Caravan driver seat replacement

[Space Cowboy]

I have a '93 Chrysler Grand Town & Country (Caravan).
The leather driver seat (electric) has a broken metal bar among all the under-seat mounts, so the whole seat rocks.
I've decided to replace the whole seat with a used one, and I'd like to know if have to replace it with an electric one, or if a manual seat will bolt up ok.
Thanks, Space Cowboy

[Cobra_Sam]

Originally Posted by Space Cowboy

I have a '93 Chrysler Grand Town & Country (Caravan).
The leather driver seat (electric) has a broken metal bar among all the under-seat mounts, so the whole seat rocks.
I've decided to replace the whole seat with a used one, and I'd like to know if have to replace it with an electric one, or if a manual seat will bolt up ok.
Thanks, Space Cowboy

I had the same thing with mine and liked the electric features and decided to keep it. I wound the seat as far foreward as it would go, disconnected the pos. battery cable and arc welded the bar back. I put a big wet old towel under where I was welding so that I didn't get sparks burning holes in the carpet and lay in the van from the pasenger side to do the weld. It is now stronger than it ever was and it saved me a lot of money and frustration. With all the wires and cables under there and not much space to work I would have gone crazy.

[Space Cowboy]

Any ARC welders out there?

Thanks, Cobra Sam. It is good to know that
it can be fixed, and that it can be fixed in place.
(3 autobody shops would not weld it due to risk of burning wires or seat)
Is using an electric arc welder on a car safe electrically? Couldn't I fry the entire electrical system?
Problem: I have never welded anything before.
Is this an unreasonable first project?
I'm handy with tools and have torched glass, but is space too cramped & wires too close? (sure, I'd practice on some junk)
Online I found 2 cheap arc welders, $120 & $250.
If the $120 welder will work ok for this (Searz Clarke arc welder "for farm, home & shop") it will be worth buying it .
(I see every household job as an excuse to buy another power tool!)
Thoughts, anyone?
Space Cowboy
-----------------------

Originally Posted by Cobra_Sam

I had the same thing with mine and liked the electric features and decided to keep it. I wound the seat as far foreward as it would go, disconnected the pos. battery cable and arc welded the bar back. I put a big wet old towel under where I was welding so that I didn't get sparks burning holes in the carpet and lay in the van from the pasenger side to do the weld. It is now stronger than it ever was and it saved me a lot of money and frustration. With all the wires and cables under there and not much space to work I would have gone crazy.

[Cobra_Sam]

Originally Posted by Space Cowboy

Any ARC welders out there?

Thanks, Cobra Sam. It is good to know that
it can be fixed, and that it can be fixed in place.
(3 autobody shops would not weld it due to risk of burning wires or seat)
Is using an electric arc welder on a car safe electrically? Couldn't I fry the entire electrical system?
Problem: I have never welded anything before.
Is this an unreasonable first project?
I'm handy with tools and have torched glass, but is space too cramped & wires too close? (sure, I'd practice on some junk)
Online I found 2 cheap arc welders, $120 & $250.
If the $120 welder will work ok for this (Searz Clarke arc welder "for farm, home & shop") it will be worth buying it .
(I see every household job as an excuse to buy another power tool!)
Thoughts, anyone?
Space Cowboy
-----------------------

I bought 1 of those small 110 volt ones from Sears and it works well. You may have to run an extention lead to where your clothes dryer is plugged in because the welder will trip regular plugs. This happened to me so I ran a conduit from the electric box in my basement to the garage and ran 8 guage wires and installed a 30amps plug. This wont harm the electrics on the van if you disconnect the battery. When cars are in collitions they do a lot of welding on them. You can practice on junc that is the same thickness, start with regular steel thin welding rods with the power turned down low. The welding rod will keep sticking and you will have to wiggle it and pull it off. Everytime it sticks keep turning the power up a quater of a turn and try again till you can run a weld. You will see when you practice, if you have it turned up too high you will cut the steel. If you have never welded before, clamp to pieces of scrap metal together and attach the ground clamp. Start welding on one of the pieces first about an 8th of an inch away from the join, then slowly sweep over the join to about an 8th of an inch over the join, make a S back under the weld and go back, keep repeating this till you have covered the join. If you see the weld is starting to burn a hole you may have it set too high or you are going too slow.
I hope this helps ... all the best
Sam