Date:         Wed, 29 Jun 2011 01:28:25 -0400
Reply-To:     pickle vanagon <greenvanagon@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         pickle vanagon <greenvanagon@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      the 5th seat
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

Regarding adding a 5th seat to a westy...

supposedly these 5th seats really exist.  Gary even has a photo of one on
his website, just to prove that they do:
http://www.telusplanet.net/public/gary2a/rack/5thseat/5thseat.htm

Notice how it folds up.  Neat!

Some questions:
1) Occasionally 5th seats pop up on the samba for large amounts of money.
But these appear to have a storage compartment, and it seems like they may
not flip up.  What's up with the ones that flip up?  Are they really
different from the ones with the storage compartment?  Are they even rarer?

2) Our van has the old green/brown/tan seats (these:
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=850174) and I have to
say we really like them (I know some people hate them!).  I'm guessing the
5th was never made with this fabric.  Is it possible to take one of these
green/brown/tan seats, which are relatively cheap online, and disassemble it
and attach it to one of the 5th seat brackets?

3) I guess the other option for adding seating to a westy is the 2 seat
bench in the back, on tracks.  Presumably these don't come in our choice of
fabric but we could re-upholster it if we were really determined.  I'm not
as excited about this option because I imagine it is more of an impediment
to camping, even though it can be easily slid in and out.  Anybody want to
comment on how the 2-person bench affects access to the camping stuff while
its installed?  (I'm guessing people that have this just sit it outside
under plastic while in a campsite.)

Thanks for any help!!
Wes