Bench Seat Replaced with buckets. Brackets/supports needed?

[Bronze Barracuda]

Hoping someone has some information or pictures?
My 68 Barracuda originally came with a bench seat, one of the previous owners replaced it with buckets. On the drivers side, the rear right bolt seems to have broken (for lack of a better word) the floorboard. I took some pictuers from above and underneath. It looks as though the floorboard actually cracked or split right under the rear bolt. I am wondering if the bucket seats had extra supports on the floorboards? The floorboard in this area has no real visible rust. Seems like even if I weld it, it might just split again.
Thanks.

 

[cudascott]

Yes there were reinforcement plates on the floor pan for bucket seats

 

[Stephen Mulkey]

Hoping someone has some information or pictures?
My 68 Barracuda originally came with a bench seat, one of the previous owners replaced it with buckets. On the drivers side, the rear right bolt seems to have broken (for lack of a better word) the floorboard. I took some pictuers from above and underneath. It looks as though the floorboard actually cracked or split right under the rear bolt. I am wondering if the bucket seats had extra supports on the floorboards? The floorboard in this area has no real visible rust. Seems like even if I weld it, it might just split again.
Thanks. View attachment 1715525861 View attachment 1715525862 View attachment 1715525862 View attachment 1715525861 View attachment 1715525862 View attachment 1715525863 View attachment 1715525864 View attachment 1715525861 View attachment 1715525862 View attachment 1715525863 View attachment 1715525864 View attachment 1715525861 View attachment 1715525862 View attachment 1715525863 View attachment 1715525864 View attachment 1715525861 View attachment 1715525862 View attachment 1715525863 View attachment 1715525864 View attachment 1715525861 View attachment 1715525862 View attachment 1715525863 View attachment 1715525864

Hoping someone has some information or pictures?
My 68 Barracuda originally came with a bench seat, one of the previous owners replaced it with buckets. On the drivers side, the rear right bolt seems to have broken (for lack of a better word) the floorboard. I took some pictuers from above and underneath. It looks as though the floorboard actually cracked or split right under the rear bolt. I am wondering if the bucket seats had extra supports on the floorboards? The floorboard in this area has no real visible rust. Seems like even if I weld it, it might just split again.
Thanks. View attachment 1715525861 View attachment 1715525862 View attachment 1715525862 View attachment 1715525861 View attachment 1715525862 View attachment 1715525863 View attachment 1715525864 View attachment 1715525861 View attachment 1715525862 View attachment 1715525863 View attachment 1715525864 View attachment 1715525861 View attachment 1715525862 View attachment 1715525863 View attachment 1715525864 View attachment 1715525861 View attachment 1715525862 View attachment 1715525863 View attachment 1715525864 View attachment 1715525861 View attachment 1715525862 View attachment 1715525863 View attachment 1715525864

Just like cudascott showed, you need the reinforcement plates and it looks like the seat bolt hole is wobbled out and possibly loose at some point. I would weld up the crack completely and reinforce it along with the seat mount area. That's a pretty mean split.

 

[tonysrt]

You can buy those reinforcement plates from Classic Industries part # MA118520 for a body $20.00. Year one probably sells them to. There called Bucket Seat Reinforcement.

 

[Bronze Barracuda]

Thanks everyone. Yeah Steven, it is a pretty mean split. Maybe one of the previous owners was a heavyweight, or just drove some pretty mean roads.

 

[Stephen Mulkey]

Thanks everyone. Yeah Steven, it is a pretty mean split. Maybe one of the previous owners was a heavyweight, or just drove some pretty mean roads.

It looks like the nut or nuts were loose for awhile and no reinforcement allowed the metal to flex and crack. Possibly. Fix that area and add the plates and you should be good to go.

 

[Bronze Barracuda]

It looks like the nut or nuts were loose for awhile and no reinforcement allowed the metal to flex and crack. Possibly. Fix that area and add the plates and you should be good to go.

Yes definitely. When I got the car I pulled the buckets out and discovered the guy put a piece of tin that he had formed around the floorboard. Kind of a shoddy patch work. I figured there must have been some support for buckets.
Strange though, you'd figure that they would already be in place, that way when coming down the assembly line it would be ready. "Buckets or a bench in this one".

 

[Stephen Mulkey]

Yes definitely. When I got the car I pulled the buckets out and discovered the guy put a piece of tin that he had formed around the floorboard. Kind of a shoddy patch work. I figured there must have been some support for buckets.
Strange though, you'd figure that they would already be in place, that way when coming down the assembly line it would be ready. "Buckets or a bench in this one".

I'm with you, but economics takes over at some point in manufacturing.

 

[str12-340]

Especially with the repair I would put a VERY LARGE Diameter, thick washer on the stud before the nut on the bottom goes on. In an front end accident the seat tries to pull the nut and washer through the floor pan. Finding a good washer to reinforce the opposite side of the system is cheap insurance. Another thing to do is go farther than the factory that used 4 little spot welds to hold those 4 reinforcing plates in place by welding the plate to the floorboard all around their perimeter. This will help take some stress off the repaired crack. From the bottom you can see the reinforcing brace that takes care of both the bench seat studs and those on the outside of the buckets (that didn't crack).

 

[Kendog 170]

Added them to mine. You can make your own as well.

 

[Demonic]

Weld up the cracks first. Prep the area, scrape the undercoat from the bottom, then wire brush clean, - grind down the paint to bare metal. Have a hammer and dolly ready. Immediately after you weld, hammer the crap out of the weld to stress-relieve it. Grind the surface flush to allow placement of the reinforcement plates. If it's all done well, the cracks won't return.

 

[RedFish]

Bench seat was standard. The plates for buckets and console brackets were added per the build sheet. Floor pan is pretty weak out in the open field area. It might flex a little every time someone gets in and out or even when the seat back is folded forward and back. Bound to crack eventually, initial small cracks grow like weeds.
Back when I worked for plant maintenance in a textile mill we had some sheet metal shrouds that would crack from stress and/or vibration. We would drill a small hole to round and end the crack then braze it closed. It worked. There was even a durty joke about the naval and bung hole stopping a crack from growing any further.

 

[tonysrt]

I would think with a stick car they would be needed because of the force of throwing in the clutch. It doesn't look like you had a floor shift, but like you said maybe a heavy weight.