I bought my '03 Chateau in May to pull a track car. Since that time I've been adding or fixing a a few things here and there, most visable was upgrading to the 04 aluminum wheels.

Before i bought the van I did alot of research and saw that the older models had the option of the seat-bed. I thought this would be a great addition. (I don't know for sure why Ford discontinued them but I figure it had to do with safety rules?)

I read the boards and got much help from many folks here and began my quest to add one to mine. I considered an aftermarket version but they were pricey, and, they wouldn't match the interior. I'll just find an OEM version and swap the seat covers for a perfect match, easy!


See one on craigslist at a junk yard 60 miles away, grainey pictures, call the guy, yeah, excellent condition, come on down. Place is on the edge of the desert, specializes in trucks. Guys looked over my mint Chateau like vultures! Find the van, '92 chateau, medium filty, seat is off the tracks, fuel tank on top as well as other odds and ends, pull that crap off and check the seat over. It's a seat bed, but it won't recline. Dismantler says it works, says a couple bolts are loose. Don't notice that he turns the release rod with pliers, what do I know. Asking price was $150.00, I tell him I'm buying the frame, seat is poor, settle on $100.00

Get it home, bolt everything up, won't recline! Mechanic friend and I tear it down, he shows me how the pins in the rod are loose, only will turn with pliers, notice lot's of plier marks on the rod, probably hasn't worked in quite some time. Go to our friendly local Ford dealer, he prints off the picture parts list for the seat. We figure out what we need, including a few special fasterns here and there. Go back next day, need this part #, not available, this, not available, etc., etc. Friend calls him Mr No, he gives us # to local ford truck wrecking yard and say good luck.

Spend the next week going back and forth to the hardware store, fabricate fastners, drill new holes in the rod and finally get it to work! Alright, we're done as soon as we swap cushions from my 3 seat bench (and find a junk yard bench for the 3rd panel). Well, guess what, seat bed is listed as a 4 passenger and is about 4" wider, cover swap won't work, $#*t. Head down to an upholstery shop, guy tells me, can't match the checker pattern fabric, can match the grey velour, wants $350.00 per panel. (Maybe I should have gone the aftermarket route??).

Project stalls. Week later another seat bed on craigslist, wow, seat fabric looks like a match! Drive 40 miles in rain. Guy has his own residential mini junk yard. Seat fabric is close but it is light blue, not grey, seat is soaked from being in rain, has enough dog hair for a breeder, fabric very faded, retainer clip on back is missing. Good news is that the reclining mechanism works! We settle on $40.00 and load it up.

Ask neighbor friend for help again, he's real happy to jump in since he has about 5 hours working on last seat. Tear it down, foam is deteriorating, but all the unique fasterns look good. also, seat back frame is in good shape, first one was bent, probably from a very large man trying to force the seat back (we were going to try to fix the first one with a pipe bender).

Neighbor says lets swap the foams and we then put the first seat back together. First seat has the blue fabric with red piping. I spend about an hour with upholstery cleaner, looks pretty good, list it on craigslist and ebay for $195.00 have it sold in 3 days with multiple calls. Wow, I'm now up about $40.00 and I have a good frame. Spend $25.00 of that to weld the hook back on from the first one (told the buyer to use a bungee cord).

Neighbor and friends call me **** for trying to match the interior but I won't give up. Spend the next couple of weeks looking for donor seats to use the fabric. Find a woman 50 miles away, sells me two 3 seat benches, same grey cloth and check pattern but different layout for $50.00.

Take off the fabric from both, pull the fabric off my 3 seater and find a local upholstery guy. Tell him to take my 3 seat, cut it down the middle and expand. Long story short he does all 3 panels with my materials for $430.00. Not an OEM quality perfect match but the untrained eye can't tell. At this point I have $400 into the project plus the trade-in of my 3 seat bench. I've been selling various pieces, (seat belts, arm rests, brackets, etc) and have got back another $50.00 so far, hoping for another $50.00 or more too.


Along the way I met some nice people and had alot of fun, plus, I got what I wanted!!!

For those thinking of this conversion my only advise is, make sure you find a good working seat, there are not parts available from Ford. They used to sell a rebuild kit for the reclining mechanism and I know why, their vulnerable to breaking. Also, the bottom brackets are unique, while they may look the same there is a provision for bolts to the seat frame that aren't on the standard brackets, make sure you get the brackets.


Thanks to all on the board for their help!!! (Hope to post a picture soon).

 

Well, I was expecting another type of story , but this is OK!

Glad you got it working. My 78 Pathfinder has a bench seat that folds into a bead, it has come in handy a few times.

bob

 

Boy, that is a long story. I would have gone to a van conversion shop and bought a reclining rear seat that is close to the factory upholstery and had it mounted. My '02 E150 is a conversion with gray seats; my back did not like the front seats so I bought a pair of OEM front captain's chairs in the Ford gray upholstery and screwed them in. They don't match the middle or rear seats exactly and I don't care.

My old '86 GMC van was done in gray inside and I had a pair of Recaro seats from another car that I had sold. I bought the brackets and screwed the Recaros in; they were black with gray center panels and didn't match the middle or rear seats exactly and I didn't care.

And yes, I'm sure it was safety regs that killed the factory reclining back seat. Probably one too many people turning into projectiles while they were sleeping and got into an accident.... I remember a comedian's line "vans are handy. If you need something from the back of the van, just slam on the brakes and it will hit you in the back of the head"

Glad you got what you wanted. I'm not as fussy. My first 2 vans were Turtle Top camper conversions and the materials they used for the rear seat/beds and sides on the raisable roof were hilariously ugly and matched nothing....

George

 

Bob, After I posted the thread, that thought did occur to me!


George, my buddies say I'm too **** with cars. With the seat I got it in my head to match and just kept going. I quit my job 6 months ago so I have the time and it is theraputic working on the van.

Next near term project is to re-do the bumpers, switch the chrome for steel and then paint to match the lower silver color. The over the top will be repainting the upper part of the van from the factory maroon to red so it will be a match for my red viper with silver stripes. I've looked it over with my painter and it is a big project.

Thanks! Mike