Hi Michael,

Do you have part numbers for the bottom = brackets?  I went to the dealer and ordered all the brackets the = parts guy had on his microfiche.  But they don't fit into each = other.  I basically got two kinds of brackets.  One has a = short round cup welded on a plate, the other one has a longer oval = shaped cup on a steel plate.

I got the following part number:

255-887-225-C oval shape
225-887-225-A round shape

Can you make sense out of this?

Thanks,
Peter

-----Original Message-----
From: Michael Snow [mailto:mwsnow@HOME.COM]
Sent: Wednesday, March 22, 2000 6:16 AM
To: vanagon@GERRY.VANAGON.COM
Subject: Re: '90 Vanagon Jump Seats and Rear = Bench/Bed

  I'm not sure if I'm painting the correct = picture here.  The seat I have is
from a Carat model.  It is a removable seat = that faces to the rear when
installed.  There is a system of brackets = attached to the right side battery
box/seat pedestal and 2 anchors in the van floor = that stay with the van when
the seat is removed.
  When the seat is in the van, it is attached = to this anchor/bracket system
at 3 points.  One is a spring-loaded latch on = the bar at the top of the
battery box.  The other 2 points are the floor = anchors.  There are no bolts
holding the seat in when it is installed.  It = is held in by gravity.  A
properly seat-belted passenger would also contribute = to seat retention.
  The factory floor anchors consist of 2 pieces = that fit back-to-back on
opposite sides of the floor, like a sandwich.  = The bottom piece (outside the
van) is a flat plate with a short pipe welded to the = center of its face with
the open end pointing perpendicular to the face of = the plate.  The upper
piece (inside the van under the carpet) is a flat = plate with a hole in the
center.  The short pipe fits nicely into this = hole.  The plates are welded
to the body, and to each other, making a very rigid = and sturdy mount point
for the "legs" of the seat frame.
  At the bottom of the seat frame are = protrusions that look like steel dowel
pins.  They are not threaded.  The factory = installation provided
tight-fitting plastic caps that fit between the = dowel pins and the "socket"
created by the floor anchors to ensure a snug fit = with no squeaking.
  I intend to reproduce this system in the = closest way possible.  I am
assuming that the lateral forces on the floor = anchoring points could be very
high in a collision.  I think the anchor plate = system is necessary for
secure mounting.  The van floor alone could not = provide a fraction of the
rigidity and durability of the proper anchors.  = If the weight of the seat
and passenger were allowed to bear directly on the = floor with no plate to
spread the load, it would likely deform the floor to = the point where the
entire mount system would be compromised over = time.

Mike Snow
Camp Pendleton, California
1982 Westfalia 1.6TD
1983 ASI 1.6D

> I suspect you misunderstood what Chris was = saying. You don't anchor the
> legs to the wooden floor, you cut the floor = away anchor through the
> metal floor. On the other hand... I would = probably weld it also. I
> always over build no matter what I am working = on. Just kinda like that.
> Haven't had anything fall down yet.
>
>