Date:         14 Jul 1995 08:29:06 -0700
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         "Harvey Chao" <Harvey_Chao@smtp.svl.trw.com>
Subject:      Re: 88 Westy-Third Seat Opt

                      RE>>88 Westy-Third Seat Option?              7/14/95

Will the standard "middle seat" fit?  These seats are mounted on "bolt on"
rails.  The rails bolt to the floor pan and the seat slides onto the rails and
clamps down.  The rails would be availabe at any wrecking yard with a dead
vanagon, and possibly the middle seat as well.  

I needed additional seating (8 total).  While a 3 across middle seat is an
available item, it costs a fortune.  I obtained a stock middle seat with fold
forward backrests form a friend that had a new vanagon and had retrofitted it
with a wheel chair lift in the area of the removed middle seat.  By
disassembling the seat, and cutting the frame in half with a saber saw using
hack saw blades, I was able to reassembe a single seat.  I got rails from a
wrecking yard, trimmed them to the correct length and was able to mount this
single seat as if factory original using factory mounting points and hardware.
The point of this is that many things are possible with wrecking yard/salvaged
parts,  inginuity, sweat, perserverence, and a bit of luck!

Harvey
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