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]

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.

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.

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!

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

God im going to have to sell my vw, because im going to be a daddy soon too...

:P

All you have to do is trade the Bug for a Kombi! no problem, and your still in the fold! :thumb
Rob.....

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

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....

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.

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?

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.

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??

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?

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

thanks for that,
I'll see what they can do.
:thumb

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]

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...