Ford Transit Custom (1 Viewer)

Apr 23, 2021
81
45
Cardiff, Wales, UK
Funster No
80,630
MH
Ford Transit SWB
Have just bought one of these, and need some advice.

It has a 3 seat bench in the front, I want to add two seats behind so have got two options really.

1. Leave the bench and add two seats
2. Move the bench back and put two "captains" seats in the front.

Any suggestions which is best - I'd also like to get a company to do this for me - as I would guess there is some drilling involved and I need th van to stay watertight.

I'm in South Wales if anyone can suggest someone who could do the work.

Thanks
 
Aug 18, 2014
23,539
131,325
Lorca,Murcia,Spain
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32,898
MH
Transit PVC
Exp
16 years since restarting
The rears really need to be seats with the belts incorporated so that they only have to be made secure through floor to chassis, although you might struggle finding anyone to actually want to do it.
 
Dec 10, 2020
269
668
Funster No
78,431
MH
c class
Exp
2008
You might find that the chassis is pre drilled to take a second row of seats, if so that could influence which seating solution you go for, hopefully someone with knowledge of that model will be along soon.

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Bolti

LIFE MEMBER
Dec 13, 2017
1,280
3,546
Hondon Valley and the Kellets
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51,646
MH
Rapido V43
Exp
Since 2015
Had a Wellhouse conversion, two captains seats up front and rock and roll bed with 3 seats in back which was on rails that travelled the length of the back.
 

Jamesh

Free Member
Jun 28, 2020
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The rears really need to be seats with the belts incorporated so that they only have to be made secure through floor to chassis, although you might struggle finding anyone to actually want to do it.
Unless confident you should get someone to do it. It shouldn't be too hard to find a converter who could do it. Otherwise an old fashioned garage in the sticks might do it.

I put a VW transporter double seat in the back of my last van. So I cannot see why you couldn't fit the ford front double to the rear.

You would need to find the seatbelt fastening point in the B pillar. The BEMM will have the details.

You could ask on the transit forum.

Cheers James
 

andy63

Free Member
Jan 19, 2014
4,672
15,017
south shields
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29,767
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None
Exp
since 1990
hi... I did similar on a mk 7 transit.. I used the front bench seat as a rear seat and bought a salvage front seat to take its place ...swivels added to the front seats and the rear seat plinth modified to allow it to tilt forward and provide storage underneathand ... I also had to install an inertia reel belt into the side body work of the van for the rear seat inner position.. ill add a few photos of the work in progress..
28ADD44F-8335-4A5D-933A-6BBB27F31094_1_105_c.jpeg


B734E154-4022-407F-BC28-5EB30EC43864_1_105_c.jpeg


B86DEDC9-A87E-49FE-AAD6-2A6706D82860_1_105_c.jpeg
 
OP
OP
D
Apr 23, 2021
81
45
Cardiff, Wales, UK
Funster No
80,630
MH
Ford Transit SWB
hi... I did similar on a mk 7 transit.. I used the front bench seat as a rear seat and bought a salvage front seat to take its place ...swivels added to the front seats and the rear seat plinth modified to allow it to tilt forward and provide storage underneathand ... I also had to install an inertia reel belt into the side body work of the van for the rear seat inner position.. ill add a few photos of the work in progress..
View attachment 521109

View attachment 521112

View attachment 521113
Not too worried about the storage underneath - how did you fine securing the new back bench to the floor? Do you have to drill through the floor and secure with bolts underneath the van?
 

Jamesh

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Jun 28, 2020
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On my old van I used 6 12mm bolts. Through the floor to 2" washers. The seat had a sloping base which I had to circumvent using a piece of 2x2 timber at the front edge - steel would have been better.

Cheers James

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andy63

Free Member
Jan 19, 2014
4,672
15,017
south shields
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since 1990
Do you have to drill through the floor and secure with bolts underneath the van?
Thats what I did..you can see the head of a couple of the bolts in the box section steel I used for the seat base in the first photo.. that gave me a fair bit scope in the positioning of the bolts but I still did a fair bit crawling around and measuring before drilling the first hole to make sure they came through the floor in a suitable area . The bolts have small metal spreader plates on the underside..
If you retain the original tubular seat base frame then you may not have as much scope to position the bolts..cant remember how that was...
Andy..
 
OP
OP
D
Apr 23, 2021
81
45
Cardiff, Wales, UK
Funster No
80,630
MH
Ford Transit SWB
Thats what I did..you can see the head of a couple of the bolts in the box section steel I used for the seat base in the first photo.. that gave me a fair bit scope in the positioning of the bolts but I still did a fair bit crawling around and measuring before drilling the first hole to make sure they came through the floor in a suitable area . The bolts have small metal spreader plates on the underside..
If you retain the original tubular seat base frame then you may not have as much scope to position the bolts..cant remember how that was...
Andy..
Thanks Andy - so ( sorry for being so pedantic! ) when you drill through the floor - you actually go through the skin of the van and have to secure the bolt underneath the van? If thats the case is there a particular way you do this to ensure that it's watertight?
 

andy63

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Jan 19, 2014
4,672
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29,767
MH
None
Exp
since 1990
Thanks Andy - so ( sorry for being so pedantic! ) when you drill through the floor - you actually go through the skin of the van and have to secure the bolt underneath the van? If thats the case is there a particular way you do this to ensure that it's watertight?
I dont recall even giving the issue of water ingress through the bolt holes I drilled in the floor much thought and never had a known Issue..
Apply a little mastic to the spreader plates but if the underbody is sealed the plates will bed into the underseal anyway..
I dont see you have much choice if you want to secure something like a seat in the back.. and I dont see bolts going through the van floor as been a high risk water ingress point..
Andy..

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Jamesh

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Jun 28, 2020
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I used a small pilot hole to make sure it was in the right place. Then stepped up the drill bit size.

On the Renault there was a thick layer of underseal which bedded the bolts in. On my current transit there is a fine spray of paint underneath (progress for you!) so you may want to underseal it first before putting the bolts in. Or use sealant.

Cheers James
 
Nov 2, 2008
461
377
Lincolnshire
Funster No
4,767
MH
PVC, S&L Iveco
Exp
45 years
How do you go on with engineering calculations and engineering certificates to satisfy the construction and use regulations, insurance requirements and don't forget to have the number of travel seats changed with the DVLA. When we did ours we imported a crash tested seat base with certificates including mounting requirements for our converters (20 or 30 pages all in German as a translation would not have been an original document).
 

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