A small update. I got some progress made on my seats, but I couldnt finish because I ran out of gas for my welder on sat after the welding supply store had closed. My tools are rebelling against this project....
Anyways, I am doing this for a couple of reasons. First, the second row bench seat has almost no leg room. Most of the time there are 4 of us in the van. I have pulled out the second row and had the kids sit in the third row, but then they are so far back we have to yell to hear each other. So, I wanted to put the second row on sliders- most of the time they can be pushed back to improve leg room, but can be slid forward if needed.
Second, I wanted a good spot for my fridge. It used to fit perfectly between the front seats, but after I installed the shift lever it wouldnt fit there anymore. The only other good spot other than putting it in the very back was in between 2 seats in the second row.
I looked for seats for a while, but take out van fronts are very hard to find and expensive. I was able to find these PRP reclining seats for cheap on CL. I was going to throw them in the front, but I would have needed to make 2 sets of custom mounts, and I eventually want to run other seats in the front, so these are going in the second row.
I really wanted to keep the quick release function of the stock bench, but there just wasnt any way to. Here is what I came up with. I will finish it up in the next week or so, and get it powdercoated.