The following day, transit frame two went into the jig and was welded up. Trying to conserve my Oxy/Acetylene, I was using an arc welder. It was a fine balance between having enough amps to get the arc going and too much power and burning through the box section.
 

The two side frames of the seat base were clamped to the transit frames, drilled and bolts fitted. The nuts were then welded to these pieces.
 

On Thursday 9th, work continued on the seat base, finishing the jig and making the diagonal cuts on the cross pieces. The tube had a 2mm sheet steel end brazed in, to act as an additional bearing surface rather than the actual seat. The ends of the cross pieces were then trimmed to length to fit this tube.
 

On Monday 13th, I set off with a large sheet of steel to visit a friend with a sheet metal roller. I've not used a roller before, and while I'm sure I would have got to grips with it, it was easier to leave it to him.

In return, I did some stencilling on some dummy bombs which took considerably longer than the metal rolling, but we both came away happy with the results of the day.

The only thing that didn't get done was swaging the stiffeners in the seat back, as the swaging tool didn't have a deep enough throat. So that's the next job, making a male/female swaging tool to tap the stiffeners into the sheet metal.

On the 14th, I decided to tackle the swaging. Metalworking has never been my favourite pastime, far too noisy, dirty and heavy! I much prefer wood, plastics and resin, but metal it had to be in this case, so I prepared myself for noise and mess. After having a think about a full length tool that would go right across the back of the seat, I decided against it due to the amount of force I would need to form along the whole piece in one go. Instead, I opted for a small tool around 4 inches long, that I could work my way across the metal with.

A quick look in the scrap box found some 10mm square steel and some round bar to make the male tool. These were screwed down to a board to hold them in place for welding. Once the ends were tacked, I turned the tool over and welded all the way along the back of both joints, and then filled in the gap with additional weld. The female tool was simply a piece of aluminium channel, screwed to an offcut of railway sleeper. A piece of 1.2mm steel sheet scrap was placed over the channel, the tool held over the top, and with the swing of a large hammer, bang, the first part of the swaging formed. I went back and forth until I got the result seen in the picture below. I was very pleased with the result. The only problem was the sheet moving around. Clamping a piece of steel the size of the chair back was beyond the abilities of any of my clamps, but I had an idea.
 

 There weren't any more excuses not to get the big hammer out and make a start! The female tool/sleeper were placed on top of one stool and another piece of sleeper placed on a second stool to support the U shaped steel clear of the floor. To reduce the noise and ringing, I covered the area of steel not being worked on with an old towel, and then placed the folded up Dodge canvas on top of that. This worked pretty well to deaden the sound.

The first swaging area on the sheet was then lined up and screwed down to the female tool, and battering began. To my surprise, it worked rather well, even around the curve at the edge of the seat back. I didn't want to go too far in this area in case it began to straighten the curve made yesterday. Once the seat bucket is all welded up and cut to shape, the swaging around the curved corners can be finished off.
 

I was on a roll, and after the first two were completed, the other three came soon after. They still need a little tidying here and there with a small hammer, and I may yet fill in the screw holes, but those things aren't urgent right now. Once the swaging was complete, I welded the seat base to the centre post and diagonal braces made last week.
 

After the seat base was welded, I didn't have long before school pick up time and childminding duties started. The sheet was oversize, and to allow for the backwards rake, the sheet needed slotting to clear the transit frames, allowing it to drop lower than the seat base at the rear of the seat bucket. Two holes were also drilled for the bolts on the transit frames that hold the cross piece in place. 
 

Wooden wedges were hammered into the rear of the frame to hold the seat back firmly against the seat base. This will be the first part to be welded. Once the rear bottom seam is welded, I can start to work around the corner and along the sides to the front, but that's for another day, I had run out of time!
 

 
July 15th

After a quick trial fit of the child seat, I started welding the seat bucket sides. Because I didn't have any really wide clamps, I made do with a few small ones. I also placed the seat on its side with a number of old lead acid batteries on top, to weight it down and close up the gap.
 

When both sides were welded to the seat base, the front lip was welded in place. I also welded two uprights to the cross piece and to the seat. At the top between these pieces, I've wedged a tube which will be welded once I finalise its position. I need to cut some holes in the seat back for the seat belts, and they will wrap over this tube before heading down to be anchored to the frame.
 

I marked out the side cut out next, and roughly cut it with a 4.5 inch angle grinder. It was cut slightly oversize to allow a little trimming room to smooth out the curve. Measurements were taken from the first side and were then transferred to side two which was then cut. The excess sheet extending down the sides below the seat base were also trimmed, once again leaving them a little over sized for now. The curving top to the seat back is yet to be cut, but I'm very pleased with the way this is turning out.
 

A couple more views from the side and rear.
 

