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speedygeorge
Samba Member
Joined: November 28, 2009
Posts: 235
Location: Victoria, BC
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 Posted: Wed Dec 08, 2010 9:43 pm Post subject: Middle Seat Information |
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I am looking for a grey middle seat for my westy. What model and year vans came with grey seat with and without head rests.
I would love to find one in BC or the PNW. |
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canasync
Samba Member
Joined: June 28, 2010
Posts: 656
Location: BC
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| Posted: Wed Dec 08, 2010 10:12 pm Post subject: |
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Just sent you a PM. I have a grey 1987 middle seat in great shape with the armrest and headrests.
_________________
1987 Syncro
3 knobs
PumpeDüse TDI (17mm Garret Turbo, bigger injectors, stage 4 malone tune, intercooled)
Cruise Control
Remote Start/locks
Custom Lift
Custom Bumpers with receivers
Coast Mountain Hightop - Comming Soon
1985 2wd Vanagon Pre-runner in the making
soon to be powered by 2.5L Subaru
Custom Lift |
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IdahoDoug
Samba Member
Joined: June 12, 2010
Posts: 10251
Location: N. Idaho
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| Posted: Wed Dec 08, 2010 10:22 pm Post subject: |
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Can you put a middle seat in a Westy? I thought they had the rear facing jump seats and kitchen stuff instead?
DougM
_________________
1987 2WD Wolfsburg Vanagon Weekender "Mango", two fully locked 80 Series LandCruisers. 2017 Subaru Outback boxer. 1990 Audi 90 Quattro 20V with rear locking differential, 1990 burgundy parts Vanagon. 1984 Porsche 944, 1988 Toyota Supra 5 speed targa, 2002 BMW 325iX, 1982 Toyota Sunrader |
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canasync
Samba Member
Joined: June 28, 2010
Posts: 656
Location: BC
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| Posted: Wed Dec 08, 2010 10:42 pm Post subject: |
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A friend of mine told me of someone that he knew that had mounted a middle seat in a westy. He had the rails mounted toward the passenger side instead of the driver side, and since the seat is a two seater it was narrow enough to fit. I never saw it myself, but it sounds right.
_________________
1987 Syncro
3 knobs
PumpeDüse TDI (17mm Garret Turbo, bigger injectors, stage 4 malone tune, intercooled)
Cruise Control
Remote Start/locks
Custom Lift
Custom Bumpers with receivers
Coast Mountain Hightop - Comming Soon
1985 2wd Vanagon Pre-runner in the making
soon to be powered by 2.5L Subaru
Custom Lift |
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speedygeorge
Samba Member
Joined: November 28, 2009
Posts: 235
Location: Victoria, BC
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| Posted: Wed Dec 08, 2010 10:55 pm Post subject: |
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| IdahoDoug wrote: |
Can you put a middle seat in a Westy? I thought they had the rear facing jump seats and kitchen stuff instead?
DougM |
My van has rails ready to accept the middle seat, this must have been an option or standard on 91 westys in canada. |
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IdahoDoug
Samba Member
Joined: June 12, 2010
Posts: 10251
Location: N. Idaho
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| Posted: Wed Dec 08, 2010 10:56 pm Post subject: |
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Cool setup. Anyone doing this should be very particular about duplicating the floor reinforcement of the factory floor mounts as I think they also carry the belts as well as the crash forces on the seat.
DougM
_________________
1987 2WD Wolfsburg Vanagon Weekender "Mango", two fully locked 80 Series LandCruisers. 2017 Subaru Outback boxer. 1990 Audi 90 Quattro 20V with rear locking differential, 1990 burgundy parts Vanagon. 1984 Porsche 944, 1988 Toyota Supra 5 speed targa, 2002 BMW 325iX, 1982 Toyota Sunrader |
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Syncroincity
Samba Member
Joined: April 15, 2007
Posts: 1557
Location: New York City
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| Posted: Thu Dec 09, 2010 2:36 am Post subject: |
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| IdahoDoug wrote: |
Cool setup. Anyone doing this should be very particular about duplicating the floor reinforcement of the factory floor mounts as I think they also carry the belts as well as the crash forces on the seat.
DougM |
The belts are integral to the middle seats, and the seat slides onto the rail, which is bolted to mount points common to every van... no reinforcement needed.
I did this in my van, flipped the rails over so they sit nearer the slider door. I had to remove the armrest so the door would close without contact, but the seat fits neatly between the kitchen unit and the door.
_________________
'86 Syncro CHC Top AAZ Turbodiesel
'04 Passat Variant 4Mo 5MT
Vanagon Build: http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=466866&highlight= |
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POS
Samba Member
Joined: December 27, 2004
Posts: 285
Location: In a bus, down by the river in Boonville MO
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| Posted: Thu Dec 09, 2010 4:18 am Post subject: middle seat in westy |
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It can be done, It's a lot of work!
