Early on in the planning, we decided that since our Delica is the SWB one, we'd need to make the front seats swivel. Then we thought, why not move the Captin's Chairs to the front and achieve the same thing.
First, we unbolted all the seats and just tried them in situ, to see if the would fit, rotate, etc. That's when I realised they weigh an absolute ton.
The next thing I did was accidentally put them in wrong way around, but actually this is the only way I could get them to fit, and it got past that annoying locking mechanism that stops you moving them too far the wrong way tilted up and stuff. Also, this way around, the back two bolt holes line up with the existing front holes and you can bolt them straight in - not so the others of course. You can see this in the first picture.
So I tested them swivelling, and they do work - the passenger seat swivels when it's as far forward as possible, the drivers' when it's as far back as possible.
The main reason for this is that a) the steering wheel gets in the way, and b) the handbrake does as well. We moved the handbrake back and towards the middle by unbolting it, disconnecting the cable and lining up the front bolt with the rearward existing bolt and drilling two new holes - nothing in the way underneath here - see image 2.
Unfortunately for me, we did this after we'd taken the cable out, and only realised that the end of the cable adjuster still fouled the seat swivelling no matter which way we did it. The only solution was to remove the plastic side cover from the seat on the right-hand-side - see image 3. Also left off the handbrake cover and I'll make up a boot for it somehow.
Anyway, the nitty-gritty of bolt-holes was next and not easy. My friend the welder made up a whole pile of steel plate squares with a bolt hole drilled, and welded a nut to each of these - see picture 4.
We started with the drivers' seat as we thought that would be easier - at that stage we thought we'd have to drop the diesel tank out - not true. The idea was to drill new holes where the seat was and bolt them to these. The reality is that most of the holes came out somewhere inaccessible and in the end we moved the driver's seat forwards a few inches and that way we could access all the left hand bolts. We had to weld some extension plates to the 3 right-hand bolt holes to clear a box section running the length of the car see picture 5.
The passenger seat was much easier, although we had to weld extensions for two bolts - see picture 6. The front one in the picture is an L-shape to clear a cross-member underneath. The second one is the rear right bolt and isn't shown in the picture, but is the same as all the others for the drivers' seat.
The next issue was that the existing bolts generally weren't quite long enough. I went to a local place here called nut and bolt and took the existing bolts and just asked for 14 new high-tensile ones that were 20mm longer, with a washer and a spring washer. To be honest, lots would fit, but you're only just grabbing the first few threads, and not worth scrimping for a car seat. Once we had all these plates bolted in, it was fine, but if I ever had to undo a bolt, the plate would fall out the bottom and I'd need to phone a friend to be under the car whilst I screwed a bolt in the top - not fun. So the last job was to take the damn heavy seats out again, offer up the plates under the car while someone put the bolts in again. Then you can drill from the top to fit pop-rivets and these will stop the plate falling out the bottom. Two-rivets each is enough to hold each plate in place if you remove a bolt.
That meant a final job of putting all the seats back - one last time and that was it.
As you can see from picture 7 - we have an issue with missing carpet - still need to solve this one. Oh, and you may want to fill in the old holes with some silicone if you're planning to go through any puddles.
That meant a final job of putting all the seats back - one last time and that was it.
As you can see from picture 7 - we have an issue with missing carpet - still need to solve this one. Oh, and you may want to fill in the old holes with some silicone if you're planning to go through any puddles.
So, likeasay, not a fun job, but definitely worth it. I have to say I couldn't have done it without help from my friend Doug - a wizard with a welder, deadly with a grinder.
The finished product means that we have room for a proper bed for me - I'm 6'2" and can chill out facing the other way when we go camping.
The finished product means that we have room for a proper bed for me - I'm 6'2" and can chill out facing the other way when we go camping.
Would I do things differently next time? Hmmm, it was harder than I expected, but not impossible - wish I had had these instructions first. If you could fit swivels for the existing front seats, then I would consider that - if only for the fact that the Captain's chairs weigh so much more. But having said that, they are so very very comfy on a long trip with two armrests...
Oh yeah, and the safety cum authorities issue with this? Well my van is in Tasmania, and we don't have any kind of check unless you forget to pay your rego. I'm convinced that my steel plates are stronger than the existing mounting points, so you makes your mod, you takes your chance...
Julian
