Fitting a rear seat in a van - advice needed

[Migmac]

my dad put me and my mate in the boot of his volvo once to go somewhere as there where already 7 inside , was the 70s though

Me and my pals got put in the trailer, loved every mile of it

 

[dieselsamurai]

OP is quiet have we scared him off ?

 

[Robotstar5]

Me and my pals got put in the trailer, loved every mile of it

I've noticed they're refusing trailers carrying folks on tractor road runs these days

 

[Nomad]

I used a Mk1 Cortina convertible as my everyday car for many years in the 80s & 90s, no idea who did the conversion (not Crayford so maybe DIY?) but it was done properly - the front end got a good wallop in a 3 car collision and it didn't even knock the doors out of alignment.
Great fun but even then a lot of people I knew were terrified to accept lifts in it (no roof, no roll bar, no seatbelts ...) all 100% road legal for the time

A friend had a works van, more than once I ended up getting a lift in the back with his tools if the front seats were full to capacity and it was maybe 20 years ago ...

Explaining life as it was then to some folk now I'm sure they don't understand how anyone survived. Anyone who grew up before the 70s are like weebles - you can't keep them down

 

[Cobbler]

Back in the early to mid 60s I travelled to scout camps sat in the back of an open coal lorry, back of a van… sheer luxury!

 

[daleyd]

Back in the early to mid 60s I travelled to scout camps sat in the back of an open coal lorry, back of a van… sheer luxury!

My uncle used to do building work for the local Boys Brigade at their campsites near Barmouth. Because of this he got the use of the site during the summer if there was no BB using it.

We travelled down a few times in the back of a truck they used to carry the tents down in, with a roller shutter back door. The door never sealed all that well and you ended up proper woozy with the 4 star fumes making their way back in.

When I was about 13 we were travelling back after a weekend doing some work down there, in a mk2 transit with slatted sideways fitting benches in the rear. I was having a sleep when “something” happened and the van hit a tree - I was shot forward horizontally and smashed my head against a metal arm rest, can’t remember anything other than being dragged out of the back doors and then blinding pain.

I ended up in Blaenau Ffestiniog hospital having my head x rayed - nothing fractured (amazingly) but I ended up having a grapefruit sized lump. A few weeks went by and the doctor was expecting it to go down, but it never did - so I ended up having it cut open and a load of congealed blood squeezed out of it.

Back of my head still has the scar today!

 

[Migmac]

I've noticed they're refusing trailers carrying folks on tractor road runs these days

View attachment 447809

View attachment 447810

Nice County, need an Iglund double drum winch n the back though

 

[Kayos]

I put seats in the back of an Astra van, there was a bit of floor that I removed to reveal the estate floor underneath

Seat belt anchors again all there, just needed to tap a couple of holes and weld on the mounting points for the back of the seat

I was told by the MOT tester it didn't need seatbelts due to no back windows, not sure I believed him

 

[Smallfry]

Late sixties/early seventies, used to go the the seaside in the back of one of the neighbours Morris Minor pickup about 40 miles and back again. Five or six kids in the back, sometimes standing up looking over the top of the cab, mouth flapping in the wind.
Another neighbour had two daughters, and took myself and other kids in a Mk3 Zodiac, sometimes eight people in the car. Happy days, but you would never get away with it now, but never lost anyone.

Yep, I don't know how we survived to adulthood.

 

[dieselsamurai]

I put seats in the back of an Astra van, there was a bit of floor that I removed to reveal the estate floor underneath

Seat belt anchors again all there, just needed to tap a couple of holes and weld on the mounting points for the back of the seat

I was told by the MOT tester it didn't need seatbelts due to no back windows, not sure I believed him

Yeah i think he was wrong there

 

[Pond frog]

I had an uncle in Ireland who did removals , at the weekend he’d put some sofas in the removal van and ferry a whole gang of kids to the beach.
When he got there he used to take the sofas out and used them instead of deck chairs. He even used to put a carpet on the beach as he wasn’t keen on sand

 

[Bornfree]

Late sixties/early seventies, used to go the the seaside in the back of one of the neighbours Morris Minor pickup about 40 miles and back again. Five or six kids in the back, sometimes standing up looking over the top of the cab, mouth flapping in the wind.
Another neighbour had two daughters, and took myself and other kids in a Mk3 Zodiac, sometimes eight people in the car. Happy days, but you would never get away with it now, but never lost anyone.

