removing seats

[avant-garde]

I've read the posts on here regarding removing the front seats...I can't find any leaver on my seats and I am stumped - how on earth do I get my front seats out? I really don't want to drill them out.

I've tried to undo the bolts from underneath the wheel arch etc but I'm not able to remove all the bolts...so back to square one.

The seats I want to replace have the little leaver on the side ...the seats I want to take out don't! - not as far as I can see.
I also have new carpet which I want to fit but I can't until the seats are out. Such a simple thing in theory to do - remove seats - but hey what do you know there is always something that gets in the way!

Any help as usual would be greatly appreciated.

I have been trying to upload pics via the 'upload attachment' etc but I keep getting a "Sorry, the board attachment quota has been reached." so I can't.
As soon as I can upload a picture I will.

[avant-garde]

...never had problems uploading pics before - one of those days! All I'm getting is what's below which is not very helpful to anyone!

[img]C:\Users\Alex\Pictures\seat%20pic%20for%2080-90.JPG[/img]

[psychonaut]

You need to host your pic remotely on something like Photobucket or Flickr, and then link to it from here so that your image displays. From the link you just posted it looks like you're trying to link from a local folder on your PC.

HTH

[avant-garde]

Many thanks for that psychonaut.

Can anyone tell me if the seat in the picture is a standard seat? Has anyone got any ideas on how to remove these seats - I don't want to resort to cutting/grinding or drilling.

My way of thinking is if it went in alright then it can come out - alright.

[psychonaut]

It doesn't look like a standard seat to me, but I am no expert. There should be a little lever on the side but there isn't - is there a handle underneath the front of the seat?

[avant-garde]

Yeah there is a metal bar that runs the inside width of the seat...push down on this bar to move the seat forward and back but that's it.
I've run my fingers around the seat feeling for anything that will release the seat - but nothing.

My question now is how did they get the seats in? If I can work that one out then it's just a question of reversing that process and job done!

Thanks anyway.

[tinman]

Look on the runner not the seat, there is a little catch.

[Fin]

Should just slide all the way forward off the runners
One of mine had a bolt at the front of the runners to prevent this

Push the seats all the way back - look at the top of the now exposed runners - a bolt or odd looking screw? Remove it
The seat should now slide all of the way forward off the rails
I just leave mine out now, but it does mean when my son messes around in the bus he can find himself getting stuck against the steering wheel as the chair has jumped it's runners

[BOXY]

They don't look like standard seats. There shouldn't be any bolts through the wheel arch. The standard VW rails are welded to the top of the seat boxes and the seats is locked on the rail by a small lever at the side of the seat. If you've got bolts holding the seats in then someone might have "upgraded" in the past. Hopefully they've only bolted the seats to he original rails and not cut them out and welded in something else. Push the seat right back and see if there are a couple of bolts holding the seat on the rails at the front?

[avant-garde]

Yeah I've had a look and the inside rails on both seats are bolted to a metal box section (original part)...the outer rails have hex bolts through the floor pan and are accessable through the wheel arch. There is no lever or anything to release the seats from the runners. No bolts etc stopping the seats from coming off. I have not got the faintest idea how to remove them...I don't want to end up paying a garage £80+ to remove the seats for me, I want to do it myself.

All I'm able to do is push the seats backwards and forwards and that's it.

When I first bought my new seats I went out to my bus and tried to undo the rails with the seats still on them...as I have mentioned I am able to remove the bolts holding the runners nearest the doors - but no way am I able to access the bolts/nuts which are inside the metal box section part of the bus.

Any advice welcomed.

[BOXY]

The photos are a bit crap but this is what an original seat & runner should look like.



The orange arrow is the release clip that locks the seat on the runner.



This one shows the VW runner on the seat box. The runner on the seat just slides into this and the clip above locks it in.

Can you post a pic of yours from the same angle so we can see what your rails look like?

[callanish]

Evenin all

What a coincidence i have been looking at the front seats of my Westie today wondering how to get them off the swivel runners so am really interested in this thread and any advice you can give.

Thanks

Andrew

[avant-garde]

I'll get some more pics taken tomorrow - the same angle as boxy's pics.

[BOXY]

The runner outlined in green isn't VW. Hopefully the previous owner has just bolted this over the original one you can see in my picture. I have seen a van where the original runner had been cut out to bolt in after-market seats . Try sliding the seat back as far as it will go and see if there's a bolt about 3-5 inches from the front of the runner. However they've bodged the seats in there should only be four nut / bolts needed to hold the runners in.



Have a look at this from the wiki.

https://club8090.co.uk/wiki/In ... ront_seats

It'll give you an idea of how your seats might have been fitted.

[avant-garde]

Thanks for that info Boxy. I can uderstand people replacing seats with better seats but as for the seats in there now well...

Anyway, the runners are held in place with 4 bolts. The 2 bolts on the outer rails nearest the doors I'm able to access as they are within the wheel arch The other two bolts (nearest the handbrake etc) on both seats are through a 'white' metal box section which I have no way of getting to both ends of the nut/bolt so I'm not able to undo!

I can't undo the rail that is attached to the seat either because I can't access the bolts under the seat. I see no way of removing the seats without cutting and grinding which is the last thing I want to do.





I want to replace the front seats with these: -




The reason why I havn't drilled out the existing seats is that I have no runners for the seats that I want to fit - I was hoping to marry up the runners on the cr*p seats with my new seats. If they don't marry up then I can re-fit the old seats back. Obviously I can't do this if I have sawed the cr*p seats to bits!

Do you happen to know what seats these are by chance - I know they are form a VW but that's about it. Cost me LESS than a fiver on ebay!