Date:         Mon, 18 Aug 2003 01:23:05 -0400
Reply-To:     Kim Brennan <kimbrennan@MAC.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Kim Brennan <kimbrennan@MAC.COM>
Subject:      Middle seat in a Westy
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; format=flowed

So, last year I picked up one of those single middle seats. This
weekend, I finally got around to installing the rails in my Westy.

My first problem was determining where to put the rails. I wanted to
cut the wood floor, like it was done in the OEM Westy's that actually
came with a middle seat. In the end this was easier than I thought. As
has been noted before on the list the bolt holes are already there.
They're just under the floor.

So the first task was gaining access to the under side of the floor.
The floor is held on with 6 screws (there may be additional ones under
the cabinets, but I didn't go that far.) In addition there are 4 screws
holding the metal strip at the sliding door. All of these need to be
removed (the screws and the metal strip.)

Then the rear (folding) seat has to be removed. The Bentley has the
details on this. it comes out in one piece, which makes things fairly
easy.

Now lift up the edge of the floor near the sliding door. Note that
there is a nailing strip which is separate from the actual floor. The
nailing strip will stay in place. Er, you  probably will need to remove
the rubber guard at the lip of the door (it just pulls off after the
metal strip has been removed.) The floor is only about 1/4 inch thick.
Be careful of the staples that attach the nailing strip to the floor.
Both not to damage them, nor to cut yourself on them.

You won't be able to lift the floor up and out. Only up enough to gain
(limited) access to the underside. This is important as each of the
bolt holes has a rubber plug in it to prevent water from coming in.
These plugs just unscrew. Remove a couple of them. The one nearest the
door and another further in towards the center of the vehicle. Save the
plugs and the rubber washer.

Now get out your drill ( I use a cordless). Get a small bit. Put the
floor back down. You are going to drill UP from the bottom of the
vehicle THROUGH the bolt holes. The bolt holes no longer having a plug
in them. These holes are for reference. You don't want to damage the
threads on the bolt holes. A wood boring bit is what I used. You are
drilling through the plywood that makes up the floor of you westy.

Now you have reference points. I used two short rails instead of one
short and one long as used in passenger Vanagons. Lay out the rails on
the top side of the flooring lining up the drilled holes with a couple
of the openings in the rails. With a sharp knife score the rubber
"tile" on both sides of the rail, at the inside end and extend the door
side to the edge of the floor. You want to cut THROUGH the vinyl
flooring. When this has been done. Remove the rail. Then lift up the
vinyl flooring in the outlined section where the rail was. You now
should have a rough idea of the shape of the opening in the wood floor
that you'll be creating.

I used a cordless circular saw for the next step. Set the depth on it
to be just about exactly the thickness of the wood floor. Don't be
concerned about cutting in to the metal floor. The wood floor is
supported on the metal ribbing of the bottom of the Vanagon. You'll be
cutting the floor ABOVE one of the depressions. So you'll actually have
an additional 1/4 inch of air space above the metal as a safety margin.

Cut the floor with the saw from the door opening to just short of the
outlined section. I used a sharp knife the complete the end section and
to trim up in unsightly wood along the cut. I also use a shop vacuum
after each cut so that I can see what I'm doing.

Remove the cut section of wood. You now should be able to see all of
the rubber plugs in the section where the rail is going to go. But you
aren't quite ready to install the rail yet.

Your outline for your cut was only the width of the rail. In fact
you'll need to make it wider on both sides by about 1/4 inch (to
accomodate the seat rail section). In addition, you may have had to
adjust the edges of your cuts to be better centered over where the rail
will actually be mounted. So do your additional trimming now. A good
sharp knife (I used a leatherman tool and it's serrated NOT saw blade).

Ready to install the rail? Remove all of the plugs in the visible bolt
holes. Put the rubber washers back in place. Put the Rail on top.
Choose two of the bolt holes for your real metal bolts. (I choose two
slightly to the right of center). Put the rubber plugs into the others.
Tighten the metal bolts down.

Install seat. With the seat in place you can reattach the rubber edge
strip and metal strip at the door entrance (You'll have to remove them
when pulling the seat.) If you aren't using the middle seat you can put
carpet down and you'll hardly notice the rails. I understand OEM
Westy's had a middle of the rail filler to make it even less noticable.
I haven't gotten to making those yet. I also haven't cut carpet to put
in place when the seat is installed. That too, will have to wait for
another weekend.

PS. This must have been my weekend for cutting myself. This first thing
I did was cut both wrists while installing a washer (not into the
Westy...I just used it to transport the washer). Then while lifting up
the floor, I dropped the floor pinching the tip of one of my fingers
and ripping the skin off the tip of the finger. Later as I was trimming
up the edges of my cuts, I sliced another finger with my leatherman
knife.

I'm not normally this clumsy and I normally take a lot of precautions
to avoid injuries. It was just the weekend for catching up all the
times I don't injure myself.