Chevy & GMC Vans

I went junkyard shopping today. I was looking for a full size spare and a couple of captains chairs to replace the 2nd row bench. I was disappointed at the 1st yard I went to (which I drove 1 1/4 hours to get to) I get there and they wouldn't let me in because I had my son with me. (they have a "no children under 16" policy) I suppose maybe I should've expected that, but I've been to several yards and they all have allowed my son in. I checked a couple other yards as well, but no dice. I certainly know why they are called "JUNK"yards though! I saw several astro/ safari's, but they were all trashed. Smashed windows, doors wide open. Next to nothing was salvageable on the interiors. Before I headed home, I wanted to check one last yard. This is a "Salvage yard" they actually care about the condition of their "junk"! I got an accessory bracket from them in the past, but I wasn't sure how late they were open on Saturday's. Thankfully they were open when I got there. As I got out of the van, I heard the all too familiar sound of a tire losing air! They let me in (even with my son! ) and I found everything I needed within 2 minutes! I found a spare with a brand new tire on it! The rim itself isn't the prettiest, but I planned on getting them refinished anyways. I think I got a decent price at $50 (especially since I now NEEDED this tire). The captains chairs I hoping for a better deal on, but I can't complain too much. The chairs are in great shape, they came from a '97 safari, and show no signs of wear, though the drivers seat could use a little cleaning. Those were $150 for both.

Now for the question. What would be the best way to bolt down the captains chairs? I assume I will drop the gas tank (so I don't drill through it and possibly go boom) and put bolts through the floor board from under the van and weld the bolt to the floor pan. Or is there another way?
I know several people have put captain chairs in the back, but I haven't seen a tutorial on it yet. I appriciate all the help,
Steve O

I assume you got the front two seats? If so I think you would drill and bolt.
The 2nd row or accessory sets of captains chairs I have seen have a special plate that the seat slips into the rear of and locks down on the front.
My shop manual does not show anything about this. It must be something that is only done on a custom/conversion to begin with.

I welded two nuts to a plate/bracket to match the seats. Then drilled the holes in the floor and bolted my brackets on. Finally I drilled two 1/8" holes through the floor and the brackets to "pop rivet" them to together. Now you can bolt and unbolt the seats. Also, you havent welded on the van and you have spread the holding load along the whole bracket instead of just the area of the nut if you'd welded that right to the floor. Clearly not the only way to do this, just the way I did it..... HP
BTW, if you use a spacer over the drill bit so it JUST goes through the floor, you don't have to drop the tank. It's a tight fit sliding the brackets into possition tho.

I took my grandson with me to the junkyard back when he was 9. He loved it and found all kinds of odd things that he felt he needed in order to build an 'airplane'. Any vehicle that had a floor mounted shifter fascinated him; he'd climb in, grab the wheel, and work the shift lever. There's no doubt that his imagination was in high gear even if the vehicle he was sitting in would never see the road again. It made it a little tough to find and remove what I wanted because I had to keep an eye on him, but it was worth it.
I've taken him back several more times since then. As he's gotten older I find things for him to do concerning the parts I'm removing. When it's time to pay for the parts, I hand the money to him so he can hand it to the owner. I let him keep the coin change after payment as a way of 'paying' him for his help. He's 11 now and often asks if we can go junkyarding.
His sister is currently 6 years old, I figure she's old enough now for her first visit to a junkyard. It'll be interesting to see what her reaction is.

The junkyard I go to all the time they gotten to know my family pretty well over the years!
My son hates to go junkyarding but they always let him stay behind the counter and help out. My daughter loves going back with me I think shes going to be the grease monkey in this family... As far as mounting the seats I just drilled the holes through the floor board and bolted them down you can always wrap tape around the drill bit as a stop, so you dont drill through the gastank.

One trick for mounting seats is to use 2 long pieces of the uni-strut or super strut channel which you bolt to the floor at several places. Now use a 5/16 or 3/8 uni stut nut plates to attach the seat to the channel. Using the long channel allows you to drill through the floor at more convenient locations and does not force you to drill straight down from the seat flange itself. You can get super strut at electrical parts distributors and also at Home Depot.

Astrophysics.

Well, it seems that I didn't think this through fully before I got these seats. I had the foresight to get the seat belt connectors (where the seat belt snaps into) However the seat belt for the rear bench is attached to the bench on the drivers side and on the passengers side there is an extra latch attached to the bench that the belt snaps into.
So now I'm wondering, Do the seats that come from the factory with center buckets use the same type seat belt system?
I did a quick mock up today to try to get an idea of seating postion. It seemed like no matter where I put the passenger side middle seat, the seat belt would cut into my neck. I had to put the seat almost to the middle of the van before the shoulder belt would lay on my shoulder.
So how did some of you get the seat belt situation worked out?
I'm also wondering how difficult it would be to adapt the front seat belt system to the rear seats. I'f I could do that, it would alow me to place the seats back further, giving more leg room to passengers.

astronut74 wrote:Well, it seems that I didn't think this through fully before I got these seats. I had the foresight to get the seat belt connectors (where the seat belt snaps into) However the seat belt for the rear bench is attached to the bench on the drivers side and on the passengers side there is an extra latch attached to the bench that the belt snaps into.
So now I'm wondering, Do the seats that come from the factory with center buckets use the same type seat belt system?
I did a quick mock up today to try to get an idea of seating postion. It seemed like no matter where I put the passenger side middle seat, the seat belt would cut into my neck. I had to put the seat almost to the middle of the van before the shoulder belt would lay on my shoulder.
So how did some of you get the seat belt situation worked out?
I'm also wondering how difficult it would be to adapt the front seat belt system to the rear seats. I'f I could do that, it would alow me to place the seats back further, giving more leg room to passengers.

My bench seats still do that LOL. Altho on the newer vans I've notice they now come with a velcro spot on the seat and a little velcro plastic thing with a belt retainer on it so you can literally velcro the belt to the side of the seat to get it off your neck.

$150 for both sounds reasonable since my local yard (Gundies) wants $240 for a power drivers seat. I can't find one any where else. I'm sure I'll pop for it this week. Its the color I need.

My '03 does not have a power seat. My buddie's '01 does. I have a long torso so my proper driving position puts the top of the windshield too low and I have to crane to see the traffic lights. His power seat lowers down to give me a lot more head room. I'm thinking I do want this adjustability for the times Fiancee is driving on those longer overland journeys.