M2 rear seat clearance

Rick Iverson · Post by **Rick Iverson** » Wed Nov 14, 2007 2:42 pm

Fellas; I am considering glassing in an aluminum plate beneath the rear seat of my M2 for additional support as well as potential mounting/support bracket mounting. How much clearance is there for, say a 0.375" plate? I have a Berrien chassis. Iverson

mel hubbard · Post by **mel hubbard** » Wed Nov 14, 2007 5:59 pm

Rick :hello: Few years back I linked up the shock towers on a chassis with a Manx 2 body fitted, the top shock bolt held a steel plate both sides & welded to the steel plates was box section steel which also gave the rear part of the body a lot of support. From memory I think the underside of the rear seat area is around 2'' above the shock towers, so I cant see any clearance problems. I know the Manx used to come with those two small brackets that bolt through the rear top shock which you twist and put 3 smaller nuts & bolts into the body tub,,,, but the Manx 2 being flat allows you to run the support from side to side giving that area a lot of strength.

CairoManx · Post by **CairoManx** » Wed Nov 14, 2007 6:16 pm

The only point where it might get close to the transmission is right at the top of the bell housing, but if you have a type 1 trans, I think it would clear there also. If it was too close you could notch the plate at that point. I'm not real sure what you would gain in strength by glassing a plate to the bottom of the seat. I don't think plain polyester resin used with fiberglass would adhere to the aluminum very long, so it would just be the glass around the edges holding it. It would probably work better to just bond the plate to the fiberglass with an epoxy. Sometimes the plywood rear seat bottom bows under weight where it spans the battery or spare tire wells. The best thing to do in that case is use thicker plywood. But if your Manx 2 has a flat seat bottom, that shouldn't be a problem. I'm not sure what you plan to carry but I think a plywood seat bottom should handle it. If you really want to reinforce the glass bottom, I think the best thing might be glassing on a sheet of Baltek mat. Its the new stuff fiberglass boat and buggy shops use to reinforce panels now. Bruce used it inside the hood of the Classic Manx. http://www.tapplastics.com/shop/product.php?pid=93&

Rick Iverson · Post by **Rick Iverson** » Thu Nov 15, 2007 1:25 pm

Thanks, Fellas. The only reason I was considering an aluminum plate was to have a series of pre-drilled and tapped holes that may or may not be used for a variety of functions. And I agree with CairoManx, an epoxy will be used if I elect to go this route. Iverson

CairoManx · Post by **CairoManx** » Thu Nov 15, 2007 6:06 pm

I think Mel's suggestion is best. The Manx2 came with a 1"x1"x1/4" piece of angle iron bar which ran straight across under the seat from shock tower bolt to shock tower bolt. Two bolts also went up through the bar and attached it to the underside of the fiberglass. You could pretty much hang anything that would fit in there from it. The bar in the picture below is upside down from how it would be in the Manx2. Thge two tabs bolt to the shock towers. You can just see the two holes in the bar where the bolts go up through the fiberglass back seat bottom.