Passenger Seats?

[Joe45]

So I was planning to use two of the original seats for the dinette, as well as for times we may have an additional passenger or two. One will be facing forward, and the other facing back.



Since the floor is all covered up with wood and insulation, I guess I'll have to just drill new holes and use long bolts. Trying to go through the original holes seems impossible, and I don't want to be drilling pilot holes that may be wrong and then leave entrance to moisture.


Any ideas on how to re-attach these benches? Or other ideas for seats? They are a little wide, but that has some good too.

 

[TheArgobus]

I almost did the same thing as you, but decided not to because the stock seats sucked. So I built them against the walls in the back using 2x4s and plywood, then attached seat belts to the frame. See my post here.


However, if you want to have your seats there facing forward and back, that would be a lot more difficult to safely secure seat belts. I wouldn't just through-bolt them to the sheet metal floor, and I definitely would not mount them to the chassis (see my writeup in my post for why). Were the seats ever attached to a skirt running along the side? That would be a better mounting point. In any case, I would always have safety in mind when trying to install seats/seatbelts.

 

[JDSquared]

You could try drilling up from the existing holes under the bus into your plywood. They might not line up where you want the seats now though.

Looks like your seats came with belts attached also. I would drill new holes and use #8 bolts with plenty of sealant or rubber washer at the nut. That should be just as secure as they were originally.

 

[Joe45]

Seems like the best bet is doing some measurements to align the mounting points on the seats away from obstructions below, then drill through the body and bolting down the seats (not to the chassis).