Fitting Ford Custom seats in rear of a T6

[Nickmac]

Yes, I made up individual plates with captive nuts and welded them to the underside of the floor (after getting everything very well lined up). I used 4 out of 5 fixings on each rail as the 5th one landed right above the box section running under the floor, so wasn't accessible.
I also used extra strengthening plates on the inside of the floor, underneath the rails, this ensured all the rails were at the exact same height and, as all my holes ended up on the bottom recesses of the corrugations, it stopped any pulling forces misshaping the floor.
All in all this resulted in a very strong installation. You can grab one of the seats and pull as hard as you can and they don't budge, no flex in the floor at all.

I actually collared someone in a car park who had a Transit Custom to see what theirs were fitted like, but unfortunately they were a different fit! Lol

 

[BSharp]

Sounds like the proper way to go, I bet you’d find your method was far above the engineering used in the factory!! I’m going to go down the same route as yourself. Thanks for the info very helpful pal.

 

[Vall]

Do you need to get an engineer‘s certificate for this to show your insurance or is it enough to get the nod from the MOT guy?

 

[BSharp]

This is what I found on the .gov website. Some of the information pretty bizarre in my opinion, no legal requirements for belts to rear!!! (Who’d of thought)
Based on these guidelines mine will be severely “over engineered” fat over and above recommendations I will then have checked at MOT station so should all be good.
Do I need to fit seatbelts in the rear?
There is no legal requirement for seatbelts to be fitted in the rear of a van. However, our advice is that the safest way for passengers to travel is in a proper seat with seatbelts fitted and, if you intend to carry children aged 12 years or under, the seatbelt wearing regulations require them to wear a suitable child restraint at all times.



Does the converted vehicle need to be checked?
There is no formal checking procedure for private conversions. However, if you have installed new seatbelts, it is advisable that you submit your vehicle for a seatbelt installation check (a class IVa check) which can be carried out as part of the annual MOT test.

 

[Nickmac]

I spoke with an MOT tester friend of mine before even starting the job. He stated that he had no standards or guidelines appropriate to the fitting of seats in the rear of the van, and thus nothing to reference my installation against (other than his own common sense and Engineering knowhow) so essentially it was "crack on buddy".
Obviously there now being seat belts fitted in the rear, they must pass inspection at MOT time. Which suggests that due to the fact the seat belts are built in to each individual seat rather than separate mounting points, theoretically the seat belt mounting points must be considered to be the seat rails. And therefore are liable to checks for corrosion within a certain distance etc..... However, most of the underside fittings are hidden behind the plastic under tray and fuel tank, so cannot be inspected as the MOT doesn't allow the removal of equipment for inspection. It's all a little counter intuitive, but my installation has passed an MOT so I am happy!

 

[BSharp]

Hi all

I have some Transit custom rear seats I am hoping to fit this week.
If someone has already fitted these, on the runners the middle pair are pretty obvious, but the near side and offside....Which is which ?
The only obvious differences I can see is the 2 holes on the side lip and the position of the " nipple ". Does the nipple go at the rear or the front ?
Having said about the middle ones being obvious...again there are 2 holes on the lip of each runner, should these face in together away from each other, to the near side, off side ?
Any advice much appreciated
View attachment 58012
Thanks
Andy

Hi Andy, did you get the seats fitted? I’m looking at starting mine this wei and I was wondering ho W you got on?
Cheers.

 

[BSharp]

Hi, so basically I took off everything from under the van, heat shields, undertray, fuel tank, exhaust and handbrake cable to get access. I then very carefully measured out where I needed the runners to sit and marked out and drilled the bolt holes in the floor. I then made up 30 captive nut plates (M12 shouldered nut on a 50x50x5mm plate and welded them to the underside of these holes. As it happened all the holes were located in the valley bottoms of the corrugated floor (as seen from above) so I made up and welded long steel plates to fit in these valleys to bring the floor level even. The channels for the seats can then be bolted directly through the floor and have at least 10mm of steel (extra to the floor thickness) bracing each contact point. Like you state, the upper edges of the channels would now sit proud of the floor by approx. 30mm. So what I did was add an extra 3/4" sheet of ply to the floor, over and above the 3mm sheet that was already there and then made up the rest of the gap with a heavy rubber stable mat cut to shape. I also had the original shaped carpet to fit around the runners too so it looks like a proper job. Just needed a little trim on the edge by the sliding door to tidy it all up. When the seats are fitted I can't make them move at all by hauling on them (I am sixteen stone) there's no flex in the floor at all. I was very happy with the seats overall, but by the time I had finished I was well and truly fed up of hauling them in and out of the van as they are really heavy.

