Seats are an important part of any vehicle, whether they are worn in just right, covered in your favorite sheep's wool covers, leather bound with internal heaters, or hug-you-tight race seats, they all must make the driver feel safe and sound. Years back I got to ride in a friend's rock buggy, and his Corbeau Baja suspension seats impressed me. They were nothing special, but nothing less than perfectly comfortable for me. The black vinyl covering was durable for an open-topped rig, the seats were wide enough to spend all day in, and the side bolsters and suspension design held me in place happily over rough terrain. I have tried a few different seats from Corbeau, and none fit me as good or hold up as well as the Baja SS seats when it comes to a trail rig.
The old seats in the coffee-colored...
The old seats in the coffee-colored Flatty had seen better days. They were covered in faded sheep's wool and cat hair, and they pushed me too far forward into the steering wheel and upwards into the roof line.
When I dragged home this little '49 CJ-3A project, one of the first orders of business was new seats. It came with seats out of a boat that were covered with nasty seat covers full of cat hair. They were mounted so far forward that I could barely get in. I immediately scanned Corbeau's website and found that the company offered its same Baja suspension seats in a low-back version, perfect for an old CJ.
In a short time I had two new black low-backs on my doorstep, but then I realized that to make these seats the safest place to ride in the Jeep, I needed to not just mount them, but literally build them into the Jeep. This meant tying their internal steel frame into a custom-built cage. Most old flatfenders have a big 2-inch tube rollbar and flat-like-a-church-pew seats, but I wanted something different, a less-is-more type of cage in my rig, as in less cage equals more space in the already tight-fitting little Jeep. I ordered up a few sticks of DOM tubing, and in a few days I went from cat hair claustrophobia to a comfortable cockpit.
The old rollbar the little...
The old rollbar the little Jeep came with was fine, but I wanted the new seats tied into the cage for additional safety. I figured if the seats and cage were one solid unit then I wasn't banking on a slightly rusty 50-year-old tub to protect me should the world go belly up. I came home from Industrial Metal Supply with three sticks of 11/2x0.120-inch and one stick of 1x0.120-inch chromoly DOM tube and headed to Chappelle's Exhaust and Kustom, where we laid out a design that was no taller than the windshield. It was as simple as the old CJ itself. Our first design was built with exhaust tubing to make sure we didn't waste the high-dollar chromo.
The Corbeau Baja low-backs...
The Corbeau Baja low-backs covered in black vinyl are perfect for an open-top Jeep. They hug you like your grandmother, are resilient to the weather like a duck, and have a strong steel internal frame. Optional headrests can be ordered as well.
The rules of welding chromoly...
The rules of welding chromoly are as varied as the experts you ask. The most strength is gained by TIG welding with chromoly rod and getting the final project heat treated. Dave Chappelle chose to simply MIG-weld it with standard mild wire for our simple project. Chromoly also has more spring than mild steel tubing and this must be accounted for when bending.
Chappelle also incorporated...
Chappelle also incorporated some underseat tubes that the seats and Corbeau lap belts mount directly to via welded tabs. This means the driver and passenger will stay with the cage in a worst-case scenario.
With the cage powdercoated...
With the cage powdercoated for longevity, we remounted it in the Jeep and installed the seats with removable safety pins. This allows the passenger seat to still flip forward for access to the underseat toolbox. Plus the Corbeaus can easily be removed for sitting in around the campfire or in-depth Jeep cleaning.
Cage To Frame Marriage
Our...
Cage To Frame Marriage
Our cage is attached to the Jeep body by sandwiching the tub between top and bottom steel mounting plates. With the Corbeaus mounted to the cage, the driver is that much safer, but why not take the next step and tie the cage to the frame? Poly Performance offers a universal cage tie-in kit that uses bushings to allow for frame flex and reduce transmission of road noise while adding more safety to the vehicle's occupants.