After that, I did a quick trial fit of the child seat again, and then it was time to pack up and do the school run again! The next step will probably be the seatbelt slots and Isofix seat fittings.
 

 
July 16th

Time for the Isofix fittings next. Some 6mm bar was heated and formed into two 'U' shapes that the isofix fittings would attach to. The car seat was placed on a flat board to work out the height of the fittings, and an MDF jig was made to test the height of the loops.
 

The MDF template was then used as a drilling jig to position the hoops at the correct height in the base of the seat bucket. A flat steel plate was welded on the reverse side of the seat to spread the load of the fittings into the metal seat bucket.
 

Yet another test fit showed the yellow seat fittings were lining up perfectly with my Isofix attachments. With that done, it was time to move on to the seat belts. The shoulder straps go either side of the child seat head rest, placing them right in line with the back of the seat. This meant that the seat back had to be cut to allow the belts to pass through. After marking out, I drilled a chain of holes until the centre part came out. The hole was then cleaned up with a file.
 

To stop the seat belt from fraying, I edged the hole with copper brake pipe, slotted with a hacksaw so it fitted over the sharp edge of the hole. The corners were bevelled so they fitted together and the side pieces formed to match the swaging. It was a fiddly job, but worked well. The second picture shows the two lined holes from the rear.
 

Here's the two lined holes from the front, still needing soft soldering together. The holes had to be wide enough to allow the adjusting buckle to pass through.
 

 
July 21st

After a morning of childminding, the little monster went out for a play date, so I was able to continue with the seat. The rough cut sides and back rest were measured and trimmed more accurately, using a template to match the curve on each side.

Since I didn't have any rolling equipment to edge the metal, I had an alternative method for putting a safe edge on the seat bucket - slitted copper pipe. Now I thought it was going to be a hard job to slit the copper fuel pipe. I started with it in a vice and using a hacksaw, but I wasn't getting anywhere fast.
 

Then I had a brain wave of using my bandsaw. Not exactly the safest method, but you've got to live on the wild side every so often! So with the blade swapped to a 13tpi fine tooth one, I began slitting the tube on the outside of the coil.

It just needed a little opening out with a steel rule to fit over the edge of the seat.

After the edge of the seat was cleaned up, the tube was pushed over, starting at the bottom. Because it was so springy, I was going to have to work around a bit at a time, soldering the tube before moving on to the next area.

I just used soft solder to attach it, as it wasn't under any great load and I didn't want excess heat from brazing to distort the seat sides. 
Slowly I worked my way around. I got a little kinking over the top corners, but some extra slits across the tube helped around there.
 

The edge is now nice and rounded and perfectly safe for little fingers. I'll probably give the soldered edge a thin skim of filler to tidy it up before painting.

Other than some filler and paint, I think the observers seat is complete. I still need to work out where the four point harness will attach, and make the mounting in the floor of the Dodge which will support the seat while driving and also the pedestal when it is mounted in the observers position.
 

 
July 22nd

To simulate the wrapped edging on the seat, I turned to a technique I've used in modelling to simulate overlapping metal panels. Two layers of electricians tape were stuck down where I wanted the panel edge to be, and then the area between the tube and tape was filled with P38 body filler.
 

The filler was sanded flush with the tape and then the tape was pulled away, leaving a nice edge. I may yet simulate some rivets around this edge.
 

The whole seat was also sanded down as it had a light coating of rust where the flux had been. The rest of the metal surfaces were also sanded to clean them off to bare metal ready for paint.

It was a long day of filling, sanding and filling again. The inside surface doesn't need to be perfect, as it will be hidden with a yellow U.S. Air Corps seat cushion and back rest eventually, which will be fitted for display when the child seat comes out.

After further sanding and filling on the seat, it was time for some rivets around the edge. Fake rivets were added with blobs of waterproof PVA glue, applied with a syringe. The surface was force dried with a heat gun so that the rivet would hold its shape against gravity as the seat was turned to work on different areas.

Hammerite Smooth Dark Green was a good match for Boeing cockpit Dull Dark Green. I had 1/3 of a tin left over from a previous project and used that first, but needed a second tin to be able to paint the seat and the framework that will be built into the floor of the Dodge.

The side frames were given a coat of paint first and left out in the sun to bake. I then started on the inside of the seat bucket. The old paint was a bit thick, so was thinned for brushing, though the first coat was a bit streaky.

I finished off the painting on the seat and transit frames today. Next job will be to bring the truck home and work out the framework for the Dodge floor that the seat will fasten to.

Seat harness fitting today. The four point harness fittings were clamped in place to work out the strap length and best fixing positions with the childseat in place. Child wasn't available this afternoon while I was doing this, but there's plenty of adjustment in each of the four straps.
 

