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front passenger seat

Posted: Thu May 22, 2014 6:52 pm
by baronweetman
As all Bongo owners know the front passenger seat cannot be swivelled. So I have turned mine round and bolted it down facing the rear.
Can anyone tell me if this will have any effect on the MOT?
The seat can always be unbolted and turned again but would rather not have the hassle just for one day to pass the test.
The seat slides to rear and back folds so that there is clear view all round the cab and obviously a passenger cannot ride in it in that position.
Any one knowledge of MOT's here???

Re: front passenger seat

Posted: Thu May 22, 2014 6:58 pm
by dave_aber
baronweetman wrote:As all Bongo owners know the front passenger seat cannot be swivelled.

Not All Bongo owners know this to be true. I simply swivel the seat to face the rear as and when required.

Edit : BUt, to answer your question. As far as I know, if you have a seat fitted and it is forward-facing it must have a seatbelt. However, seats which face rearwards or sideways do not require seatbelts.

As a slight further complication, anything MOT-able which is fitted must work. So, if the swivelled seat has a seatbelt fitted, it must work, and in your current configuration that is debatable as it's not correctly lined up with the seat. You could say it's not 'fitted to that seat', it's just parked on the door post. You could remove the belt - but it's easier to swap the seat back. I have MOTd a car which had 4 seatbelts fitted, and only one seat, so you could possibly just remove the seat, save the work of refitting it with the runners swapped back forwards.

Re: front passenger seat

Posted: Thu May 22, 2014 7:03 pm
by helen&tony
Hi
Aye...it's a REALLY NEAT trick...I have mine to do according to the plans....
Cheers
Helen

Re: front passenger seat

Posted: Thu May 22, 2014 7:20 pm
by baronweetman
thanks for the input Dave.

Re: front passenger seat

Posted: Fri May 23, 2014 6:14 am
by baronweetman
helen&tony wrote:Hi
Aye...it's a REALLY NEAT trick...I have mine to do according to the plans....
Cheers
Helen
Has anyone got the plans for a swivel attachment for the front seat????

Re: front passenger seat

Posted: Fri May 23, 2014 7:01 am
by mikexgough
baronweetman wrote:
helen&tony wrote:Hi
Aye...it's a REALLY NEAT trick...I have mine to do according to the plans....
Cheers
Helen
Has anyone got the plans for a swivel attachment for the front seat????

PM Dave Aber he has plans for the swivel seat

Re: front passenger seat

Posted: Fri May 23, 2014 7:59 am
by dave_aber
PM Me your email address, and I'll send you the drawings / links etc.

You'll need to be able to drive a hacksaw and a welder, and ideally you'll need a spare passenger seat base / runners (not essential)

Sneak review

DA

Re: front passenger seat

Posted: Sat May 24, 2014 12:41 pm
by rita
baronweetman wrote:As all Bongo owners know the front passenger seat cannot be swivelled. So I have turned mine round and bolted it down facing the rear.
Can anyone tell me if this will have any effect on the MOT?
The seat can always be unbolted and turned again but would rather not have the hassle just for one day to pass the test.
The seat slides to rear and back folds so that there is clear view all round the cab and obviously a passenger cannot ride in it in that position.
Any one knowledge of MOT's here???

If you intend to use this seat with a passenger whilst travelling you will need an operational (legal) seat belt fitted/adapted.

It will fail the MOTT as the seat belt clip will be in the wrong position.

You should also contact your insurance company and inform them of the modification.

Re: front passenger seat

Posted: Sat May 24, 2014 1:16 pm
by hijimhere
Fit a lap belt - Leave the 3 point where it is - I think OE (Orginal Equipment) is required to be there as installed at production.

Re: front passenger seat

Posted: Sat May 24, 2014 2:20 pm
by rita
[quote="hijimhere"]Fit a lap belt - Leave the 3 point where it is - I think OE (Orginal Equipment) is required to be there as installed at production.[/quote]


Unfortunately the seat belt clasp/clip will be on the wrong side for the test when the seat is turned round.

Re: front passenger seat

Posted: Sat May 24, 2014 5:21 pm
by Simon Jones
Simplest option at MOT time is to remove the seat altogether. There is no requirement to have a passenger seat and what it not present when tested cannot be failed if it is not a mandatory piece of equipment. It's a 5 minute job to remove the seat and the same to refit it. Presumably you'd already spend at least 5 minutes checking the vehicle over before hand so it's not massively going to ruin your day.

Re: front passenger seat

Posted: Sun May 25, 2014 12:55 pm
by nicstrike
years ago having done beautiful repair to the floor of my mums mgb I sent her back to our local mot station (minus seat to show off to tester) for the re-test only for her to come back for me to fit the seat as he refused to test the car without it. he's not normally too fussy about stuff (if you know what I mean :wink: ) , so I don't know if the "take it out" theory is correct?

Re: front passenger seat

Posted: Sun May 25, 2014 2:01 pm
by Simon Jones
MOT testers manual does not list missing seat as reason for rejection: http://www.motinfo.gov.uk/htdocs/m4s06000201.htm. Best bet would be to ask your local MOT station for their advise.

Re: front passenger seat

Posted: Thu Jul 23, 2015 2:35 pm
by digitalgypsy
Hi all,

Just a heads up that these guys are now offering a front swivel seat: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNA1lyoz9rc :P No idea on insurance implication.

Re: front passenger seat

Posted: Thu Jul 23, 2015 3:53 pm
by francophile1947
digitalgypsy wrote:Hi all,

Just a heads up that these guys are now offering a front swivel seat: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dNA1lyoz9rc :P No idea on insurance implication.
Unless the seat has been crash tested, I doubt if the insurance company would be happy.