The holes are there, two nuts must be ground off to expose the holes. I will find out soon whether the armrest by the fridge will work or not. Rails will be as strong as factory setup. Will have to alter structure of slide in seats a bit to clear floor. I don't believe that removal of a slight bit of metal will compromise seat safety.
You must change threshold also.
More later as I finish up.
David
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GBA 88West LA
Samba Member
Joined: September 04, 2008
Posts: 1279
Location: New Hampshire
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| Posted: Thu Dec 09, 2010 7:17 am Post subject: |
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i put a grey middle seat in my 88 westy, my oem floor started cracking up so i pulled it out, all the holes were there in my floor, just plugged with the plastic phillips head plugs, i had a totaled 91 carat that i pulled the seat out of, mine looks diff then pic above, for the rails my rear rail is longer then the front rail, hardest part really was getting the drivers side arm rest off from the middle seat thats the only way it would fit w/o interference to sliding door, my family loves it westy 7 pass camper
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88 Westy GL Vanaru 07 2.5 EJ25/AA Trans/oiling plates, 1.14 3rd-.77-4th..solar powered cabin |
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purplepeopleeater
Samba Member
Joined: July 23, 2005
Posts: 3117
Location: E. Washington
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| Posted: Thu Dec 09, 2010 7:27 am Post subject: |
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| IdahoDoug wrote: |
Can you put a middle seat in a Westy? I thought they had the rear facing jump seats and kitchen stuff instead?
DougM |
My 86 has rails to slide one in |
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indytriple
Samba Member
Joined: April 27, 2009
Posts: 710
Location: Brownsburg, Indiana
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| Posted: Thu Dec 09, 2010 7:33 am Post subject: |
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| IdahoDoug wrote: |
Can you put a middle seat in a Westy? I thought they had the rear facing jump seats and kitchen stuff instead?
DougM |
I looked into putting a GL middle seat into my Westy They're readily available and not usually too expensive. Lots of good info here:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/search.php?search..._chars=200
From what I recall you can't access the fridge when it's in, and access to the under sink cabinet is tight. Also, it can be run forward or backwards. I believe that there is also some interference with the armrest nearest the fridge. Happy hunting.
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"See The Glass As Already Broken."
87 Vanagon Westy Auto Bostig
www.bluegrassbicyclecompany.com |
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ALIKA T3
Samba Member
Joined: July 30, 2009
Posts: 6360
Location: Honolulu,Hawaii and France
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| Posted: Thu Dec 09, 2010 9:39 pm Post subject: |
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Hello!
I have a "3 points anchor?" seat belt for the left side of the middle seat for sale with all the hardware 
It's retractable like the front ones,and is special to be compatible with the folding bench rear seat mechanism (hinge?)
PM |
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Beetsport 
Samba Member
Joined: January 08, 2005
Posts: 475
Location: Sacramento, CA
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| Posted: Thu Dec 09, 2010 10:33 pm Post subject: |
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I have the center bench seat mounted in my Westy. The threaded bolt holes are already there. I used a skill-saw and carefully cut along the "lines".
The seat fits pretty snug between the door and the fridge. To open the fridge, parked of course, just slide the seat partway out to gain access to the fridge. Rails are plenty strong.
At the campfire it's the most popular seat around...
Make sure you get the later model that the seat backs fold down. It's great having a 6 passenger camper.. You can even use the bed with the seat in still. Not a lot of room for this though.
The seat belts are on the seat. No need for any extra re-inforcement. Plenty strong as seen by this picture.
Entire engine supported by a modified seat rails.
Take a Seat...
_________________
'90 Syncro Westy 1.8T with 180hp 174 torque, CA safe!
http://H2oVanagon.com
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=217285 |
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jyl
Samba Member
Joined: February 13, 2007
Posts: 235
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| Posted: Thu Dec 09, 2010 11:35 pm Post subject: |
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Search, there are threads with detailed step by steps. AFAIK, all vans had the mounting points. Buy the rails from a Vanagon parts seller in the classified, make sure them come with all the bolts and clips. Cut out the floor channel and the middle seat slides on. I removed both armrests, you'll have to remove at least one.
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1988 Westy, Bostig v2.0 |
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Beetsport
Samba Member
Joined: January 08, 2005
Posts: 475
Location: Sacramento, CA
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| Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2010 12:14 am Post subject: |
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| jyl wrote: |
| I removed both armrests, you'll have to remove at least one. |
Strange. I didn't have to remove the armrest. Do you have the stock fridge?
The arms just touch the fridge cabinet and also the door panel.
