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I have a 1988 Firebird,
single-piece back seat top piece, 2 seperate seat cushions.

I'm going to take out the driver's side backseat cushion to make
a custom box with some form of MDF probably, bolt it to the floor
board, and make it lockable with a small latch. I figure since i'm
6'3" tall and must have the seat all the way back at all times,
nobody can sit in the driver's side backseat anyways.. so why
not take that side out and build a custom storage box? I plan on
making it about the same size as the cushion, should be large
enough to safely store my head unit face, cd's, cell phone, and
any other misc things i might have in the case of going into the
store or something, i wont have to fill my pockets with all my
stuff.. Or just use it for a spare storage box that's easily
accesible.. Store my sunglasses, phone charger, etc in it..
What do you think? let me know :-)

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OLD PLAN - SEE BOTTOM FOR THE NEW ONE
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Why don't you just use the storage box in the back? Or roll up your windows when you get out. I put a 4th gen console in my firebird this winter and that console has a lot more room foe stuff. Just another option. I don't know how the box you're describing will look. But good luck with whatever you decide!!

 

I saw something about that at SoundDomain i think it was..
somebody put a 4th gen consel in their 3rd gen - was that you?
I was actually thinking about that, but I don't know how it would
look, also I don't really want to go through to much troube with
trying that.. I don't want to screw something up and make
something not work right. Know what I mean?

-The reason why I wan't to make a locking storage box like, is
because I don't like having to worry about somebody just breaking my window and grabbing all my stuff. The rear locking
storage compartment can EASILY be broken into, I tried it with
a screwdriver just to see how safe it was..

 

If it suits your needs I'd say go for it.
You could also take the org. cloth off the seat & use it to camoflauge (sp?) the cargo box so that it 'looks' like the org. seat there (glue the seat cloth to the box so it looks like the seat is still there & cut it as you need for the lock & such). The rear seats are quite pointless & the back "storage" area with the lock is a mere joke.. I can get into mine w/o a screwdriver.. it's just plastic....

 

I have decided to go about it completely different.

Instead of having a large easily-seen box sitting there, I plan on
cutting out the bottom of the rear driver's side back seat cushion,
and building a custom box that will be embedded in there using
1/4 MDF or some other material like that. I will leave about 1" in
the seat so a square outline won't be visible. I figure this should
leave me with approx. 5", minus ½" for board on each side, which
would leave me about 4½" of actual space, which is plenty to put
my head unit face, cd case, or anything else, considering that I
will be making the box the size of the whole seat.

This should be more efficient and safer than the previous plan,
because this way, I can easily embed the box into the seat and
use glue or something to keep it there. That way, all I have to do
is grab the seat and put it upside down, flip up the box and put
whatever I want in there, put the seat back and Presto-Magnifico!
A hidden box!

As soon as I start this little project, I will be sure to give full
instructions on how to do this, incase anyone else is interested in
doing it too. I do this without worrying about someone sitting
back there and killing the box, I'm 6'3" tall, and must have the
drivers seat all the way back at all times anyways, so the seat is
just used right now as a shelf to put stuff on while driving - LOL!
I have managed to fit 2 other people in the car, one in the front
passenger seat with the seat about ½ way back, and one in the
passenger side back seat.. Now I don't know if you're tall like me,
but in either case, the drivers side beakseat is practically useless
anyways, these cars weren't meant to be passenger cars in the
first place. I actually considered taking out the back seat entirely
to build a custom speaker box, but that would be too *****

Anyways, I will put up instructions and exact demensions (sp?)
as soon as I myself know. The project will start A.S.A.P.!

 

Dont use mdf, that stuffs pretty heavy.

 

If your storage box doesn't have anything to do with speakers, you might be better off using plywood. MDF is a particle board and dissolves when it gets wet. Any place that has a possibility of getting wet is a bad place for MDF. Not to mention plywood is lighter and thinner (means more space for your stuff). Just a thought.

 

in the past, MDF has seemed to be lighter than plywood-
but i could be wrong :-)
i might just use plywood, but MDF is prettier :-)

 

yeah, go check it at the lumber yard. Your going to cover it anywa.