Berrien Buggy ? continued
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bountyhunterdm
- Posts: 45
- Joined: Mon Mar 14, 2005 9:00 pm
Back seat
Well, I never plan to actually use it as a true back seat, but at least I have a place to throw a gear bag, etc. I wanted to design a look that would compliment my Beard front seats by matching the headrest shape, color patterns, and materials. I used ?" MDF board for each of the 2 sections. Both are secured to the body with 5/16" stainless steel bolts and fender washers. Stainless steel T nuts were mounted onto the board templates before custom upholstery was added. I also used several coats of enamel paint to seal up the boards themselves. Foam is about 2-1/4" overall, and a little thicker on the ends that are covered with tan tweed material. Photos also show shapes of board templates (bottom section was notched out later to accommodate thickness of the top section), dry fit of speakers in the top section, locations of mounting holes, and front seat. Speakers are 5" Poly-Planar (waterproof) from Boater?s World; I have 4" speakers of the same kind mounted up under the front dash. Custom upholstery provided by Mike Kinder of Kinder Custom Upholstery, Jacksonville, NC. Merry Christmas, everyone.
seat belts
h How did you attach the seat belts to your roll bar ? do you have any pictures? Gary.
Seat belt attachments
Hi Gary, The 3 point retractable seat belt set is from California Imported Parts. The stainless steel rollbar was purchased from the Manx store, and it seems to be a perfect fit for my body. Previous postings dealing with rollbar install were extremely helpful, to say the least. Before installation, I had a local marine fabrication shop drill 4 each 7/16" holes in the rollbar (2 at my chin height, 2 just a few inches from the bottom), and then they welded on 4 each 7/16" coarse thread stainless steel nuts. The stainless steel bolts protrude into the center of the rollbar itself after tightening. I also had to have a bracket fabricated and welded to my Berrien chassis to allow for attachment of the center parts of the seatbelts. A slot had to be cut so that the emergency brake tube would fit properly; the upper L brackets are bolted together and to the chassis bracket with a 7/16" Grade 8 bolts.
belts
Hey gary thanks for the pictures they help a lot when you trying to figure out what you want to do on your own buggy. yours is nicely done. let me ask you what do you think of the fiberglass floor ? does it feel strong or will it flex under your weight. if you would not have welded the center bracket in for the belts were would you bolt them to. Gary
Hello Gary, Thanks for the compliment. The fiberglass floor itself is relatively strong, but it is fiberglass none the less. I have stood on the installed floor several times during installation, but I bet if I jumped up and down on it, it would bust through. On the other hand, it?s good to remember that, once the buggy is completed, you are not really putting your entire body weight on the floor by force as you get in and out. My ride is being designed strictly for street use; I would have beefed up the chassis (more cross members, etc) if I was going to use it for more demanding off-road conditions. I have read postings relating to this, it would be a good idea to see what others have to say about it as well. As far as inner seat belt attachments go, I had to have the center attachment fabricated so that my particular seatbelt connectors would not be buried between the seats, causing me to have to dig down to make the connection. I would imagine that, if you had the kind of seat belts that had the inner connectors sewn to seatbelt webbing down to the floor attachment, it may be an option to attach them under the inner/rear seat bolts, depending on the length of webbing. You can see tabs on the chassis where the inner/rear seat bolts are located for reference. The fiberglass floor in no way is anywhere strong enough to be used as an attachment by itself; bolts should pass through the floor to a strong portion of the chassis itself.
Street Use
Gary that is what i would be looking at street use only. i remember when i would enter and exit my brothers in the 70's i would grab the windshield and roll bar pickup my legs and drop in . This is why i wonder how hard the floor was. If it doesn't flex under your weight when you plop down that is what i wondered.
Gary, One more thing as far as my fiberglass floor is concerned; I had it coated with a Rhino Lining type (called Speedliner) before install because it was obvious that the Black gelcoat top surface was going to be easily scratched up over time. These types of products are now being used by the military, tests show that they greatly enhance the effectiveness of armor plating. My point is that I may have also added to the strength of the floor as an extra bonus.
My Sister's Nostalgia on a Berrien frame has been bouncing around the dunes for over 7 years with no additional frame reinforcement aside from the rollcage with no adverse affects. I also know a couple of people that have been running the Berrien chassis in the dunes for more then a few years with no additional bracing or rollcages and have had no problems. I think Berrien did their homework on the chassis design. 
http://www.manxgallery.org/gallery/Berrien-Nostalgia
http://www.manxgallery.org/gallery/Berrien-Nostalgia