Got a couple of hrs in after work today, making the other side fence/seat support .
This only took about an hr as I knew what to do and less guesswork, this side has a hook around shape to the seat, similar to 4 door Escort etc so I need to attend to that once it's in place with cleco locks


This is the first side which is pinned down with cleco locks. The seat has those metal wire rods which clip into plastic slots, lucky I bought a bunch last year (actually suited for Astra but all same) , I've slotted the metal frame to fit one which locks the seat in place so I can work on the other side .

Since the seat doesn't touch the floorpan it's kind of floating right now, I need to either support it with a brace of wire rod or strap. My other plan is to cut the floor out and make new pieces which tuck up to support the seat base. A plus for this is it'll give a bigger notch for a decent muffler. This will be done on both sides so I can choose which side to run the exhaust system , I bought new style exhaust hangers and will make the mounting to work on either side depending on engine I'll use ..

Good progress there Marty. The lower seat squab looks factory.
I bet if you recovered the front and rears on some period vinyl, nobody would even pick up the escorts did not have split fold rear seats.
I was going to respond about using a 'sling' of webbing? to support the bums, but manflu got in the way over the weekend.
Nice to see old threads returning in 2023.

Congrats on the Mex picking up another trophy too.
You must have a full cabinet by now.

Wish I did have a cabinet of trophies, seems that Taff guy is stealing my thunder lol. I might paint this escort the same orange just to get on his wick !
Get well soon matey at least it ain't 42 deg with the flu, that'll hurt !
Yeah I'm attempting to make it as tho I've not been there on the seat install. I leaning to cutting the floor section out and modify new pieces in to support the seat, or I could make a platform to sit on the original floor. I'll see which will be most effective when I get there. We've a holiday this Monday, Adelaide's Melbourne cup so I'll have non stop shed time to catch up some lost time.

Gave the back chair a refurb so it doesn't look yuk in the car while making brackets and thinking about stuff

Here's the brackets which have been cleco in place for now complete with those plastic locking tabs till the backrest is adapted

Fitting up the rear rest to be marked for the pins and hinges

And because nothing fits, I've also gotta notch into the shock turrets to allow some rear rake for a bit of comfort if they ever get used

Pic is sideways but you can see I've needed to take about 1in from the top and angle the cut to as low as possible, I did not compromise the shock bush area or strength by doing this

Still working on it today so more updates as they roll in..

Great work as always Marty, loving watching that back seat come together, never thought I'd see that in an Escort.

Hey Drewdog, thanks mate 👍, if I knew how much effort was involved I would've looked for an easier option.. But hey, this could be the only mk1 in existence with split fold rear seats !!

These are the side pivot pins which I cut about 10mm out of the cup height and Tig weld it back together after some crude measurements I got it just about spot on

This abortion is the middle hinge, it was from a Hyundai Elantra in USA as couldn't find anything here cheaper. I needed to adjust the hinge pivot point so it was in line with the outer pins so the seats fold down the same and not bind up. I think I got it as good as possible, I was tipping the seat down and up doing minor adjustments until the securing mount does not move, anyway this is the end product..


Seat frame located

Seat folded down, both sides are still welded to keep things straight till it's all ready with the centre hinge

Tomorrow I'll see how far I get, most of it should be lined up and ready to weld brackets and other sundries in place.
Chopping out the floor is a no-go as the floor will be as high as the front fence panel, higher than the tunnel lol so now plan B is to make a copy of the under side of the seat and adapt to the floorpan in some way

Not too much today, had a friend ask me to take him to a car he seen for sale, he did buy it so he's happy with his new mk1 Mex replica. I didn't get back home till 3 and then had lunch so it was a short day for a holiday.
Anyhows, I did manage to get some welding done in the back seat, mainly the middle hinge bracket, it's only tek screwed in place now and it seems to tip forward nice without much problem.

This is the hinge in place which I'll weld a nut under the tunnel for easy install later.

And this is the side pivot, also tek screwed in for now, I might rivnut these in securely or weld a bolt from the wheel tub might be best

Still doing the back chair arrangement, it's mainly welding brackets and nuts to ease installing as like factory install... Hopefully...
Welded the back brackets and all nuts in their locations. The parts have been rattle canned with copper primer weld thru.

The turret had a gap at the top a bit big to weld up, I could do it but decided another tactic

What I did was cut some rod left over from the vans roof rods

And this is the welded in finished

A bit rough but will shine up ok
The last parts to make is strengthen up the fence, make strikers for the backrest and support the squab which I've just about planned out , a simple bolt down cradle . So I'll just crack on and not bore everyone with the seat much more now.
Once it's done I will move on to the rear panel as that's clamped in place, then it's the roof skin and gutters , which will be interesting as the sunroof will be installed... Only cause I have one laying about..

Slight change of pace for next week is I'll be working on a RS2000 to install a new driver's seat, but it's from a 2021 focus RS so that'll be fun as I been told not to drill or attack any part of the car , meaning I've to use the original bolt holes. Not sure how strong the factory holes will be as the guy is racing at Mallala in a couple of weeks, I don't want any harm to happen from fatigue of metal.
Also I've been looking after a mates RS2k till his new garage gets built, I've asked if I can rent the bonnet to tax a mold from which he agreed so I'll have another mold to make soon, yay 😁, lucky I stocked up on materials while the store was doing a March madness sale..