Pitchblack Rally Recce Raider Build
- Thread starter irish44j
- Start date
irish44j
Well-known member
I got them off ebay from a vendor. Here's a link: https://www.ebay.com/itm/3-Point-Retractable-High-Strength-Car-SUV-Seatbelt-Safety-Seat-Belt-USA-Shipping/362688037949?ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2057872.m2749.l2649
Yes, they feel and look like OEM-type seatbelt material, the latches and buckles and hardware all seems to be good-quality. And they are tagged with this certification tag, which is European Union automotive safety cert. The "E11" indicates these are specifically certified for England/UK automobiles.
Please ignore my fingers, which have been totally wrecked between car building, deck building, etc lol...
Now, I'll once again note that they are not a direct fit, and require several things adjusted to make them fit correctly - including flipping the lower "L" shaped tab at the bottom of the seatbelt receptacle (it faces the wrong way and hits the center console/junk bin). Easy enough with a vise and hammer, really. And of course as noted they are flipped from the stock setup, so they stick "out" instead of in (meant to be surface-mounted). I expect that if you looked around you could probably fine some that are flipped "inward" that would work better. I didn't think about it until I already had one of them. But it turned out ok with a bit of work, so I got the 2nd one in today and installed. They work like seatbelts and I have no reason to think they're any different from stuff that came stock in old cars before pretensioners and stuff.
irish44j
Well-known member
So as noted I installed the 2nd seatbelt today, so that's done. Also played around with ideas, and figured out that this bazooka tube fits great right behind the seats and clears even with the seat fully back. So that gets it off the wheel well, where I didn't really like it.
irish44j
Well-known member
Working on the next little (big) project. If you followed my Porsche build you know what it is. This isn't an expedition rig so not doing a full drawer/rack setup, but I do like to have some enclosed storage...
Setting it up
Doing some cutting in my usual haphazard disorganized fashion
Putting the base together
Making some brackets to secure it to the bolts that used to hold the rear bench seat
checking clearance with the seat all the way back and leaned back in nap position
so that's where I'm at right now. I have some ideas about where this is going, so we'll see how it turns out.
Setting it up
Doing some cutting in my usual haphazard disorganized fashion
Putting the base together
Making some brackets to secure it to the bolts that used to hold the rear bench seat
checking clearance with the seat all the way back and leaned back in nap position
so that's where I'm at right now. I have some ideas about where this is going, so we'll see how it turns out.
irish44j
Well-known member
Continuing on with this stuff. Top caps on the ends and the hinged hatch for the top. Really nothing too exciting, just a basic gear box. The nice part is the whole thing can be lifted right out after taking out two 12mm bolts, which is very convenient in case I need the cargo space for some reason.
Here's the front side. As you can see it's actually angled back for more seat-leanback clearance. I'm going to mount the amp on the angled face once it's covered
So more or less put together and test-fitted. I'm going to pull it out, sand the edges, and cover the whole thing with some fabric (probably the stuff you get to wrap subwoofer boxes, since it's pretty cheap and fairly tough). You can see in the middle/front there's a little thing sticking out. I had an idea to do something with that, but I've chanced my mind so that will be getting cut off and that whole edge will be straight.
That lip on the back edge of the hatch is intentional - not something aligned wrong. Just enough lip to help lifting the top up.
Here's the front side. As you can see it's actually angled back for more seat-leanback clearance. I'm going to mount the amp on the angled face once it's covered
So more or less put together and test-fitted. I'm going to pull it out, sand the edges, and cover the whole thing with some fabric (probably the stuff you get to wrap subwoofer boxes, since it's pretty cheap and fairly tough). You can see in the middle/front there's a little thing sticking out. I had an idea to do something with that, but I've chanced my mind so that will be getting cut off and that whole edge will be straight.
That lip on the back edge of the hatch is intentional - not something aligned wrong. Just enough lip to help lifting the top up.
irish44j
Well-known member
Ok, so before I catch up on the buiding progress, something fairly curious I found. The other day I had the rotary buffer up and was trying to clean up the paint some. Once done, I noticed an imperfection (hahahahah considering the paint and dents on this vehicle) up on the upper b-pillar, like waves in the paint. Looking more closely at a certain angle of light, I was able to actually make out that it was the "shadow" of a long-gone sticker - well, more accurately die-cut vinyl in an old-school super 80s/90s font. After more squinting I was able to make out that the sticker said "TRANSPORT TEAM" and the name "DON" underneath it.
