Tricks to rolling a seat pan

[hard_y_rd]

Just wondering if any of you lads tried rolling your own pan from 1/8 steel. I don't have fancy tools and want to do this pretty cheap. I picked up a piece of sheet metal and made a template. Enough to make 2 if I don't like my first. Just want to make a 3 inch sweep on the rear.
Got sick of building wheels, on to something different. I know, i'm all over the place on this build just want to stay motivated.

 

[Downer]

I used a three inch pipe in a vise I tack welded the rear of the pan to the pipe and just pulled on it and beat it a bit with a hammer till you get the sweep you need

 

[hard_y_rd]

I was thinking on the lines of that. The 1/8 is pretty rigid. My skinny ass will never bend it.

 

[Take Warning15]

Heat...............

 

[hard_y_rd]

Ya heat is good, don't have access to torches at the moment liked to get in cut and shaped by tonight depending on the no. of beers.

 

[avenue]

after cutting my pattern with an angle grinder and smoothing the edges with hand files, I stood my pan straight up in the vise jaws where I wanted the rear radius to start (the forward most part of the bend, towards the front of the seat), used the biggest set of vise grips I had laying around on the nose of the seat and made small incremental bends working my way to the end of the pan (moving the pan up 1/8in between bends) to achieve the radius I wanted. for the compound nose shape, I tacked the nose and the middle of the seat to a 6''ish pipe cut off and pounded the edges with a BFH until I was happy.

It was my first stab at a seat project and, like you, my tools were limited but I'm happy with the results. If you plan on padding the pan, don't be afraid to emphasize the bends as any padding will likely make the shape look flatter.

 

[hard_y_rd]

Got my pattern cut out perfectly with an angle grinder and surprisingly a jig saw for the radius curves(took a while). But the devil himself couldn't bend the fucker tonight without a better plan than i had, gonna sleep on it . Just wanna radius the last 4-5 inches on the rear. That's the worst part cause its the widest.

 

[tigman175]

Any sheet metal fab shop will have a set of rolls that will do it. Probably can throw the guy $10 and he'll do it in 5 min if hes cool enough

 

[Rogue21]

I know you have already started down the path with cutting your template, but if you can't find a way to bend that seat, see if you can get your hands on an old frying pan that doesn't have the non-stick coating. (Second hand stores like Goodwill are a good place to look). If you can find a pan that already has the bend in it, you can cut your desired seat shape from there. This is what mine looks like so far. It actually fits me surprisingly well.

 

[hard_y_rd]

I've heard of people using shovels for pans but frying pans? Why not eh?
I wasn't going to reveal my method but here goes. Kinda hillbilly i know but I needed something to get that 1/8 to bend.
First i set the pan on top of 2 pieces of square stock underneath my truck. I know what you're thinkin. I ran over it. No. I placed my trolley jack on the pan. Put the steel wheels where i wanted the bend and just jacked it up until i got the bend i needed. It's more of a bend than a sweep like I wanted but i think it will be fine. $4.00 seat pan.

 

[little_ryle_13]

Good job you have to really look hard to see if it was rolled or not.

The frying pan is pretty comical.

 

[Rogue21]

Your seat turned out looking good! I will eventually cover my seat so hopefully no one knows its a frying pan.

 

[hard_y_rd]

A lot of bacon was probably killed in that pan. Lol.
Little_ryle_13, I wouldn't change that mustang tank out. I would worry more about the void under the seat area. I don't know how you feel about fake oil tanks but an E-bomb from pandemonium would look killer.

 

[hard_y_rd]

Thanks rogue, all jokes aside. It's a good idea. It's good when you can pull something off on a budget.

 

[Sgt Hollywood]

Ratchet straps can aide in a little mechanical advantage and will follow a contour pretty well.