_________________
'90 Syncro Westy 1.8T with 180hp 174 torque, CA safe!
http://H2oVanagon.com
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=217285 |
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sbbfuk
Samba Member
Joined: March 01, 2005
Posts: 87
Location: Weston-Super-Mare UK
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j_dirge
Samba Member
Joined: August 08, 2007
Posts: 4641
Location: Twain Harte, CA
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| Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2010 8:05 am Post subject: |
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| IdahoDoug wrote: |
Cool setup. Anyone doing this should be very particular about duplicating the floor reinforcement of the factory floor mounts as I think they also carry the belts as well as the crash forces on the seat.
DougM |
The Vanagon has the welded backing nuts for middle seat bench in place from the factory regardless which NA model you have..
Interestingly they are there for both for left and right hand door setup.. So you can mount your rails to either side of the van just as securely as OE 7 passenger.
Side note--> The fellow who gave me his late model grey middle seat, mounted his using no rails... He bolted the seat directly to the floor. He was not aware that the slides existed. But it works. 3 or 4 bolts front and back. That thing won't be going anywhere. That is better mounting than the factory Westy bench behind it.
Anyway..
I bought two sets of rails and am running the rails all the way from one side all the way across. (this will require replacing the propane tank bolts.. but I digress)
I recently bought used 7 passenger seat molded sub-flooring, and am trimming it to fit properly around that and under the rear Westy bench seat setup (modified to hold front bucket seats). This OE 7-pass flooring is very quiet and provides a nice soft feel under foot with carpet.
I remove my kitchen cabinet, and my setup is/will be a modular Westy to 6 seater with or without kitchen cabinet installed (modular Westy cabinet)
Middle bench to either side.. or none at all.. which makes for a very wide open setup. Great for hauling.
There are also three-point anchor points for seat belts behind the trim panels for the middle bench.. and the pivot point is there behind the wall paper on the post.. both sides. Feel around with your fingers you'll feel the void behind the paper... 4-6 inches or so from botom of window
I have sourced the three point seatbelt for drivers side..but am still looking for a passenger side three point.. I have a second left side that I may retrofit to fit the passeneger side. Or I wil stick with GW's rear 3-point belt (curently a temp install).. which is long enough to reach across to the middle bench (and fits at the proper angle) regardlless which sided the bench is mounted.
Its important to note that the middle bench 3-pointer STILL requires the female end to mount to the bench frame.. so it is imperative that the middle bench still be mounted very securely to the Vanagon's OE points
_________________
-89 GL Westy, SVX.. finally.
-57 pan f/g buggy with a 67 pancake Type 3 "S"
"Jimi Hendrix owned one. Richard Nixon did not"
-Grand Tour, Season 1, episodes 4 and 5
| danfromsyr wrote: |
those are straight line runs with light weight race cars for only 1/4mile at a time..
not pushing a loaded brick up a mountain pass with a family of 4+ inside expecting to have an event free vacation..
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Last edited by j_dirge on Fri Dec 10, 2010 10:34 am; edited 1 time in total |
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sbbfuk
Samba Member
Joined: March 01, 2005
Posts: 87
Location: Weston-Super-Mare UK
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| Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2010 9:53 am Post subject: fixing nuts |
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looks like I'll need to lift the floor and look for the fixing nuts
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My bus is the muts nuts |
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crazyvwvanman
Samba Member
Joined: January 28, 2008
Posts: 9937
Location: Orbiting San Diego
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| Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2010 10:01 am Post subject: Re: fixing nuts |
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The welded in nuts are always there. Just look under the van. The factory put plastic screws into the empty holes from above.
Mark
| sbbfuk wrote: |
| looks like I'll need to lift the floor and look for the fixing nuts |
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j_dirge
Samba Member
Joined: August 08, 2007
Posts: 4641
Location: Twain Harte, CA
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| Posted: Fri Dec 10, 2010 10:13 am Post subject: Re: fixing nuts |
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| crazyvwvanman wrote: |
The welded in nuts are always there. Just look under the van. The factory put plastic screws into the empty holes from above.
Mark
| sbbfuk wrote: |
| looks like I'll need to lift the floor and look for the fixing nuts |
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And hang onto those plast screws and vinyl washers... if you ever decide to remove the rail setup.. the open holes in the floor whistle while you drive.
_________________
-89 GL Westy, SVX.. finally.
-57 pan f/g buggy with a 67 pancake Type 3 "S"
"Jimi Hendrix owned one. Richard Nixon did not"
-Grand Tour, Season 1, episodes 4 and 5
| danfromsyr wrote: |
those are straight line runs with light weight race cars for only 1/4mile at a time..
not pushing a loaded brick up a mountain pass with a family of 4+ inside expecting to have an event free vacation..
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