Hi,
Not sure if this is the place - I'm a bit of a newbie, but I have a 1975 VW Kombi. At the moment it's a complianced 5-seater, but isnt registered. The problem I've got, is that apparently all my seats are illegal. Fantastic eh?

I have found to original VW seats, and am having them fixed, so that I can get it registered to do some work with the upholsteroer.

I am lookin for a folding bed in the back. However, I want to be able to have it seat three in the back. Apparently the only way to do this legally is with a trakka conversion bed. Does anyone have one? or havve any suggestions, or can tell me how to put in a 3 seater folding bed thats legal. There are seatbelts in the back, and the are bolted in, and atm theres a folding bed.

I am in QLD, and would really appreciate some help, as this is my first car (I'm 16) and it will be ready to do interior soon.

Thanks

why exactly were the seats knocked back?

The seats were not knocked back, I was told that the seats in the front were'nt bolted in properly, and the bed in the back isnt bolted in, it's just semi bolted with chipboard. [May have a photo somewhere] Got any ideas on a bed to put in that folds to a three seater?nn[ Edited on 27/8/2005 byjimmy ]

Could you explain your back seat/bed setup a little more?
I just want to know how it differs from the standard folding bed/seat.

Ok. Basically its a 1975 Kombi, that used to be decked out for camping. However, before I bought it, someone removed the cupboards and the sink, but left the folding bed in there.

The bed is set on a cheap chipboard frame. The seat would have once bolted into the cupboard, but no longer does {nothing to bolt to on that side}. The other side bolts to the frame of the car. I seriously doubt that it it is a original seat (due to the frame).

Basically (from what I can remember) the seat MAY bolt to the floor, but I'm not sure.

I haven't got the van atm, its at the panel beaters, but I should get it back on monday. I can take some photos then. I talked to a guy who does blue plates and he said it wouldnt be legal.

Does that help?

Yea, it would look reeeal dodgey without the side cupboards. They probably provide the rear seat with alot of support. As with the front seat, where exactly arent they bolted on? Im sure that shouldnt be to hard to sort out.

I currently have a camper and plan on making a custom interior with a fold out bed/bech seat that can seat 3 people. I am just going to use the existing bracket and just copy the wooden parts and make them a bit longer so it will connect to the other side of the bus, if that makes sense... Maybe you should give that a go.

pic's would be helpful.

Ill upload some pics when I get my bus back. front seats can be forgotten about, I got some fanstastic new old ones to get covered n chuck in, they're original so all good there.

As for your 3 seater, would that be legal? Like making your own that bolts in? and would you be able to seat three there, two in front so its complianced for 5?

Cheers,
Jimmy

not sure, havent really thought bout it that much but i want to get rid of those old cuboards and also want a double bed in the back. So if it can only seat 2 then meh. But i cant see why it would be able to seat 3 (just copy the fittings on the other side) and it shud b sweet. One of dads mates is a mechanic/rego person so i will just get him to check it out for me wen i do it.

some guy on here bought a kit from justkampers or something, it looked good. I think it was a 3 seater aswell. anyone got a link to that thread?

a kit eh?

ATM I'm thinking ill get the three seater bench repaired, bolt it in, get it complianced and put a permanent bed fixed into the back that can kind collapse to the floor or something..

Heh, my kombi's still out back. Otherwise I would have sworn it was the same. The last owner of mine ripped out all the camper setup except the bed.

I had to think about the setup of mine, as it's currently being used as a shed.
Anyway, the base on mine is made of ply and plate steel. The back and bottom of the actual seat are ply, as is the front of the base. The sides of the base are plate steel bolted to the floor. Fairly sturdy really.

There are photos of my bed/seat setup on the AussieKombiCampers website. It's not legal (there are no seatbelts etc so the kombi is registered as a 2-seater goods carrying vehicle) but it might give you some ideas anyway:

http://www.aussiekombicampers.com/projects_sbc.shtml 

Thanks, that some good info. Ill take photos soon an upload.

#! Message No Longer Available !#

how does the rock n roll seat work?
Thanks,
James

Rock n roll seats are an excellent way to have a bed/seat. There are different versions available but they all do pretty much the same thing. They have a special hinge which allows the seat to do a few things. You can have it locked in the seat position so the back doesn't move, and then you just lift the bottom of the seat and the whole assembly moves forward and upward and folds out flat so it can be used as part of the bed.
Another upshot is you can just lift up the bottom of the seat to put things under it too.

I think thats like what I got at the moment, except its a two seater, and has a sliding bolt. Can you use it as a seat for transporting people? Like seatbelts and the like?

yea, you got a rock n roll seat in there. Ive got seat belts for 2 in the back of my bus with a rock and roll seat.

Is it possible to extend the seat right the way across and get rid of the cupboard, then get it registered to carry 3 ppl in the back?

Those seats would take little effort ro extend. You'd just need some longer ply or whatever the base and back are made of, and some new padding and upholstery. I'd probably run some angle iron or something underneath fr extra strength, bit I always tend to go overboard.

My van has 2 1/2 seatbelts fitted in the back seat. Never figured out what the other half is for. It has a different clasp and everything.
I'll see if I can have a look later and tell you how the seatbelts are anchored. IIRC one of the belts is lap and the other is lap sash.

I just took a couple of crummy pics.
This pic is of where the two middle bolts for the seatbelt are mounted.

Here's a shot of the side of the seat to give a rough idea of what one type of rock and roll seat looks like.

The bottom left of the pic is the back of the seat. It's really hard to take a pic in there!

You can't quite see it but there's a pressed metal hook type of latch on either side of the seat base that hooks onto the bottom of the seat. This is fairly necessary to keep the seat firmly in place.

Hi,

I have a seat that converts to a be in my '82 camper. Has an RTA engineer's certificate to seat 3. I have attached some pictures but basically the seat backrest is mounted via a square tube fitting into a square tube at each side. You simply lift out the backrest and plug it into matching square tubes at the front of the seat.

And now for the pictures.

I can't work out how to get more than one at a time so the next couple of posts will give a couple more views.

another view

Hope they help

Did you make that seat kombi Dad? I like the way its done. It looks nice and long too. I barely fit on the standard rock n roll seats.

Finally got my car back. Will take photos of current bed setup so you can all give me advice

Check this....it might help

http://www.aussieveedubbers.com/forum/viewthread.php?tid=41226&page=1#pid382587