Date:         Mon, 28 Apr 1997 23:06:59 +0100
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         "Lionel Tun" <ark@saqnet.co.uk>
Subject:      Extra seats for children

VW Caravelle Child Bench

As promised several weeks ago here is the description of my children's
bench seat, which increases the GL's seating capacity from 7 to 10.

It goes in the boot (trunk for our American brethren) facing backwards,
uses 3 lap belts and would be suitable for children from 2 or 3 years to
about 12 years depending on height.

Structure:
Basically two large wedges of hard foam shaped carefully to fit against the
back of the rear (3rd row) bench. The main wedge is for the seat, and a
smaller wedge for the backrest. The idea was to make the shape of the foam
do all the work. So I made the seat slope down towards the back slightly to
make it comfortable, and angled the backrest so that there was a slight
recline. This is not obvious in the ascii picture.
Looking side on with the car facing left...

                       /| Backrest
                      / |
                  a  /  |  b 11"
                    /   |
                   /    |
                  /     |
                  ------
<--- Front           c                   Tailgate -->
       of car            <-e 10"->
                _________________
               /                 |
          d   /                  |  f 9"
              |                  |
              -------------------   Seat
                       g

Dimensions:
The width of everything is 65" ie the width of the car in the boot. I could
have made it less by maybe up to an inch for a less tight fit.
The height of the seat increases from 7" at the back (d) to 9" at the front
(f). The seat is 18" from front to back (g).
The part of the backrest that rests on the seat (c) is 6". This gives about
10" for the actual useful part (e) of the seat. The height of the backrest
(b) is 11". This brings the top of the backrest just above the level of the
rear (3rd row) bench backrest.

If you sit a child on one step of a house staircase you can get an idea of
how comfortable he or she will be on the seat.

Seatbelts:
I ordered a set of three lap belts from Car Safety Products. The buckle end
was adjustable from 250mm to 600mm. It is used to about its full extent.
The other side is 1200mm, also adjustable. Incidentally the buckles are
compatible with the original equipment.
I removed the rear (3rd row) bench and used the existing lap belt anchorage
points, of which there are 4.
The belts are then passed backwards between the 2 pieces of foam - surfaces
c and e.

Finish:
I covered the foam with cotton, and then (still doing this bit) some spare
upholstery cloth on the outside.

Headrests:
The headrests of the rear (3rd row) bench double up perfectly as headrests
for the child bench, being at exactly the right height and angle.

In use:
The elevated vantage point gives a much better view for children. Now they
can see out of the rear windsreen and the rear side windows. The kids are
really excited about the child bench and sit there out of preference. The
seatbelts work well and are in just the right place. Comfort level has been
rated as extremely comfortable. It is a little bit of a clamber via the
boot lid. The littler ones need to be lifted in and out, but it is very
easy for an adult to lean over to strap them in.

When the child bench is not in use it is easy to take out because of its
light weight, and because it is in two manageable parts.

Cost:
Foam		73.75 GBP
Belts		42.30 GBP
Cloth		Free

Total		116.05 GBP

The foam was expensive but seems of high quality. I got it from Comfy Foam
in Ealing, London. They can cut any size of foam to size. But you have to
pay for the block it is cut out of. So my design involved cutting both the
back and the seat from the same block.

There was an even higher grade of foam about 1.5 times more expensive but I
did not think it was needed. I expect the seat to last as long as the
children need it. I did consider building the seat up with wood and then
putting a thinner piece of foam on top, but this would have been much more
work, and made the seat more awkward and heavy.

There are just 2 provisos. I have a 1984 Caravelle GL, but I understand the
rear bench was changed in 1986 to the Weekender fold down bed, so I don't
know if it will still fit exactly. Secondly I understand from 1986 the
rearmost side windows have black plastic air vents at the back, and this
may slightly negate the excellent view.

Lionel Tun
ark@saqnet.co.uk