| [ Total Views: 4092 | Total Replies: 17 | Thread Id: 9555 ] |
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 matara
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| posted on August 19th, 2003 at 05:11 PM |
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Baby Seats and VW's
I'm due to become a father in December (yippee!) and I now need to think about getting the little one around and about, and to and from VW shows!
I've got a few cars to choose from, but I just wanted to know if anyone else has had any experience of putting a baby seat in a VW.
My 61 Karmann Beetle Cabrio has baby seat brackets installed above the rear firewall (not NOS or a factory option I'm guessing!) and my 65 Devon
Splitty has a rear seat belt on the back bench seat.
Can anyone offer some advice?
Thanks
Steve
[Edited on 19-8-2003 by matara]
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HotRodMatt
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| posted on August 19th, 2003 at 05:29 PM |
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I just had the CRAB (bar at back of bus) put it. My first is due in about 8 weeks. Just look up child restraints in the yellow pages and it'll
show who is allowed to fit them to the RTA standard.
Need to be careful cause even if it's stronger than what a factory will do, if you do it yourself the RTA can nab you for not having a
certificate to show it meets the appropriate Australian Standards.
Pretty easy process.
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 vw54
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| posted on August 19th, 2003 at 05:33 PM |
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I fitted rear seat belt mount points to my Oval way back in 1983,,,, # 1 was due in 1984 so he took his first trip to Valla in the back seat of an
Oval... in the baby capsual.
Oh i welded the mount point into the body work, so stock belts could be fitted.
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 Bizarre
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| posted on August 19th, 2003 at 05:52 PM |
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What ever you do - get it done properly
My mate "whacked" in a bar into his early Torago (what ever) the other day. This guy is a Factory Manager and used some heavy grade steel.
Yep it would have been secure.
Anyway - the boys in blue pounced on Mt Druitt shopping centre and the wife wasnt allowed to take the kid home - had to find other means of approved
transport. They copped a fine (couple of hundred) for their trouples as well.
Aint no wives tale either!
Futue te ipsum!!!
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paulr
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| posted on August 20th, 2003 at 04:10 PM |
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This is no help but my mate tied his baby seat into the back of his kombi with hemp rope - worked real well - although he never hit anything more than
a greasy fat joint. Thankfully
Dazed and Confused
and riding a pushi
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Quickbug
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| posted on August 22nd, 2003 at 02:50 PM |
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So many babies..
God im going to have to sell my vw, because im going to be a daddy soon too...
   :P
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Robo
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| posted on August 22nd, 2003 at 07:48 PM |
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All you have to do is trade the Bug for a Kombi! no problem, and your still in the fold! :thumb
Rob.....
Boxer Power
Member of DMLRK.....Die Mittler Lebuns Resto Komeradschaft
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Bugged Again
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| posted on August 22nd, 2003 at 09:30 PM |
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| Quote: |
God im going to have to sell my vw, because im going to be a daddy soon too...
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I think thats a very wrong attitude. You need to buy your baby their first car and look after it until they are ready to drive.
i have now used that excuse twice, a nice beetle for the eldest, kombi baja for the youngest and a nother couple of wrecksin the yard. Since the kids
were born the collection has grown.
Veedubbs breed quicker than humans. |
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jakriz
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| posted on August 23rd, 2003 at 12:08 AM |
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I have 2 baby seat clips on the rear firewall beside where the roll cage bolts in (naturally)
Just as a parental tip, if u want your new baby to sleep in the back of your VW, bring them home in the VW from hospital. Dominic, now 3, will fall
asleep to the twin 45mm Dellortoes literally 200m down the road, yet won't sleep in the Holden Vectra!!
Sienna, now 8 months hasn't been allowed in the VW yet (mummy said she isn't allowed near the vw) but the clip is there ready for her first
trip. Judging by her reaction when I start it up she won't be sleeping in it!
regards
Jak Rizzo
Congratulations to Ben Durie for breaking the hillclimb record at Ringwood in his stroker beetle!
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grouch
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| posted on August 23rd, 2003 at 12:20 AM |
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I noticed my '74 Kombi has two child restraint anchors fitted to the shelf above the engine. I doubt if this is legal considering the van is
plated a '2 seater'.
I have seen other Kombi's with child seat in them though....
