On Sat, 5 Apr 2008 11:34:15 -0700 (PDT), Freddie
wrote:

Having built a base, or two, for racing seats, I'd say that 1/4
material is overkill. 1/8 material is sufficient and is what all of
the commercial set bases that I've seen are made from. Pretty easy to
bent 1/8 material by clamping it in a vise and whacking it with a hand
sledge. No heat is needed, nor is a lot of precision required.

1/8 should be good enough and it should be much easier to work with.

I'd agree that 1/8" is more than enough, especially if it's wide
enough to spread out the loads - if you want a bit more thickness, use
a washer on top. If you don't trust the design, add gussets between
the brackets and the long seat rails and/or some cross pieces of strap
stock to tie together the two mounting tabs.

And adding some dull-red heat to get the steel plastic at the
bending point will turn the bending process from two-handed whacking
(and the resulting big dents) when done cold, to one-handed tapping as
you sneak up on the right angle with the bend area hot.

And as a bonus, if you do it hot and concentrate the heat properly
at the bend line it will bend only in the hot zone like you want, and
you won't have to flatten the tab back out again afterwards.

-- Bruce --