I mean, you're gonna have to trust me on this, because it is impossible to actually photograph, it's so light
So pretty innocuous thing, but figured I'd google what "transport team" means and really the only thing that really comes up is that a Transport Team is a team of nurses and EMTs who specialize in transporting neo-natal babies between facilities for NICU care. So while I highly doubt any infants were transported in this Raider, my hypothesis is that "Don" was a member of one of these teams and put it on his vehicle either just to show off, or to excuse him if he's "on call" and ********************** to the hospital or something lol.
Anyhow, kind of interesting. i may have to do a VIN search and see if someone named Don owned this vehicle at one point, and where it was. Because mysteries are fun.
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First, cleaned out and organized the shed, since I now have basically all the body panels and doors and glass from a Raider, an e30, and a Porsche 924 in there and it was getting a bit cluttered.
Then (actually, I did this yesterday) I finished up the exhaust with a reducer and a piece cut off of the old Blue Raider exhaust and a couple cheap hangers. Seems to work fine and no banging against the frame, gas tank heat shields, or other things that are close. Not the sexiest exhaust ever, but why fancy up an exhaust for an offroad vehicle?
Also took apart the dome light and cleaned the contacts since the switches were working intermittently. I didn't even realize there are also map lights up in this thing. Nifty.
Then today my order of a roll of stereo subwoofer box fabric came in. I've used this stuff before and it's great for building things in a car, since it's pretty tough, it's stretchy and conforms well to curves, and it's really cheap (I think it was $25 for a 10-foot x 4-foot roll). So I got to work finishing off the storage box using 3M fabric adhesive and stapes (btw, my electric staple-gun is one of my favorite tools now.....makes this kind of thing sooo easy).
So, after an hour or two got it all done and installed (ok, have a few tweaks to make). Also put in some eyebolts so I can tie down crap I put on top (cooler, etc).
I had some Burton binding bags sitting around from my ski shop job, which are a perfect fit in pairs for each slot (so, 6 total) so I can break up my "cargo" in to smaller bags that are padded and won't clank around (i.e. recovery gear, jumper cables, whatever). I grabbed these out of the trash last season at the shop thinking they could be useful for something. Need to find two more.
Tucks just under the factory speakers on the sides
And, there is a perfect space to mount my amp and the bazooka tube behind the driver's seat (with the seat fully back there is literally about 2" of clearance, so that's perfect. It's strapped down to the box and to the seat base so it doesn't move around...
I mean, you're gonna have to trust me on this, because it is impossible to actually photograph, it's so light
So pretty innocuous thing, but figured I'd google what "transport team" means and really the only thing that really comes up is that a Transport Team is a team of nurses and EMTs who specialize in transporting neo-natal babies between facilities for NICU care. So while I highly doubt any infants were transported in this Raider, my hypothesis is that "Don" was a member of one of these teams and put it on his vehicle either just to show off, or to excuse him if he's "on call" and ********************** to the hospital or something lol.
Anyhow, kind of interesting. i may have to do a VIN search and see if someone named Don owned this vehicle at one point, and where it was. Because mysteries are fun.
-
First, cleaned out and organized the shed, since I now have basically all the body panels and doors and glass from a Raider, an e30, and a Porsche 924 in there and it was getting a bit cluttered.
Then (actually, I did this yesterday) I finished up the exhaust with a reducer and a piece cut off of the old Blue Raider exhaust and a couple cheap hangers. Seems to work fine and no banging against the frame, gas tank heat shields, or other things that are close. Not the sexiest exhaust ever, but why fancy up an exhaust for an offroad vehicle?
Also took apart the dome light and cleaned the contacts since the switches were working intermittently. I didn't even realize there are also map lights up in this thing. Nifty.
Then today my order of a roll of stereo subwoofer box fabric came in. I've used this stuff before and it's great for building things in a car, since it's pretty tough, it's stretchy and conforms well to curves, and it's really cheap (I think it was $25 for a 10-foot x 4-foot roll). So I got to work finishing off the storage box using 3M fabric adhesive and stapes (btw, my electric staple-gun is one of my favorite tools now.....makes this kind of thing sooo easy).
So, after an hour or two got it all done and installed (ok, have a few tweaks to make). Also put in some eyebolts so I can tie down crap I put on top (cooler, etc).
I had some Burton binding bags sitting around from my ski shop job, which are a perfect fit in pairs for each slot (so, 6 total) so I can break up my "cargo" in to smaller bags that are padded and won't clank around (i.e. recovery gear, jumper cables, whatever). I grabbed these out of the trash last season at the shop thinking they could be useful for something. Need to find two more.