Hi Nick, I’m about to get my seats in this week (2 singles) just wondered if I could ask you a quick question?
As you said my seat rail fixing points also finish in the valleys of floor so what I was going to do is weld four long steel plates to the floor to bring everything level,
My plan is to use some 40mm wide 2.5mm thick plates which will sit on top of the corrugations, I can. Then drill through these and floor where underneath I have spreader plates fitted with welded captive nuts, then all bolted through with 12mm high tensile bolts, In effect the floor sandwiched between seat bracket then steel plate, floor and spreader plate,
Is this similar to the method you used? I appreciate your replies
Cheers mate.

 

[Nickmac]

Yeah, that sounds very familiar. I put the internal strengthening plates "fore & aft" at the bottom of the corrugated channels so that I didn't have an air gap and wouldn't "squeeze" the floor out of shape when tightening the fixings. This also meant that I didn't raise the floor height any more than necessary. Not sure if this is what you meant, or you are laying yours on top of the corrugations?
I wouldn't recommend having a gap that could be squeezed as the floor isn't made of the thickest steel. You also need to be very careful not to blast holes in the floor when welding to it too! Hope you getting on OK.

 

[BSharp]

So started the seat install today, and as you say I will be doing the same as in fitting some 9 Or 10mm flat bar (need to measure again to make sure) to the BOTTOM of the valleys, not on top as I first thought (terrible idea to be honest) this will then make a solid sandwich type affair with at least 16mm steel including floor and spreader plates.
I've managed to use three of the proper mounting points as fortunately and with a lot of measuring and head scratching the Ford brackets fit over three of the dimples, happy days . One slightly worrying thing I did notice was when I removed my original Kombi seats, bearing in mind my van is a conversion, was that there was no strengthening plates fitted by that I mean the L shaped ones!! They were installed either side of cross member through a double skinned area, but I thought they would’ve had the plates fitted!! Maybe I’m wrong, van did come with a compliance certificate for the seats hmmm strange.

Also what are people opinions on the actual L shaped strengthening plates supplied by VW compared to making your own up from possibly 5mm thick steel 100x 100??
As the VW plates are only a small bent piece of steel designed to be pop riveted in place, presumably just to keep them from dropping off while fitting surely spreader plates are just as good if not better? Just thinking out loud really or over thinking lol.

 

[BSharp]

Seats in!!!!

 

[cfdave]

Hi all.
I'm looking at vw seats to make a kombi. There's loads about. So it's not an issue.

The thing is the transit custom rear seats are far better. 3 individual seats. Their own seat belts. Move forward. Middle folds for table etc?

I just don't know if my ocd can manage without original seats.

Has anyone on here done it? And issues? Would it out people off buying it in the future etc?

I wish I hadn't looked at them.

Any thoughts welcome..

Thank you

 

[VanDamMan]

Hi .. @cfdave .....if you wait a while you’d be able to buy VW/Ford/kombi combo when they join forces....but in the mean time have you looked At the Caravelle/ multi van seat options as a source ( I’m a kombi ) but you might have to fit a multi rail floor system but with that comes other seat and table options...but I’m sure others can give more info

 

[Big.mac]

I have seen a T6 with transit custom seats fitted in the rear. It looked great. No pictures I’m afraid, it was in the garage when I picked mine up after being lined

 

[The Van Cave]

Hi all.
I'm looking at vw seats to make a kombi. There's loads about. So it's not an issue.

The thing is the transit custom rear seats are far better. 3 individual seats. Their own seat belts. Move forward. Middle folds for table etc?

I just don't know if my ocd can manage without original seats.

Has anyone on here done it? And issues? Would it out people off buying it in the future etc?

I wish I hadn't looked at them.

Any thoughts welcome..

Thank you

Not done this myself, but there are a couple of threads on here with info from people who have. It might be worth a read through those.

Transit Custom Rear Seat Runners

Transit Custom Rear Seats In To A 66 T6.............

 

[Markyppp]

@BSharp ... Would you say there is enough width space for 3 of these seats? Hard to tell by the photo!
Did it all go straight forward? I'm looking at doing this myself since these tick all the boxes of my needs

 

[BSharp]

Yer you could fit the 3 seats in if you position them in the standard position, I moved mine further back so slightly between the wheel arches to gain some legroom so could only for the two (which was all I wanted)
There is a conversion company which fits these in threes so it’s definitely possible.

 

[BSharp]

Also yes was straight forward no issues really just a lot of measuring and double checking but overall pretty simple. (Ish)

 

[Markyppp]

Perfect, thanks- Looks a great job! I Don't suppose you know what the company is called that fits them?
Cheers, Mark

 

[BSharp]

I’ll be just had a quick search and found their website.

Van Seat Conversions | Van Seat Conversion Guide | Fastfit Nationwide

Fastfit Nationwide specialise in Van Seat Conversions. See our Van Seat Conversion Guide to see which type of seat is best suited for your vehicle. Great quality low prices, all seats are M1 rated.

www.fastfitnationwide.com

 

[Markyppp]

Thanks for that. Yours looks a much better finish!