General Forum : e21 couch potato

melloh

Posted Saturday, Jul 14th 1:19pm [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]

Member
Post nr. 576

California, USA (San Jose)
1980 320is, 1991 318is

I'm going to attempt something a little different, here. I want to convert the back seat of my e21 into a couch. Has this been done before? If you've got ideas and pictures, please do send them my way. After staring at it for hours, I've got a few ideas, but not enough to jump on. Yet.

MayanArch

Posted Saturday, Jul 14th 3:14pm [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]

Member
Post nr. 1315

Florida, USA
Baur E21 2.7 1982, Baur E30 318i 1985, 323i 1978

Not from an e21, but freequently used in retro or pop art decoration..............especially from 1950's cars.

I have often thought of getting an old Recaro, getting it upholstered, and swapping out the turntable base of an office chair.

melloh

Posted Saturday, Jul 14th 9:48pm [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]

Member
Post nr. 577

California, USA (San Jose)
1980 320is, 1991 318is

I've actually seen that for sale for some insane dollar amount in the Roundel. I don't think it was necessarily an e21, though. I really want to do that too, but the economics is better for me to sell them instead (to pay for track seats ;o). I figured that the back seats of an e21 are really [EDIT:] NOT too marketable so may as wel do this project. Also, even though I covered them with a sheet, it wasn't enough to keep from the headrest area from getting sun fading over the last 2 years of sitting outside, making them even harder to sell....

Once I start putting something together, I'll try to post pics so you guys can help me find the next step. Right now, I'm planning out how to make a wooden support frame and backing for both parts.

MayanArch

Posted Sunday, Jul 15th 1:59am [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]

Member
Post nr. 1318

Florida, USA
Baur E21 2.7 1982, Baur E30 318i 1985, 323i 1978

Yeah, the price for the real Recaro office chair was insane....and hence my thoughts on pulling one together myself.

imaradiostar

Posted Sunday, Jul 15th 2:35am [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]

Member
Post nr. 1066

Nashville, TN
81 323i, 82 525i, 85 524td, 90 535i

Hmmm...I have a non-sport E21 seat, an E34 seat, a rabbit GTI seat and a cabriolet seat in the basement all for use by friends while we hang out and work on projects. I've also got a rabbit GTI rear seat I kept with intent of making a couch.

I think it's a great idea!

jamie

Greg323i

Posted Monday, Jul 16th 6:20am [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]

Member
Post nr. 370

Melbourne, Australia
1982 Hennaröt 323i

My desk chair is a spare front seat that I had around mated to a desk chair base I found. I basically welded together some angle iron for the adaptor between the two. It's great, but a little high.

I'm sure you could hammer together a wooden frame to bolt everything to and then hide the frame with fabric or something.

Or, weld together a stainless steel frame or something.

Or, find a rusted out E21 and cut out the rear seat section and go from there.

melloh

Posted Monday, Jul 16th 7:19am [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]

Member
Post nr. 579

California, USA (San Jose)
1980 320is, 1991 318is

I agree in that welding would be nice, but 1) I don't have th equipment and 2) I don't know how to weld! I would if I could... so it's going to be pretty much all wood and whatever brackets and such I can find @ the hardware store (Home Depot). I'll worry about hiding the springs and horsehair in the back afterwards.

MayanArch

Posted Monday, Jul 16th 5:23pm [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]

Member
Post nr. 1319

Florida, USA
Baur E21 2.7 1982, Baur E30 318i 1985, 323i 1978

Find an old office chair...........take off the chair part.............and use some hardwood to put both of them together. Ya.........steel woudl be better.

Greg323i

Posted Monday, Jul 16th 6:36pm [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]

Member
Post nr. 371

Melbourne, Australia
1982 Hennaröt 323i

You can hide (haha, pun) the horse-haaar with just about any kind of cloth, the Furniture Guys would call it a canebreak. Or, if you're building a wooden frame then a thin sheet of ply could be used to cover it.

melloh

Posted Monday, Jul 16th 9:42pm [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]

Member
Post nr. 581

California, USA (San Jose)
1980 320is, 1991 318is

ha ha... nice. Most likely, when it's done, it'll stay done and hide-less. I'll just tell everyone "it's part of the look."

Posted Monday, Jul 23rd 9:06am [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]

Member
Post nr. 33

NY, USA
82 528e2i 84 320i/4 80 320i

I was inspired by this thread and made a desk chair using the passenger's seat from my 320i parts car.

http://www.hyakushiki.net/e21chair.jpg

ugly but ergonomic...

aussie323i

Posted Monday, Jul 23rd 2:24pm [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]

Member
Post nr. 587

australia
1979 323i

your e21 front seat must be more comfortable than mine... I am about to rip mine out because they are terrible to sit on!

MayanArch

Posted Monday, Jul 23rd 7:15pm [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]

Member
Post nr. 1321

Florida, USA
Baur E21 2.7 1982, Baur E30 318i 1985, 323i 1978

TJ wrote:

I was inspired by this thread and made a desk chair using the passenger's seat from my 320i parts car.

http://www.hyakushiki.net/e21chair.jpg

ugly but ergonomic...

Well, I would say it perfectly matches the desk!!

I say put casters on that bitch!!

Posted Wednesday, Jul 25th 7:23am [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]

Member
Post nr. 34

NY, USA
82 528e2i 84 320i/4 80 320i

It's a cloth seat which IMO is a lot better than the vinyl ones at least.

And yes it matches a lot of things around here actually

I have a small pile of rough cut lumber that I'm trying to use up.

melloh

Posted Wednesday, Sep 5th 5:53am [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]

Member
Post nr. 593

California, USA (San Jose)
1980 320is, 1991 318is

It is (functionally) done!!!!!! [Note: I tried using thumbs, but the thmb did not show up correctly while the link worked. Sorry.]

