Date:         Thu, 05 May 94 14:35:01 CDT
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Joel Walker <JWALKER@ua1vm.ua.edu>
Subject:      Re: Jump Seats

On Thu, 5 May 94 13:11:38 CDT Charles E. Vaughan said:
>once saw jump seats in a Wolfsburg edition that mounted to the rear of the
>front passenger seat pedestal.  I was told that these could not be ordered
>from the factory, but occasionally were available when a Wolfburg Vanagon
>was modified for wheel chair use.

B.S.!! those 'backward' seats were an optional package in the vanagon. in the
later years, the Carat version had them. the Wolfsburg Limited Edition also
had them as far back as 1985.  if you want to pay the price, you can order
most any of the parts from the parts department.

>1.  Does anyone know how to get these jump seats?

junkyards? ordering from the vw parts people will be EXPEN$IVE.

>2.  Has anyone ever seen one installed in a Westy?

not in a camper.

>3.  Does anyone else with a 5+ person family have an alternate solution?

there was an optional extra seat (removable) that could be ordered for the
camper versions. it was a single seat that sat on a metal box that was bolted
to the floor, just like the middle seat of non-campers.  it seems to be
a rather rare thing though ... i had tried to find a couple (to replace the
middle bench in my bus), and the dealer wanted $900 (oh my aching wallet!)
for each one!!! and the junkyards didn't have any at all.

so ... what to do? well, the bolt holes for the middle bench seat should be
there, under your carpet, so you could get some of those 'slider rails' that
are bolted to the floor in non-campers, then slide a middle seat onto the
rails and bolt it down (all just like in non-campers). BUT ... that would
pretty much fill up the middle part of your bus, and it might not fit because
of the cabinet. at the very least, you'd likely have to 'move' the little
bolt holes in the base of the seat (by drilling new holes).

you could get a middle seat and maybe have an upholstery shop make it shorter
... like only a one person seat ... but that sounds like a lot of trouble.

so ... what i decided to try (later, when i get some more money and time) is
this:  get a replacement front seat from a junkyard, and get someone to weld
up a box for it to fit on. the box would be welded to the bottom rails of a
normal middle seat.  if you've even seen a middle seat being taken out of a
bus, it makes a lot more sense. my problem is, that i want to have TWO of
them.

if you want, i'll xrox the 'research' papers i've got and ship them to you.

joel