Yep, I don't know how we survived to adulthood.

Middle to late 70s in the school holidays me my cousin and our Labrador used to ride on the back of my father's transit flat bed pick up. It had no side's and if it was cold we sat against the headboard but after work we would regularly sit at the rear and dangle our legs over the back, the dog was never that stupid.

 

[hotponyshoes]

Yeah i think he was wrong there

I'm not sure if he is?
As far as I know you are only required to wear a seatbelt in the rear if one is fitted.
It would only fail the mot if one was originally fitted by the manufacturer (and was missing or damaged) and the seat was in a position to be used.

I'm sure there are a load of things you can get into trouble for if you own a van that you have added extra seats into but I don't think the passenger will have a problem for not wearing the belt (apart from several severe problems in the event of an accident)

 

[Pigeon_Droppings2]

As far as I know you are only required to wear a seatbelt in the rear...

Sounds like utter nonsense....but quite unbelievably there's actually a gov page on it ....was published in 2010 though.

I can imagine the insurance might be expensive...worth calling around to check before doing anything.

 

[Red'n'Black]

My uncle used to do building work for the local Boys Brigade at their campsites near Barmouth. Because of this he got the use of the site during the summer if there was no BB using it.

We travelled down a few times in the back of a truck they used to carry the tents down in, with a roller shutter back door. The door never sealed all that well and you ended up proper woozy with the 4 star fumes making their way back in.

When I was about 13 we were travelling back after a weekend doing some work down there, in a mk2 transit with slatted sideways fitting benches in the rear. I was having a sleep when “something” happened and the van hit a tree - I was shot forward horizontally and smashed my head against a metal arm rest, can’t remember anything other than being dragged out of the back doors and then blinding pain.

I ended up in Blaenau Ffestiniog hospital having my head x rayed - nothing fractured (amazingly) but I ended up having a grapefruit sized lump. A few weeks went by and the doctor was expecting it to go down, but it never did - so I ended up having it cut open and a load of congealed blood squeezed out of it.

Back of my head still has the scar today!View attachment 447814

Second year at uni, in the summer holidays my mate borrowed the works van from the double glazing firm he was working for and came up to see me.

We went out for the day in it, him driving and me sat in a deckchair where the passenger seat should have been.

It all went ok until he tried to turn right from the left lane of a dual carriageway and a council truck rear-ended us at 40mph.

I ended up in the back of the van amongst the mess of tools and ladders. I was amazed everybody walked away from that. Good job all the glazing units were emptied out before he took it.

 

[dieselsamurai]

Sounds like utter nonsense....but quite unbelievably there's actually a gov page on it ....was published in 2010 though.

I can imagine the insurance might be expensive...worth calling around to check before doing anything.

yeah im shocked but it is on the Gov.uk website

like you say published 2010 so possibly outdated now but I cant find anything newer

to me though i would want seatbelts whatever even for mates let alone family , 3 big blokes sat in the back coming your way in a crash is not going to end well

 

[hotponyshoes]

Wouldn't surprise me if nothing has been changed since 2010.

After it became law for manfactures to fit belts it took another 15yrs for it to become law to wear them...

 

[Wriggly46]

Well I can honestly say I wasn't expecting such a big response...

The van in question was never available with factory fitted rear seats, so they're not an option unfortunately.

I'm aware of the issues with insurance etc. - my plan is to convert the van into a day van/basic camper - insurance is more limited, but there are specialist companies who do modified van policies. The van has sentimental value as it belonged to my Dad and will be off the road whilst undertaking the conversion.

It is quite common to fit seats with integral seat belts to vans, and there are companies specialising in this. Welfare vans, taxis and minibuses etc. often have seats fitted aftermarket. Seats from companies like Jany, Scot Seats and Phoenix are usually bolted through with spreader plates underneath.

The easier option is to sell the seat I have and fit some minibus seats/unwin rails, but I liked the fact that the seat I have folds flat as it could form part of a bed.

 

[Prajna]

Another vote for using an original seat and belts.



Back in the late 50s, early 60s, we used to ride around on the outside of our neighbor's 1948 Dodge pickup, standing on the running boards! That was great fun. Cops didn't even give us a second look back then, probably because their kids did the same thing. Rather different story today, however.

Yeah, no running boards.