I'm in the process of replacing a 3 seater bench in my E150 with a four seater bench. I already have the 4 passenger seat in my possession and have located a donar van to get the floor cleats out of. Access to the undercarriage is difficult (the van was rolled and sits in a grassy/junky area) and I was wondering what is required to get the bottom support plates out once I have removed the 6 (55 mm) star bolts? Will they just fall off the bottom or do I have to pry them off? If it is too difficult, I may just try to locate some that are already off and buy them.

Also, what is involved in removing the shoulder belts? Do you have to unbolt them from underneath? I would like to replace my two shoulder belts as one is damaged and the other doesn't match up with the belts receptacles on the 4 passenger seat.

Thanks for any input.

Jim1995E150

 

On my 1997 there are no bottom support plates.

 

Thanks. A shop also told me that on factory vans, the plates are part of the underbody (welded in I guess). So I will have an easier job just pulling the top cleats. Then the conversion shop said it can add a bottom plate for the bolts to go into. Thanks for the input.


Jim

 

Got the brackets out yesterday with a 55 mm star wrench. There are no bottom plates, just a welded piece down below I believe. I was also able to get the seatbelts out without much problem. They have a star bolt as well, one size or so down from the 55 mm.

The first time I tried taking out the bolts, I was having trouble getting enough torque to remove the floor bolts on the seats. I just have a standard size Craftsman socket wrench. Anyway, in lieu of buying a heavy duty larger wrench, one of my coworkers gave me a piece of copper tubing (3/4" or 1" I believe) about 15" long, with one end slightly squished. The wrench fit nicely into the squished end and I got plenty of torque to remove those tight bolts. What a great, economical way to get torque.

Jim1995E150

 

Commonly known as a "cheater bar"

A jack handle works well too. My 4' floor jack handle on my 18" 1/2" dr breaker-bar has yet to meet a bolt it can't loosen (or break).

I wish my van had welded-in seat nuts. Once taken out, my middle captain's chairs are not going back in without major work (dropping the front tank and exhaust system). The bolts had to be ground off to remove the seats. And the rear bench requires two people. One underneath with a wrench on the nut and another up top with a ratchet on the bolt. Fortunately, the rear seat belt nuts are welded to the floor sub-frame. I rarely carry more than one other person so it's not a problem.