On Saturday I liberated the 3rd seat set-up from a 1986 245. I took everything including the two carpeted plywood pieces that make up the cargo floor that the seat is attached to. I carefully noted how everything came apart so I could reinstall it in our 1983 245.

When I arrived home I found that the rear piece of plywood in my 245 already had all the holes drilled so that part of the swap was easy. The rectangular hole was also present so I cut the carpet and folded it so the latch would come through. I felt the front panel and could feel the rectangular hole was hiding under the carpet for the latch to go through and attach to the body. I also found the seatbelt mounting points hiding above the headliner. I was bummed to find out that there were no mounting points for the seatbelts in the wheel wells but I was able to safely fab those.

The real problem came when I cut the carpet in the front wooden panel. When I pulled it away there was no mounting point for the u-shaped item that the latch from the seatbelt mechanism locks into. In the 1986 doner car there was a 19mm bolt that screwed into a threaded nut welded to the underside of the metal decking below the plywood. There is NOTHING in that location.

My options are to weld the mount to the metal deck or cut a keyway in the metal deck and use some serious washers and a bolt facing up to use as a mounting point. Both of these options scare me a bit because the gas tank appears to be located below there. Any idea how much space is between the gas tank and the metal panel above it?

I have not removed the entire front plywood panel to see if there is an alternate mounting attachment point but I did lift it up enough to feel around under there and there seemed to be a plastic cap located a few inches to the left of the hole in the plywood.

Am I missing something? How did the 3rd seat latch in place in the 1983 wagon?

Thanks
Chris
1983 245

I agree with Joe. You need to properly install the angle-iron...it's probably the most important piece and most tricky to install piece. When I installed the 3rd seat in my car, I needed to drill the holes through the body. You need to double and triple check that you have this all lined up right before installing.

-Ted

If you can get back to the donor car take a look at the underside of the mounting area in question. You should find a hefty steel angle, about 1.5x1.5x10", with a number of nuts welded to it. The mounting anchor bolts into this reinforcement angle. I wouldn't recommend working around this missing piece with washers, etc. The angle is there to spread the load of 2 seatbelt mounts over a wide area.
Joe

Thanks for your reply. I just went outside (dark and drizzling) and crawled under the car and looked for the position of the gas tank and its relation to where this angle iron might be. If I understand you correctly the the angle iron is seen from underneath the car. There does not appear to be any access to that area. Perhaps if it were on a lift it would be more clear. I recall the '86 donar had a row of bolts seen from inside and the center bolt was holding down the U-shaped latch that the seat-bealt mechanism bolts to. From your description it sounds like I would have to drill several holes in the metal panel from above then bolt through the body to the angle iron that would be placed underneath the car. When I looked at the 86 on Saturday I thought those bolts were bolting the body to a support cross member because they went across most of the car. Anybody out there have a picture of what this should look like?

It is starting to seem like major surgery will be needed to install the seat properly.

After reading Chris' reply, I wonder if maybe not all years have the same anchoring. It has been awhile since I was under there removing the one that I had so my memory may not be quite accurate. As I understood it the vinyl covered cables keep the seat from flipping over towards the front of the car and the middle seat belt anchor, with the help of the anchors in the wheel wells, keeps the seat and more importantly the occopants from flipping over towards the tailgate.
I don't have a pic of the mount in place but I do have this pic of some of the loose hardware including the angle in question. It should be forward of the gas tank if I remember.
If the pic doesn't load here I can email.
Joe

Joe,

Thanks for that picture! That clears everything up for me. I have to take the car into the shop this week and while it is on the lift I will have the hole drilled and install an angle iron. I also have cable stays so we should be in good shape.

Thanks to all the other replys to this post. You folks are really great folks!

I've crawled in and out of a number of wagons in junk yards, pulling out third seats. Seems there were a number of different ways they were secured, in different years. The one I put in my 1984 I yanked off a 1985 or 1986. It's been a couple of years, so my memory is fading a bit, but I didn't see any kind of bolt or hole in the center, down to the frame of the car. I pulled the whole plywood piece out of the donor car, with third seat still attached to it, unscrewed the hinge of the plywood piece in my 1984, and screwed the new plywood piece in place.

Instead of drilling new holes for the bottom mounts of the seatbelts, I doubled them up on the existing anchor bolts for the rear seatbelts. It's not factory, but it works.

I wouldn't have put my kids in this seat if I didn't think it was safe. Never occured to me that in a bad accident the whole plywood piece could rip loose, with kids still strapped into the seat. Is some additional security needed (besides the steel cables which bolt to the frame near the tailgate)?