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graham
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| posted on August 23rd, 2003 at 04:21 PM |
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I went and saw seatwise up here in Brisbane and they said as what evryone else has said. Have to plate above the firewall where the vents are above
the boot lid they reckon that it is the strongest point but if it is not approved you will get nabbed. Luckily for me I have a 3 yr old and a 1 yr old
that dont come in the car anyway as I dont have rear seat belts anyway.
extreme dubber
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Quickbug
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| posted on August 23rd, 2003 at 06:46 PM |
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| Quote: | Originally
posted by Bugged Again
| Quote: |
God im going to have to sell my vw, because im going to be a daddy soon too...
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I think thats a very wrong attitude. You need to buy your baby their first car and look after it until they are ready to drive.
i have now used that excuse twice, a nice beetle for the eldest, kombi baja for the youngest and a nother couple of wrecksin the yard. Since the kids
were born the collection has grown.
Veedubbs breed quicker than humans.
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My attitude has nothing to do with it... Im 22 and was not expecting the baby at all.
Even though i am thrilled, i am realisitic. I have too much debt to clear up before the baby comes. Selling my vw is only one of the things i have to
do that i am not really happy about doing.
Means i can rescue a vw later and have my way with it over time :P
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Kafer Lover
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| posted on August 26th, 2003 at 02:36 PM |
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Baby seats and belts
Anyone had any trouble with the length of the seatbelt not being long enough to go through the baby seat?
I got the bolt put in properly and all that, only to find that when I tried to put the seat in the belt was 6 inches too short. Can you get longer
belts? Anyone recommend anywhere Melbourneish to get one?
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KOM123
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| posted on August 26th, 2003 at 08:49 PM |
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We had that problem in the Kombi, you can just get an extension strap
Usually stocked in the same places as the belt straps, anchor bolts etc.
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rachael brown
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| posted on August 27th, 2003 at 01:44 AM |
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you guys have just saved my life, ive just found out im pregnant and all i thought of was my kombi. what about seats and seat belts and all that, i
dont want to sell it. i have to sell my vespa, baby seats dont fit on them but my kombi nooo wayyy. so i can safely get belts put in. what about that
roaring noise it makes, great for drowning out crying!! where in melbourne can i get this done??
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Kafer Lover
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| posted on August 27th, 2003 at 03:22 PM |
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seat belts
Maybe, I wasn't clear: its not the belt that goes from baby seat to anchor that is too short, its the actural normal seatbelt that gets fed
through the base of the baby seat.
So what I need is a longer rear seatbelt.
Any ideas where from?
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KOM123
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| posted on August 27th, 2003 at 11:42 PM |
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Rachel congratulations on the news We currently have two child
restraints in our Kombi and that was done by Littles Child Restraints in Sydney who we received excellent service from. I believe they now have
franchises in Melbourne too including a mobile service so it might be worth contacting them http://www.littleschildrestraints.com.au/
Kafer, it's not that you weren't clear, I simply misread your query sorry. Maybe you could contact Littles too as they did replacement rear
belts when I got the Kombi done so presumably they might carry a range of lengths also?
Hope this helps
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Kafer Lover
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| posted on August 28th, 2003 at 08:34 AM |
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thanks for that,
I'll see what they can do.
:thumb
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Spook
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| posted on August 29th, 2003 at 06:21 AM |
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1] Congratulations Rachael.
2] In my kombi, I just drilled a hole in the parcel tray, put a plate under it in the engine bay, & put in one of the bolts with the orange
plastic doohickey. Looks like a bought one & is solid as a rock, & 3 of my 5 kids have been safe as houses.
Only thing that makes it a pain in the arse is your youngest is at the very back while you are at the very front.
As to the legallity of it, I don't know. But I do know it was perfectly acceptable of doing it in the HQ I owned with my first 2.
3] I also have a seating capacity of 2 on the compliance plate. Putting a number on it was the biggest mistake VW ever did with the kombi's.
ALL kombis have a seating capacity of at least 8 (some are 9).
So mine is registered as a 2 seat "panel van with windows", but insured as a bus.
And EVERY year I have to jump through the same bloody hoops to do it........
[Edited on 28-8-2003 by Spook]
Well my friends are gone & my hair is grey, I ache in the places where I used to play.
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HotRodMatt
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| posted on August 29th, 2003 at 09:02 AM |
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While a bolt with a plate is suitably strong (in NSW at least) it is illegal. The strap cannot be beneath the top of the seat unless it was an
original anchor point. Stupid.
They don't have to be right in the back. I got my bar in and the baby seat in the back seat. I'm gonna put the middle seat back in and have
the baby seat in the middle row. You can only do this if you won't be using the back seat for normal passengers (only the dog sits back there)
and you have a restraint that is marked that it is suitable for middle row placement...
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