In the 18 months or so since I converted my panel van to a Kombi, I have only carried a rear seat passenger once!
With the seat installed in the second row, I would only be able to use the centre seat as this has an integral seatbelt. If I did need to carry more than one rear passenger then it is simply a case of moving the seat back into the first row position so that the Kombi seatbelts for the outer seats would function properly.
I would then be able to build a kitchen and storage furniture unit inside the van - meaning we wouldn't need to get out of the van as we can climb through between the two single front seats.
Moving the Kombi Seats
29 September 2020
After I listed the furniture units on eBay for a week, I had 20 or so watchers but nobody was interested enough to buy them - so I cancelled the listing and dismantled them with a view to re-using some of the parts.
Next, I bought a set of 4x Kombi quick release floor brackets and floor re-enforcement plates - again from eBay. Unlike the first row location, where I had to remove the exhaust, undertrays and drop the diesel tank down to access the underside of the brackets, the second row location is so easy - nothing to remove. I did need a wobble bar to enable me to get to the very front most nuts of the front brackets as they come through the van floor inside a suspension box section.
It was simply a case of rolling back the padded Kombi floor mat, locating the four dimples, measuring and marking the middle of the dimples, then measuring 55mm either side of the front to rear line. The centres of the two holes should be 110mm apart. Measure twice, and again to be sure, then drill 8x 10mm holes.
Paint some rust protection on the bare metal of the holes, wait for it to dry, then insert the floor brackets and get under the van to do up all the bolts and torque them to 55nm.
Last job is to look at the underneath of the padded Kombi floor mat and you can see an outline of where to cut the mat to go around each of the new brackets.