in the centre of the access hole. I did leave the bayonet connection of rigid tube to fuel tank in tact as the other option was to have a bent rigid tube part made to correct the mismatch. However will see how the flexible tube performs for now.

Foot steps & Painted Floor

5 Oct 2014.
Finished floor
Managed to get a number of coats of black exterior gloss paint to both sides of the floor and get it back in place...hopefully will not need to remove it all again for a while.
Will add some rubber flooring at a later stage.

Foot steps
Painted foot step recesses...stone chipped metal foot plates and made and painted wooden footplates. Fastened all in place. Intend to add rubber surfaces to wooden step plates at a later stage.
Here are a few photos

Inner door panels

22 Sept 2014
Have now cleaned up the rusty inner door panels and got them to fit in place. So far have sanded/treated and coated inside of panels with grey stone-chip paint and a couple of coats of grey primer to the side that will show.
See photos below.

Floor

8 Sept 2014 & 13 Sept
Have managed to do the first fit of the plywood floor. Used 12mm external plywood which I intend to paint, both sides, once I am happy with the detailed fit of all the pieces.
Made the floor in sections, screwed to the frame, so most are easily removable should I need access to the mechanics below. Have included a hinged battery box trap door and made a metal plate to cover an access hole for the fuel gauge sender unit.
As the rear internal mud wings needed extension plates to reach the frame and are not a pretty site have decided to hide them with a plywood cover that also incorporates a storage compartment. Will do this both sides.
Here are some pics to show progress to date.
Completed the nearside cover come storage box for the mud wing. Have now included locks to the storage lids and made sure they both are strong enough to sit on.
See photos at the end.

June 2014- Floor Frame

Just had a go at making a floor frame!.I say 'just' but it has taken me several hours!
Used planed softwood in sizes 44 x 69 and 44 x 44 mm. Have managed to make the frame so it can be removed in one piece. Fortunately due to previous work to get the body raised to its correct position the flanges, on the rear mud guards, that normally sit on top of the frame have been removed. This allows the frame to be easily removed. I intend to fit new flanges once the frame goes in permanently.
Probably put in more runners and cross spars than would have been fitted originally but all seems to fitting at the moment.
For the main frame I used half lap joints, glued and screwed plus cross spars secured by brackets and screws plus glue. Finished the whole frame with a couple of coats of exterior satin varnish.
The intention is to fit a plywood floor, in sections held with screws for easy removal.
Here are some photos of my woodworking efforts to date!

Above- main frame..half lap joints all places.

Above- Blocks fitted to ends of each main runner to support inside rear cross beam on van. ( frame upside down in photo)

Above- First fit to van. Frame needed tipping at about 45 degrees to go through rear door opening.

Above- Second fit with additional cross spars fitted.

Above- Looking to add some additional support across petrol tank using a 20mm square tube as there is not enough height for a strong wooden support. ( bracket at an angle has not been fixed yet)