To maintain pressure on the isofix fittings, I have two layers of wood with an 1/8 inch strip of rubber clamped between. Pushed in behind the seat, it keeps positive pressure on the fixings and stops the seat from swinging side to side. It could do with some matching paint.

The seat harness is all done! I just need the truck home for the floor mountings. When the side transit frames are removed, so the seat can mount in the observers position, the belts go with them. The last picture shows the boss giving her approval!
 

 
July 27th

Despite heavy rain, the Dodge was brought home from storage today, so I could start planning the seat mounting structure. After getting the rain cover over the Dodge, I lifted the seat into the back to work out the mounting location. As with the last seat, it is positioned behind the driver which gives the least restriction on my visibility when driving.

With the passenger installed in the seat, there was plenty of leg room and still ample clearance to lift the seat headrest as she grows. Once I'd made a few measurements and notes on its position, I brought a few big chunks of wood from the workshop to pack up the seat to the correct height under the observers dome. Considering I hadn't had the truck at home though the whole of the planning and construction, it was fitting reasonably well.However, I didn't have much flexibility in the size of the metal seat, as this was dictated by the child seat it had to contain.
 

The morning was spent out shopping for the additional steel work required. To speed up the order, I got the metal in several long lengths to cut myself, rather than waiting overnight to have all the parts cut for me. The four empty bolt holes in the first picture show where the old child seat fittings were attached. The bolts had been in for five years, and with the nuts and threads exposed to the weather in the wheel arch, were quite tight to remove. Four steel box sections were bolted through the sides of the truck. The hidden faces were painted before hand, which held things up while they dried.

1/8 inch ply packing pieces were fitted behind each box section to make removal easier should it be needed. The bolts can be removed, the ply packers knocked out, which will then give 1/4 inch of free play between the frame and the sides of the body. The two cross members are cut to length and painted on their undersides, but were not yet welded in for this picture. The following day was child care all day, so no further progress until the 30th. The cross pieces would later have an additional bolt in the centre through the floor.
 

The cross pieces are welded and the seat supports are part built. They are made from box section with a flat plate welded to the side, forming an 'L' section. They also need the underside painted before fitting.
 

First, the seat fixing bolts needed drilling. The seat was clamped to the supports in the correct position for ample leg room. The supports lift the seat clear of the hinged door for the under floor spare wheel and tool storage.

With both sides clamped to the support rails, the chair and its rails were lifted out of the truck onto the lawn for drilling the fixing holes. The bolts aren't fully threaded so the load bearing areas aren't weakened by the threads. However, the nuts were bottoming out before clamping up the seat, so a 3mm washer was welded to the flat plate to give the required thickness ( not seen from this side ).
 

The seat was now bolted to its rails, but they were free to slide side to side so I could work out the best position to give clearance for the removal of the bolts that hold the frame into the truck.

The supports are now painted and welded down, and the flat plate uprights have had their ends rounded off. The centre bolt in the front and rear cross members can be seen in this shot. 

The only smaller size I could find was 2.5 inches, a full 1/2 inch smaller. Making one slice down the welded tube allowed it to spring open 1/4 inch. I figured if I could stretch it and weld a piece of the failed tube in, it should work ( I hoped! ). Wooden supports inside the tube, forced the diameter larger until it was a pretty good fit in the 3 inch tube which would be fixed to the floor.
 

I cut a piece of the old tube to fill the gap and tack welded it down one seam. The other was overlapping the tube, and needed grinding and slitting with a saw to gradually reduce the diameter. It was while I was doing this that my finger slipped along a razor sharp edge, and I excavated a nice groove of skin from my knuckle and started pouring the red stuff everywhere. I packed up for the day soon after that!

With little legs off to the lakes with the grandparents, I had another day free of childminding to work on the seat. This is the start of the support for the observers seat position, being offered up to the main frame to check alignment. Most of this part was built in the workshop, and it wasn't until it was at this stage that it was moved to the truck and welded in.
 

At first, I couldn't get the seat on! There wasn't enough height clearance to lift the seat over the post due to the backrest catching the roof. I trimmed an inch of the post and half an inch off the socket on the seat base, and that gave just enough room.

To compensate for the loss of height in the seat post, I'll have to make sure Lynne makes the Army Air Corps seat cushion a little more padded.

The last metal work to go in. These diagonal braces help to steady the seat post, but also reinforce the bottom frame against the seat trying to lever forwards in an impact.

To finish the day, all the metal work was giving two coats of the dull dark green. This will now have to fully harden before the seat can be re-assembled for pictures of it all complete.

So bar putting it all back together and Lynne sewing the seat cushion, it's all done ready for Croft Nostalgia. That gives me a couple of days to check over the Dodge and Jeep before the trip South.