Bench to Captain Chair Questions

Got a few quick questions, maybe one of you guys could help me out. I have an 86' LE that came with benches, and I managed to get some mint captain chairs from a parts van.

Obviously the floor plans don't match up, but from placing the seats around, I found that there my be enough clearance for holes to be drilled safely. The gas tank would need to be dropped, (I need to fix my fuel level sensor anyways.) and I would need install threaded flanges to secure the seats with bolts.

Question I have is:

Does anyone have pictures of the floor pan showing the captain chair bolt holes? It would help give me an approximation. Bonus points if someone were to actually measure out where they're located... :drool:

Perhaps the most important question is this: Which way should the seats be set? Lever to the inside/Rotate to the inside? The seats were set in different directions when I got them, and I don't know which way they should rotate when installed correctly.

If someone could help me out I'd appreciate it -- and when I actually get down and do this project, I'll be sure to document it. Just incase anyone else is crazy enough to do it.

Cheers,

JRSJ

I'm interested in this as well. We travel with the rear seat removed and the small middle bench gets crowded for 2 people.

I thought about mounting the captains chairs old VW style with brackets welded to the floor using 'T-bolts' that fit in a slot. Once the bolts are rotated they provide secure mounting. This wouldn't require holes to be drilled and there'd be minimum fabrication on the mounting brackets. I strongly perfer simple welding vs. drilling holes.

Also, if anyone is intersted, the rear seat from our TV's is a nice replacement front seat for non-walktru bay window VW's. Perfect width and comfortable.

I've been considering the possibility of welding the flanges to the floor pan. That will depend on if I can get away with securing the them with stainless hardware, or it space will be an issue.

If I go that route I'll have to spend the extra time and disconnect the ECU/Battery/Alt in conjunction with a good ground close to the weld area. Maybe Tim could chime in and recommend any other components that may become toast when welding on our vans?

Body/frame welding won't hurt anything :weld:. The current only passes through the area between the place you ground the welder and your work area (electronics aren't even involved & you don't even need to disconnect your battery). Just make sure you hook the welder ground up to someplace on the floor or sub-frame close to your work area and you'll be fine. Tim

PS: If you were welding on the frame and you hooked the welder ground up to the ECU or the alternator then all bets are off :doh:.

Thanks for the tips Tim -- looking forward to getting my hands dirty on this project.

Still waiting to see if anyone who has the captain seats could help me out and post clear picture of the floor pan layout. All of the pictures I've found have had carpet on and low resolution. Finally, if someone could answer how the seats are set when installed correctly. ie. Lever to the inside/Rotate to the inside.

I would very much appreciate it.
:)

I found the answer to which way the seats need to be installed. Figured I'd thumb through my owners manual and found a page on captain chairs. :dance1:

"Pull the lock release lever and turn the seat clockwise for the right seat and counterclockwise for the left seat."


I'll be taking pictures and mocking up where the seats will be positioned, using some low resolution photos as a reference. Again, if anyone can provide a clear, high resolution photo showing the floor pan where the captain chair holes are, I would love you forever. :joy:

I took the time last weekend to fit, and approximate where the seats will go. Toyota was nice enough to leave the space where the they attach unstamped when they assembled the vehicle in '86.

Both seats can rotate 180ºand recline without issue. Once the position was satisfactory, I marked the feet position and used a metal punch to centre where the drill hole will be going.

I will have to drop the gas tank, to make sure I have clearance for the drill holes. I'm confident there is; but I need to remove the fuel cell for two reasons.


A) I need to fix the fuel gauge sensor inside the tank.


B) I refuse to weld with gasoline in the van. Especially right over top of the tank. :no:


In my spare time, I'll be making templates that I can transfer to 1/4 steel plate, which will be used as an anchor point. I will then weld the plate to the sheet from the top, being careful not to burn through the floor pan.


I have some concerns about welding plate to sheet metal, especially thin autobody metal. I may look into an industrial adhesive for the plate instead of welding. We'll cross that bridge when we get to it.


http://www.jrsj.ca/TVT/images/seats-2.jpg

http://www.jrsj.ca/TVT/images/seats-3.jpg

http://www.jrsj.ca/TVT/images/seats.jpg

http://www.jrsj.ca/TVT/images/seats-4.jpg

When you're welding heavier to lighter metal, kind of cheat your electrode toward the heavier side of the joint and let the puddle "wander" over and fuse to the sheet metal.