Fitting folding rear seats to JDM VR4 fixed rear seat model

[Judder]

I think the subject probably gives the game away on what I am trying to do, but has anyone found a good way to fit the folding type of rear seat backs that have the extra bracket mounts for bolting them to the car, to the JDM version of the VR4 which has the fixed single rear seat back, and uses a large hook and 3 mounting bolts (like the two side panel ones for the folding seats) instead to mount the seat?

I was thinking that I could potentially mark the car where the bolt holes should be and then try and drill some holes at that point, and bolt them on from the underneath, but as I'm not much of a VR4 expert I thought I'd ask the very knowledgeable collective on here who definitely are!

Many thanks and cheers

Alex

Here's some photos of the seats for reference:

Original rear seat back (single piece)

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Replacement folding leather seat backs (not showing side bolsters)

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Leather seats

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Sunny day shot of my car ;)

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[Nick Mann]

If the rear seats are from a saloon then it is possible. I think rear seats from an estate are slightly different so it may be possible but certainly the side bolsters are slightly different.

If I remember correctly the upper brackets can just be bolted in place, but the hinges at the bottom of the seats need studs to fit onto. I did it by robbing them from a donor car. I drilled the spot welds and then welded them in place in the VR4. If you can find a donor then it should become obvious.

[Judder]

That's an awesome reply - many thanks Nick :thumbsup:

Luckily my good friend who still has the donor car so is very kindly going to send down the mounting points and the upper brackets and then hopefully with a bit of spot welding as you suggest we should be good to go

Out of interest should I then remove the solid cardboard/padded back piece in the VR4 as this will now be replaced by the carpetted back of the seats?

Thanks again

[elnevio]

Not 100%, but I think the solid panel is probably just a spot welded steel sheet - the aperture it covers is likely the same as on standard UK saloons.

[Davezj]

Just so you know those seat you are fitting to the car are UK spec blur fleck cloth seats covered in a leather and vinyl cover.
the front seat will make you sit much higher in the car than the standard jap VR4.

i only say this as i have the same uk spec seats in my legnum vr4.

[Judder]

After a bit of reading around it looks like in theory I can drill holes where the U-bolts should be on the car, and then find a matching size U-bolt for each side, and then put these in place for the seats to clip to

The bottom bolts for the middle seats I can mark out, and again drill holes to mount these with bolts, basically achieving similar to the bodies designed for these seats

So the question is - has anyone done this or achieved the same in an alternative or better way?

Here's a few pictures of the mounting points I found on the web, and it would be awesome if anyone who does have these mounting points could measure me the width of the U bolts, their depth to the car back panel and the width of the gap between them :thumbsup:

Happy New Year!

Judder

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and here's the U-Bolt type thing I think I can find to hold them in place if I can get the right sizes

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[Yetello]

I know replying to an older thread but you need some brackets to make it work.

MR476257
MR296439
MR296440
MR273279

all brackets and reinforcements.
Check in the BRM and ASA to see which ones you are missing and drill them out of a parts car.

Much easier

I know little late but helpfull for others doing the same mod

[Judder]

So I finally finished this task today and documented it all with photos so here is how to do it for others in the future :D

1. Obtain the two U-bolt securing brackets from a UK spec car or buy them as per part numbers below - MR251350 or MR202910 (https://partsouq.com/en/catalog/genuine/unit?c=Mitsubishi&ssd=%24%2AKwEjFwYtKFYmfCN4RlASH3tvT0hWJyglJDYlGmoy YzQrMk03ZGQ5Myoka29lV25qMngrMk00PTJ0e2p8eFMoJy5CIS cjCWR2M3N-NCsjOzc9ZGAzJSQ7ICEnN2RkMzMqNSckIzgkfXUFICEnJVknVV t_EnhsbmFzeVBsNyFkYH9le3o9MnQ3cmQYKSAvRSAgIVRqanh8 Mi00VFEhVGpqeHJ8NSx_ZXt5NQAAAACAT28M%24&vid=0&cid=3&uid=80254&q=) - you need two U-bolts - one for the single RHS of the backseat and one for the double LHS of the backseat

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2. Remove existing back seat base by pulling the two tabs underneath the seat base forwards, sliding the seat base up, and sliding out the two metal hooks that hold the seat in place under the seat back

3. Remove existing back seat back by unbolting the two side metal hooks and lifting up the seat off of it's securing metal hook that is part of the car body

4. Remove the boot wall card by removing the two plastic securing tabs from the top, then bend it forwards and remove the two plastic securing tabs from the bottom

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5. When you have removed the card you will see that handily Mitsubishi has actually left threaded bolt holes for the above U-Bolts to be attached to in exactly the correct position so get your two U-Bolts, four number 7 Mitsubishi bolts and bolt them in (with the Lower Side marking towards the bottom) [forgot to photograph them in place but this is the correct bolt as used on the seat side hooks]

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6. Now get your single seat part to start, fold the bottom cloth towards the boot and the bottom securing hinges underneath the seat and back towards the boot (remove any bolts in the hinge) and slide the bottom of the seat in to place with the headrest pointing towards the dashboard. Now 'fold' the seat up towards the boot and clip the U-Bolt securely on to the seat

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7. Then do the same with the other side with the double seat on to the second U-Bolt and slide the two side bolsters in to place and secure them by their metal hooks with Mitsubishi 7 Bolts which you took out of the original rear seat

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8. Bring the seat belts sockets as close to the seat back as you can and slide the seat base under them with the metal hooks going under the rear seat backs. You might find like I did that you have to push quite hard on the seat base to get it to go back enough to secure it's clips into the retaining clips, but it does go if you use a bit of leverage from a leg

9. Open the boot and push the back of the seat back cloth into place under the rear seats and overlapping in to the boot. Lift up spare wheel lid to get cloth from both to align

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10. Stand back and admire your new secure leather seats :thumbsup:

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Optional

11. Remove seat base or fold seats forwards and drill holes where each of the seat back hinges are and bolt these securely to allow you to fold the seats correctly. These hinges are the part numbers listed in the previous post but because my car seats were ex-UK spec seats they came with these hinges already attached

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12. Bend the central rear seat back securing hook flat so that the middle of the seats can sit snug to the rear body wall