Date:         Thu, 17 Apr 1997 03:11:41 -0400 (EDT)
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         JordanView@aol.com
Subject:      Re: Misc

In a message dated 97-04-17 02:03:57 EDT, cankeny@andcor.com (Chuck Ankeny)
writes:

<< Last year I tried (with the help of my Official VW Vanagon manual) to
 remove the center two seats from my 86 Syncro Vanagon 7 passenger.  I
 found that there was some type of heavy duty channel that the seats slid
 on but could not see how they could be removed entirely without removing
 the channel also.  There is a wood insert on top of the metal floor pan
 inbetween the seats and the sliding door.  The wood piece appears to be
 one piece covering the entire floor pan except where the middle seats
 are.
  >>

What do you mean by the"center two seats"?  The middle seat?
Removing the middle seat is incredibly easy.
All you do is rip, or get some scissors or a bucknife and cut the carpet in a
line to the sliding door, and pull out the foamboard....

What?... Isn't that what everybody else has done??  :<)

I have seen QUITE a few 7 pass Vans that have had the carpet torn by ignorant
PO's because they didn't take the time to use common sense.

Here's the proper proceedure for removing the center seat. And yes, it IS
incredibly easy.

-remove the aluminum sliding door threshold. (small phillips head)
-remove the backseat kickpanel, or carefully pull the carpet out from
underneath it. 
-from the drivers side, lift up the carpet and start rolling it to the
sliding door. The carpet is split to straddle the middle seat, so roll it out
from underfrom the front of the middle seat, and then roll it out from under
the back of the middle seat.  
-after the carpet is out, pull out the foamboard insulation ( Oh, and it
ain't a piece of wood either....)  from between the middle seat and the
sliding door. 
- unbolt the seat from the track (don't unbolt the track from the floor -
just the seat from the track) until it slides.
slide it out. (you may need the help of a gorilla, as that sucker is
heavy...)

that's it. 
Rocket science, folks, indeed. 

as far as a swivel seat - get that out of a junked westfalia. 

and as far as foglites, I'm not sure what country you're from, but here in
the US you can have foglites on just about anything. Depending on your local
laws, you may have to wire your fogs to shut off when Hi beams go on, but
usually it isn't a issue. 

chris