Tucks just under the factory speakers on the sides
And, there is a perfect space to mount my amp and the bazooka tube behind the driver's seat (with the seat fully back there is literally about 2" of clearance, so that's perfect. It's strapped down to the box and to the seat base so it doesn't move around...
irish44j
Well-known member
Well, I guess the cargo bay wasn't that exciting, so how about THIS:
A little package from Korea
Yeah, the covers for the wiper bases.
I tried to get these used, but apparently everyone thinks they're worth like $10 each all brittle and old. They're about $2 each brand new in Korea (another crossover fit to the Hyundai Galloper parts catalog). So I picked up three of them for about $15 shipped. Because this is a part that I'm definitely not going to find in the junkyards (neither of my parts Raiders had ones that weren't cracked or missing). So yeah, super-exicting, eh?
Got a few things later this week that might be more interesting, at least to me
A little package from Korea
Yeah, the covers for the wiper bases.
I tried to get these used, but apparently everyone thinks they're worth like $10 each all brittle and old. They're about $2 each brand new in Korea (another crossover fit to the Hyundai Galloper parts catalog). So I picked up three of them for about $15 shipped. Because this is a part that I'm definitely not going to find in the junkyards (neither of my parts Raiders had ones that weren't cracked or missing). So yeah, super-exicting, eh?
Got a few things later this week that might be more interesting, at least to me
njtacoma
Explorer
Either on here or grassroots, you mentioned wanting jump seats for the back. Why jump seats? Do you still have the rear seat that came in one of the raiders? That would seem like an easier solution, and you could still have seatbelts for your rear passengers.
Just curious on your reasoning for going the route you are choosing.
Just curious on your reasoning for going the route you are choosing.
irish44j
Well-known member
The original rear seats are long gone (went in the blue Raider to the scrapper). In any case, they wouldn't work, because any rear seats have to be accessed through the back door, since both front seats are now on the bouncy bases (which don't tilt forward), so using the original rear bench the passengers would basically have to climb over it from behind. Plus, that rear bench is heavy and takes up a lot of space. The OEM seatbelts were no better than wearing a ratchet strap....none of them locked any more or had any retractor tension, hence why I replaced the fronts.
I won't have a regular need for rear seats, and especially not on any real public roads. It's really for the rare occasions when we're at a rally and sometimes extra people want to jump in to go someplace not too far (usually not on public roads). I'd probably bolt in some lap belts, but they would definitely not be used at anything other than fairly low speeds out in the rural boondocks where most rally events happen. That said, passengers can just as easily sit on the wheel wells or the floor for something like that - rally people aren't much concerned with comfort!
Really, just like the idea of jumpseats, because they're old-school cool. Definitely not a priority whatsoever, and I may never do it. If I come across some of the really basic tube-frame seats like in old Defenders, that would be the way to go. Definitely not big comfy ones like in later Monteros or Land Cruisers....
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irish44j
Well-known member
To add to the above - I did consider simply reversing the rear bench and making it face backwards, which fixes the access issue. But still, they're heavy and take up a lot of space and it wasn't going to be worth it to keep them in the truck for the very occasional (or never) I'd actually use them. And I had the storage box plan from the start, so it wasn't going to work with the rear bench still there.
MarkGramlich
Member
I have a small pickup jump seat in the basement. It's been so long ago that I don't remember the truck it came from. I'd be happy to find it a new home.
I also have a pair Gen 1 4dr jump seats. I had these shipped from England. It's possible that they would fit on the wheel well of a 2dr. At least that's where they are in a 4dr.
I also have a pair Gen 1 4dr jump seats. I had these shipped from England. It's possible that they would fit on the wheel well of a 2dr. At least that's where they are in a 4dr.
irish44j
Well-known member
Yeah, I checked those out last time at the junkyard - but they seem like they'd require a lot of creativity to mount where they'd need to be in the Raider - they look like they mount into an L-shaped panel intersection on the Ranger rather than to a flat area. It's an option since they're pretty easy to find, though.
irish44j
Well-known member
If you have pics/measurements (and asking price) of both, I could be interested - feel free to shoot me a PM. My recollection is that the Gen1 4-door jumpseat is a pretty long "bench," isn't it? I wonder if it's short enough to fit where I'd need to put it.
MarkGramlich
Member
North American 4dr models only got the 2nd row bench seat. Some overseas 4dr models got a 3rd row jump seat. Similar to the Gen 2, 4dr, 3rd row jump seats. These 4dr models also got sliding rear windows. I sold the windows years ago. I still have the jump seats.