Hi All,

I'm going to be attempting an interior conversion shortly into my AU3 Futura wagon, and am just trying to figure out what I'm going to do with the rear seat.

Basically I have some sedan seats as well as lots of other bits lined up. Door trims, console, front seats, and rear seat base are not an issue, but the backrest for the rear seat is.

The brackets don't quite line up from the advice I've been offered so far but that can be sorted by swapping them around.

The main issue is the centre seatbelt - in the wagon, they're integrated into the back rest, but in a sedan obviously they're in the parcel shelf.

Easy way around this would be to either have no seatbelt, or just put a lap-sash in there - but these are not an option.

The other thing I can think of is to transfer the trim from the sedan back rest to the wagon back rest. Only problem with this is that the sedan seat has an armrest, the wagon does not - so at this stage this option is out too!

My final option was to maybe get hold of a Fairmont wagon backrest with the seperate head rests, and fold down arm rest and swap the leather trim over from the sedan seat, onto the Fairmont wagon seat.

I have got some pics of a Fairmont wagon backrest, and it looks very similar to the sedan backrest that I have. If it's as close as it looks, I'm hoping all I have to do is swap the trim/cushions over on the frames, hopefully it is that easy!

Only difficult thing is going to be getting hold of a series 2/3 (series 1 had integrated headrests, not seperate) Fairmont wagon backrest...

Last resort is just to have my existing rear backrest custom trimmed, but I'm not sure how hard it will be to match the colour, and I really prefer the look of the seperate headrests and armrest (which my Futura does not have).

This is what I want to put in:


Here are a few pics of Fairmont wagon seats:





Really hope I can work this out because if I can't sort the back seat, I don't know if I'll bother with the rest as I don't want a bitsy mismatched interior.

Anyone have any ideas??!!!

Thanks,

Justin.

shouldnt u just be able to use any rear wagon seat with an arm rest, and switch everything over?

That's my plan, but only the AU series 2/3 wagons had the arm rest. There's very few Fairmont wagons around and even fewer that have been wrecked, that's the problem.

Also, I'm just assuming that I'll be able to swap the trim over, I haven't been able to measure them or compare anything.

Anyone out there have any other ideas?

Mate, why not just get a longer seat belt for the centre position and secure it to the floor, behind the rear seat. Basically it'll just go over the seat and anchor to the wagon floor.

A complete sash shoulder belt from the front should do the trick. The only problem I can see is the belt return winder being anchored to the parcel floor, could get in the way of some of the different types of load that can be carried. However I guess something has to be forfeited.

If the front sash belt is too short, maybe a belt from another car might fit. I guess it's trial and error to get the modification right, but it'll be worth it when the new leather seats are fitted.

I think you should give it up and pass the interior onto someone with a sedan (hint hint)

Seat belts are tricky things to modify for obvious reasons, if you were going to get it done I suspect it would need to be engineered for piece of mind and legal reasons.

Good luck with it.

Thanks for the advice mate, and I had thought about that, but I'd rather not mess around with seatbelts. I don't want to compromise my kid's safety, plus it would be illegal, and intrude on much needed boot space!

Not a chance mate! I'm not going to be attempting any of this for at least another month or two, but when I do, if I can't swap the trim/cushions over on the frames, I think I'll just try and get hold of a S2/3 Fairmont wagon rear seat and get it custom trimmed to match the fronts.

I might be 2 late but have you removed the covers of your seats to see if the brackets (Center arm rest) are there or able to be fitted? The frame cant be that different

Haha, not too late mate - I still haven't touched a thing! Haven't even pulled the seats out of the donor car to have a look.

I've been keeping my eyes open for a rear backrest out of an AU2 Fairmont wagon, as this will have the arm rest and headrests, meaning I can take that, and the Fairlane backrest to a trimmer and just get them to swap trim.

Hopefully it works!