Anyone have any issues with any kind of rear seat delete kit? DIY or purchased? I'm looking into getting the one by Shrader but have heard people have issues like a warranty being voided or the airbag light goes on for no reason after the rear seat is out. Anyone that has done this please let me know.

 

I took my rear seats out as part of coilover installation for about a month ago. I haven't seen any airbag light coming on or any other issue. The car gets noisy due to lack of seats and trim. That being said, I'm not going to put my seats back. I will make a custom delete kit.

 

The only problem I had was that it came with covers to cover up the holes were the seats attach to the inside of the car and they don't fit. Also my friend that was helping me cut too much carpet away from were the back screw goes in. Other than that it takes about 20 to 30 minutes to do it and is totally worth it. I purchased mine from outmotoring.com they had the best price for one.

 

Is it possible to remove only one seat and leave one rear seat still in there?

thanks for any help.

 

No.

The bottom part of the seat if one piece. The back (folding) parts are 2 piece.

 

Thanks. In looking at the car last night I realized that having the bottom left in wouldn't be so bad. I'm trying to think of ways to transport my two racing bikes inside of the car instead of doing the tow hitch (which I'll do if I need to). I've removed the spare tire foam and everything so there's a lot of depth down there to rest the bicycle forks while the rear wheel goes backward toward the driver's seat. I'll think of something.

Cheers.

 

MMM I don't know if I would do that. I would be afriad of tearing up the seats. Roof rack or a full rear seat delete would be a better idea. Plus I am pretty sure you have to take out the bottom part to get the backs off.

 

The backs just lift out, one at a time, takes about ten seconds.
the backs have nothing to do with the bottom except that they must come out before the bottom does. A nice thread:

http://www.miniacal.com/remove_rear_seats/

Have fun,
Steve

 

I took out the seatbacks and left the bottom in. I was after weight savings and all the weight is in the seat backs (first gen, anyway.) I've since replaced them since I like having a boot to hide stuff in when I'm parked. One upside (or downside, depending on your perspective.) is that the exhaust sounds louder with them out.

No issues with airbag lights or anything weird like that.

 

I made my own RSD for about $30.00. Looks more factory than the plastic one. I used dynamat to absorb or block out the added road noise. I haven't had any issues with airbags. I never hear of such a thing until this post. I would recommend saving some cash and doing it yourself. You will be much happier with the look once it's done. The longest part was allowing the glue to dry for the automotive carpeting.

 

How did you make your own RSD? I have a first Gen R53 and am wondering if this would work for me. Do you have any photos of the "Delete Install" process? A "How To" would be most helpful.

 

I believe the RSD airbag myth is an urban legend sourced to a drunken Aussie driving a right-hand car down-under who mistakenly performed a front-seat delete.

I need more room for the dogs in the back and the rear seats folded down still takes up a stupid amount of room. I took the seat-backs out to get some more floor-to-ceiling spaced, but it's still not what I want, which is a flat floor from front to back, much like Carbonized did with his car many years ago...



I'm not a huge fan of carbon fiber and it would be too slippery for the dogs, so I'm going to go with a simple fiberglass over plywood floor, covered with auto-fabric to match the car. I'd like to have a flat floor, so that means building in a hinged panel for the recessed portion over the toolkit.

 

I didn't take too many photos of the build process. It was simple though. I used a 1/4"X2'X4' board, 2 deck spindles, can of spray adhesive, and roll of automotive carpet. I found a DIY instructional post somewhere on this forum. I used it for the spindle measurements to lock the RSD into place. Other than that, the measurements were simple enough for the board. here is the link to the thread i posted with a few shots of the finished product.
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...at-delete.html

Here is the link to the instructional post.
http://www.miniacal.com/rear_seat_delete/

 

Madmax, your car looks like mine inside (I have a Husky). Nice job on the home-made RSD. Certainly makes more sense than the commercially available one for $150. I still want mine to have a continuous flat floor, even though I'll lose a little height on the very back section. The dogs won't lay over the hi/low level change, but I think they'll do fine with a nice long (41") flat floor. Going the whole way and keeping it even, stable and secure will take some fabrication work, for sure.

 

I was also going to continue a removable rear portion but never got around to it. The RSD I built does have some flex just as the abs plastic originally would. Not any problem at all. My 133 pound Alaskan Malamute doesn't have an issue with the lower rear portion and loves the the added head room with the removal of the seats.

 

I did this mod to my Mk I with no issues whatsoever. Great mod - hauled my Greyhounds and lots of stuff. Exhaust was a tad louder and it was a JCW. I would do it again.

 

I agree that the exhaust was a lot louder along with all the other under carriage road noise. I used dynamat and covered the entire area where the seat was. This did seem to help some. I love the simple mod though. The extra room is sooooooo useful.