Date: Tue, 10 Feb 2004 07:38:11 -0800
Reply-To: Kirk van Druten <kirk@LANSHARKS.NET>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Kirk van Druten <kirk@LANSHARKS.NET>
Subject: Re: Vanagon Seat Belts
In-Reply-To: <B168EAEE247BB248B87A08A94F43535BAA4E@redline02.ctsr.local>
Content-type: text/plain; charset="ISO-8859-1"
Kurt,
> I noticed you posted a note about installing 3 point seat belts in your Westy.
> I have an 87 Wolfsburg and would love to do the same for my kids. I donıt
> know what was involved and what parts you had to scavenge/purchase, or if it
> will even work with the weekender rear bench.
I got a slew of posts from folks on this topic. The job was pretty
straightforward the bolt holes are already in the van but are all hidden
behind the trim panels on the passenger side. The job is pretty well
photographed here http://members.shaw.ca/albell/mods4.html
I installed a belt on the passenger side only. I haven't heard anyone chime
in about installation on the driver's side of a Westy with cabinets.
Anyone?
A few things to note:
1. the bolts for installation of the belt tensioner are not included in the
box from VW
2. The price for the tensioner part should be around $75 new from VW. I had
several dealers quote me $119 or more and when asked why another dealer
(Broadway Volkswagen in Oakland, CA) had quoted me only $75, they all said
³uhhh...um.... Oh yeah, $75 looks like the right price.². Be careful here.
3. If I remember correctly, youıll need 4 bolts: 3 to bold the belt
tensioner thingy inside the wall trim, just behind the rear seat. If memory
serves (unlikely!) I think those 3 bolts need metric threads. Youıll need
another (larger) bolt to hold the shoulder strap guide (like the one behind
your ear for the shoulder belt on the front seats). There are also some
bushings required which might be best purchased from a dealer. Their
microfilm system seemed to have part numbers for most if not all of the
parts.
4. The Bently manual has the procedure well documented, including specific
patterns measured for the cutouts you need to make for the belt to pass
through the trim.
5. I found the black plastic trim which allows the belt to pass through the
trim in the rear cargo area to be tricky to install. It's part of the
tensioner part from VW. I ended up using epoxy on the back side of the trim
panel to get it to stay put. Check out itıs design (kinda funky) and
measure accurately (make the hole smaller than necessary at first?) and you
should be OK. If all else fails, a bit of epoxy on the back seems to do the
trick.
Good luck and feel free to write back with questions.
Kirk out
Kirk van Druten ------------> kirk@lansharks.net
LANsharks Consulting -----> http://www.lansharks.net
510-601-5475 -------------> 510-601-5130 fax
From: "Kurt Camealy" <camealy@ctsr.com>
Date: Tue, 10 Feb 2004 09:49:23 -0500
To: "Kirk van Druten" <kirk@LANSHARKS.NET>
Subject: Vanagon Seat Belts
Hello,
I noticed you posted a note about installing 3 point seat belts in your
Westy. I have an 87 Wolfsburg and would love to do the same for my kids. I
donıt know what was involved and what parts you had to scavenge/purchase, or
if it will even work with the weekender rear bench. I know I have seen them
installed on later Carats.
Thanks for any help you can offer,
Kurt
