

| Subject: | An interesting approach to mounting 'other than stock' seats (LVC) |
| From: | Robert Fisher |
| Date: | Mon, 24 Jul 2006 20:57:48 -0700 |
From the Chevy Van mailing list I am on- yes, I am bi-vanual, deal with it. "I, too wouldn't recommend relocating the pedestals, as there are crossmembers where the mounting bolts pass through the floor. One thing I did years ago to some old VW buses (where the seat tracks were actually welded permanently to the body) was to cut down some junk stock seat frames, leaving only the lowermost portion of the tubular frame (which, again, had the corresponding track welded to it. I then mounted the tracks and frame for newer, comfier seats to the "dummy" frame (I have been partial to Honda seats- they are comfy and very well made) The end result was modern seats that could be installed into any bus of the same vintage in about a minute, and had roughly double the fore/aft travel. The G-Van version of that trick would be to drill flat adapter plates out of amply thick steel and either relocate the seat to your liking, or add a second set of tracks so that any one of your family and friends or future owners can comfortably sit and drive. The extra travel would be nice for getting them well clear of the doghouse to ease removal and installation. My Vandura panel has the bare-bones box-style pedestals and ugly non-reclining vinyl buckets. I have toyed with the idea of mounting the low-profile swivel pans from a VW Vanagon Westfalia on top of the GM pedestals and using some of the late Vanagon armrest buckets. In my years as an automotive upholsterer, I was consistently underwhelmed with the quality and durability of domestic factory seating. The conversion van seats were a crap shoot-- some were okay and some were absolute garbage, but most of them did not age well." FWIW Cya, Robert
Have something to add on this topic today? Revive this thread in the forum »