Club 80-90 Forums

Morning all,
I have a 1990 Karmann Gipsy with a lovely pair of beige captains seats up front, these are great but I am looking for a 3 seat option as anyone traveling for more than 10 minutes facing sideways in the rear seems to require a bucket!!
I have a spare single and twin that would work but will require a bar of sorts to make up for the lack of bulkhead, also this will only give me a lap belt in the centre seat. I like the idea of a full width caravelle type seat but again will require a bar to support and a seat belt solution, also I think these are slightly too wide?
My son has mobility issues and would benefit from something slightly supportive and possibly with arm rests hence the caravelle rear seat was appealing.
Any input would be great.
Thanks all
Bert.

Tins do a full bench seat designed for the t25/t3 not cheap though think its over £1000 without upholstery the back does flip over though so u can sit rear facing when parked
With your current 1 + 2 seats you can either fit a bar across the full van to replace the bulkhead they would normally rest against or you can make supporting brackets (similar to what tins use if you look at theirs) to keep the back up

I did think about those as a mate has one in his van but the Gipsy interior layout wouldn’t work well in the flipped or reverse position due to fitted units. Thanks for the input though.

Ive seen a single seat adjuster mechanism added to a double seat to make it self supporting , you’re going to block the walk way either way, the double slides onto the single seat runner with no mods

davidoft1 wrote: ↑15 Jul 2020, 18:36 Ive seen a single seat adjuster mechanism added to a double seat to make it self supporting , you’re going to block the walk way either way, the double slides onto the single seat runner with no mods

Thanks.
How did I not think of that!
That would be a great solution as I would be able to swap the seats back easily if I were to go back to 2 singles again. I did think I’d won some foam and covers to match the existing cloth on eBay from a double caravelle seat but the seller went back on the deal unfortunately.
The only real problem would be a seat belt now, even with the frame solid I’m guessing it wouldn’t be man enough to take a 3 point set up.

These are the existing seats, ideally it would be good to find enough cloth to match in, anyone have any caravelle double or triple seats about?

Forden341 wrote: ↑15 Jul 2020, 18:58

davidoft1 wrote: ↑15 Jul 2020, 18:36 Ive seen a single seat adjuster mechanism added to a double seat to make it self supporting , you’re going to block the walk way either way, the double slides onto the single seat runner with no mods

Thanks.
How did I not think of that!
That would be a great solution as I would be able to swap the seats back easily if I were to go back to 2 singles again. I did think I’d won some foam and covers to match the existing cloth on eBay from a double caravelle seat but the seller went back on the deal unfortunately.
The only real problem would be a seat belt now, even with the frame solid I’m guessing it wouldn’t be man enough to take a 3 point set up.

You could mount the middle 3 point to to the roof in the walkway, the roof pillar should still be there

That’s a great idea, is the roof strengthener in line with the B pillars?
I’m not sure exactly how much was removed when Karmann chopped the body about. I’ll have a feel through the headlining.
Thanks.

I don't know the set up of the Gypsy, but is there anyway the side facing seat in the rear could be adapted and placed on a swivel mount.

 

Jim San wrote: ↑16 Jul 2020, 18:40 I don't know the set up of the Gypsy, but is there anyway the side facing seat in the rear could be adapted and placed on a swivel mount.

 

No, unfortunately not, the seats in the back are wooden boxes really

My roof finishes as per the picture and it seems there is a substantial strengthening rail there. I think I should be able to hopefully find an inertia reel that will work upside down and maybe fit it up there. Downside would be it’s around 500mm above shoulder height but maybe I could build a loop of some sort into the double seat to direct it nicely to the shoulder?

Jim San wrote: ↑16 Jul 2020, 18:40 I don't know the set up of the Gypsy, but is there anyway the side facing seat in the rear could be adapted and placed on a swivel mount.

 

More a chez long than a seat

Forden341 wrote: ↑16 Jul 2020, 19:21

My roof finishes as per the picture and it seems there is a substantial strengthening rail there. I think I should be able to hopefully find an inertia reel that will work upside down and maybe fit it up there. Downside would be it’s around 500mm above shoulder height but maybe I could build a loop of some sort into the double seat to direct it nicely to the shoulder?

My Westy rear seat belt is roof mounted at the tailgate and reaches to the back seat , that’s a lot further I would say

Have a look on the securon web site

I’m sure you could mount at that point in your picture

davidoft1 wrote: ↑16 Jul 2020, 22:01

Forden341 wrote: ↑16 Jul 2020, 19:21

My roof finishes as per the picture and it seems there is a substantial strengthening rail there. I think I should be able to hopefully find an inertia reel that will work upside down and maybe fit it up there. Downside would be it’s around 500mm above shoulder height but maybe I could build a loop of some sort into the double seat to direct it nicely to the shoulder?

My Westy rear seat belt is roof mounted at the tailgate and reaches to the back seat , that’s a lot further I would say

Have a look on the securon web site

I’m sure you could mount at that point in your picture

It’s not so much the distance, it’s the angle, it’s almost directly above the seats, I’d have to draw an imaginary line from the buckle then across the shoulder in the correct angle then fix the reel. The working angle may mean that that passengers head will be on the dashboard before it locks

Forden341 wrote: ↑16 Jul 2020, 22:13

davidoft1 wrote: ↑16 Jul 2020, 22:01

Forden341 wrote: ↑16 Jul 2020, 19:21

My roof finishes as per the picture and it seems there is a substantial strengthening rail there. I think I should be able to hopefully find an inertia reel that will work upside down and maybe fit it up there. Downside would be it’s around 500mm above shoulder height but maybe I could build a loop of some sort into the double seat to direct it nicely to the shoulder?

My Westy rear seat belt is roof mounted at the tailgate and reaches to the back seat , that’s a lot further I would say

Have a look on the securon web site

I’m sure you could mount at that point in your picture

It’s not so much the distance, it’s the angle, it’s almost directly above the seats, I’d have to draw an imaginary line from the buckle then across the shoulder in the correct angle then fix the reel. The working angle may mean that that passengers head will be on the dashboard before it locks

Then maybe a tube from roof to floor 40x40 Bolted top and bottom, covered in vinyl , make the mount where you want it

Or put the inertia reel at the bottom and receiver at the top