It's not by any means beautiful, but it works. Still some things I need/want to do to be truly happy with the end product - mostly sanding and staining it a dark red like redwood or mohogony and a better reclining system - but I am quite satisfied with the end product. That's right, It's been designed to recline. I just need to devise a more user-friendly system to incorporate it. Here are some of the early stages:

Had to show this one - a bag of big ass washers.

This is the work "bench":

(Mostly) Finished Product:

sunbeam***

Posted Wednesday, Sep 5th 4:02pm [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]

Member
Post nr. 312

wirral UK
1982 323i

Looks great! are you going to cover the back of the seat with fabric to finish it off?

MayanArch

Posted Wednesday, Sep 5th 4:35pm [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]

Member
Post nr. 1365

Florida, USA
Baur E21 2.7 1982, Baur E30 318i 1985, 323i 1978

Ahhh, true art.

Really nice job. I actually think you should put a satin finish on the wood............to make it look official.

I agree that you should cover the back....but not with fabric. Get a galvanized sheet and cut it and bend it to conform.

You gotta complete the set with two front seats.....and rims as end tables!!!!

melloh

Posted Thursday, Sep 6th 10:23am [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]

Member
Post nr. 594

California, USA (San Jose)
1980 320is, 1991 318is

ha ha... well, you got me there. I was considering using those e30 wheels you saw as a coffee table stand (put circular glass over it) or a base for the TV stand, but I doubt that iwll happen (roommates will only tolerate so much car parts in the house).

As for the backing, its too difficult with my limited skills to cover up due to the awkward edges and shapes back there. I think at most, I might paint the 'horsehair' black and leave the springs uncovered. The sheetmetal(?) is intrigueing, but i imagine it would be prone to dings and scratches, a lot of owrk to make it look right, and heavy. I made it so that it can be separated in half because all that wood adds up to a lot of weight!!!

One thing I'm concerned about are the "wings" of the back portion. THe metal that is shaping annd holding it isn't very robust. It's fine if you sit and lean back in the "OEM" position, but if someon decides to sit on the edge and lean back, its liable to bend. eventually i want to figure out a way to beef it up a bit just in case (always better to over build than under build, right?) without adding too much weight. I'm also gong to attache a 1x6 horizontally mounted to the horizontal, lower, metal frame bar in the back and also have it mounted to the wooden uprights for stability and decrease chances of it torquing into wierd positions.

PS: Thanks for the compliments!

PPS: Satin??? you have a link with an example of this?

PPS: "over build".... keeping it light weight... ha ha ha. At least I'm sticking w/ the BMW philosophy, right? The Ultimate Lounging Machine?

MayanArch

Posted Thursday, Sep 6th 7:11pm [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]

Member
Post nr. 1367

Florida, USA
Baur E21 2.7 1982, Baur E30 318i 1985, 323i 1978

melloh wrote:

One thing I'm concerned about are the "wings" of the back portion. THe metal that is shaping annd holding it isn't very robust. It's fine if you sit and lean back in the "OEM" position, but if someon decides to sit on the edge and lean back, its liable to bend. eventually i want to figure out a way to beef it up a bit just in case (always better to over build than under build, right?) without adding too much weight. I'm also gong to attache a 1x6 horizontally mounted to the horizontal, lower, metal frame bar in the back and also have it mounted to the wooden uprights for stability and decrease chances of it torquing into wierd positions.

PS: Thanks for the compliments!

PPS: Satin??? you have a link with an example of this?

PPS: "over build".... keeping it light weight... ha ha ha. At least I'm sticking w/ the BMW philosophy, right? The Ultimate Lounging Machine?

Well..........the sheetmetal will help that problem if done right. Just go to Ace Hardware and find yourself 3 sheets of 3'x3' (or whatever size will cover those 3 areas) nicely galvanized at a semi-sturdy thickness.

FIRST, make the shapes out of cardboard so you can tailor them to fit exactly to the voids on the back.

SECOND, get a good pair of metal snips to cut the guage you need.

THIRD, you will probably need to bend. Go to a machine shop with your measurements and the cardboard cutouts. These bends will make the sheetmetal more sturdy and give a back brace for the wings.

In fact, you may want to look at the angle that they join the wing at, and tailor it so the sheetmetal goes further back and bolts onto the far side of the rear wood member as if to creat a small lever against the wing with the sheet metal backing.

That may take a bend or two more...but it will solve the problem.

Satin? go back to Home Depot and get some MinWax Polyurothane Satin or Gloss finish. Can be rubbed on easily with a cloth.

FRIENDS??? Fuk'em. Put your shit in there and bring in the tire changing wrench. See who wants to argue with you.

melloh

Posted Saturday, Sep 8th 7:51pm [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]

Member
Post nr. 595

California, USA (San Jose)
1980 320is, 1991 318is

Hmm... that's just way more work and money than I am able to spend, though I do like the idea. Also, would anyone have some suggestions on how to reverse some of the fade damage from sun exposure? It's hard to see in the pics b/c its mostly on the top of the backrest.

MayanArch

Posted Sunday, Sep 9th 12:53am [Edit] [Quote] [IMS] [View car]

Member
Post nr. 1369

Florida, USA
Baur E21 2.7 1982, Baur E30 318i 1985, 323i 1978

melloh wrote:

Cobbler shops have this black spray that tints leather and vynil. It isnt like the rattle can stuff that is a coating. This stuff tints it...so it doesnt scratch off.

You need to buy the preparer liquid to get the vinyl and leather porous and clean...wipe down the seats...then spray them black. Great results.

Upholstery shops use it, but I dont know if they sell it.