I have recently purchases a 1983 water-cooled Vanagon, 7-passanger with all fixed seats. My search for a Van took quite a while - and I was looking only at the 'weekender' editions of the Vanagon. I was looking for the hardtop since we do a lot of cannoning - often carrying two canoes on the racks - and did not want the extra high weight of the of the camper). A rear seat that folds down to a bed would have been ideal for over-nighting at put-in's. The 83 - 7 passenger that I purchased was in much better shape than any weekender that I looked at - both in body and mechanical - and negotiated a price that was almost 1/2 of any other Van I looked at. So now I need to convert the rear-fixed seat to a bench seat that can fold down into a bed - idealing keeping the middle 2-seat bench in place, (my dog really likes that spot).

Does anyone have recommendations on approaches to this task? Is it better to search wrecking yards for a stock Vanagon rear seat/bed - or to build one myself? If the latter - any design/material recommendations?

Thanks for any suggestions offered.

-James Cardwell
Vancouver, BC