or a paint tin.

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Julie.............

this was my argument to Matt (my Matt, not you obviously ) on this topic. It is registered and engineered as having 4 seats in the eyes of Queensland Transport.

Let us know how you go if you ring them, I would love to find out the correct answer

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As far as I know it is not legal in NSW at least, the reason is because if you put a full roll cage in your car and have to remove the rear seats, you have to get a new blue slip and reregister your car as a 2 seater instead of a 5 seater. The law (from memory) says if your car must always have enough seating to accomodate the stated amount of passengers that the car has been registered with.

So that means if you have 5 passengers listed on your rego, you have to have 5 seats...

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Lillee - 1969 Morris Mini K

Back since Adam was but a wee lad (in the early `60s) people have removed seats from Minis to carry stuff.
We went right around Tasmania in Barney recently with no back seat, it was left at home to make way for luggage and fresh vegies...

if there is a `law' against this I would like to read chapter and verse. Said law would prevent you from folding the back seats down in a station wagon...

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

My mother in-law tells me that when her kids were babies she used to remove the front passegers seat of her 850 and place the baby in a 'bounce-on-ette' on the floor.

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Julie.............

If you want to remove the seat you first remove the compliance plate.
There is no requirement for a car to have a compliance plate once it is registered.

Nor is there a requirement (in NSW) to have one when re-registering it, after it's been sitting unregistered for years. It's nice to have one though, as long as the numbers match the body...

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

Lockie, you have a spare car.... Take a seat out of it and use it till the right one is ready... Put a seat cover on it to make it look better if need be ! If you havent a spare I have heaps come and get one.

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DID I MENTION THAT I AM THE BEST SUPPLIER FOR MINI ELECTRICAL PARTS AND REPAIRS?
"Let us remove your "SHORTS"

Whilst the argument about cars with fold down seats is a good one, if you were pulled over you would be able to demonstrate to the police the car is capable of seating the specified number the car is complied for. The seats are still in the car, just as the manufacturer made them. This is totally different to removing said seat from car. And what people have done since back in the day has nothing to do with what is legal.

And seeing as the original question was asked about queensland its only queensland that matters. I work for a Queensland Transport approved Inspector, who does Modification plates. The most common Modification we get is about seats. I'm not saying i know all the rules, but i do know that if the seating capacity changes, you need a mod plate. For example, a ute with a bench seat, complied for 3 seats, if you then get the same model ute, which was complied with 2 seats and fit these which the car already has all the mounting points, you still need a modplate. Or as someone said, you put a cage in the car and have to remove the back seats, you need a modplate to say its 2 seats, and no one can sit in the back.

You might say its stupid, and yea it is a bit. BUT just think, in all the Transport databases, the car will be listed as 3 seats. If someone does a roadworthy on the car and lists it as 2 seats, this brings up red flags when someone tries to use the roadworthy to transfer rego etc. But if on the roadworthy certificate, it says the car has been modified, and has a mod plate for the seats, then its a ok. because transport will have already received a piece of paper when the mod plate was done saying its now 2 seats.


So back to the point, yea it is illegal, if you get pulled over with only 3 seats in the car, you could be in trouble. The cop might not care, or he might nail you. If i was the cop i would be a bit suss about a car missing a seat, so maybe just keep it in the car and dont let anyone sit in it.

Might, could, maybe ...no wonder we have galloping levels of peanut allergies these days.

If you want to - just do it.

If you're fussed, get a copy of the rules and read them.

If you're really fussed, walk into the local cop shop and ask the guy behind the counter what would happen if he caught you without a passengers seat.

Jeez

Matt is right you are altering the seating capacity so therefore need
a blue plate

i once bought a commode ute brand new from the local holden dealer
and they registed it for me and the rego said it had a seating
capacity of 5

So let me get this right- in Qld you need a blue plate to temporarily remove a seat, but you can drive about forever with fist-sized visible rust holes in the body... (well, my brother in law did for years).

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DrMini- 1970 wasaMatic 1360, Mk1S crank, 86.6HP (ATW) =~125 @ crank, 45 Dellorto (38 chokes), RE282 sprint cam, 1.5 rockers, 11.0:1 C/R.

Well technically to "temporarily" remove a seat, you must mod plate it for the new capacity, and then when you refit the seat you must mod plate it again to the new "original" seating. So 2 plates.

So i dont see why you would bother as the cheapest mod plate i've heard of is about 100 bucks. So thats 200 bucks just to legally temporarily remove a seat.

I think you can however apply for some sort of permission from transport, for temporary mods. So if you get pulled over its ok because you have run it past transport, but there needs to be good reason etc on for why.

On a side note, in Queensland you also should have a mod plate for any aftermarket seats etc, even if they use the original mounts/brackets etc.


As for fist-sized rust holes in the body, well no thats illegal, but seeing as there are no annual inspections, as long as you keep it registered the only problem will be if you get pulled over. So if you wanted to transfer rego you would need to get an inspection, which SHOULD knock back the rust, but some inspections are worth the paper they are written on. I've heard of some people who do over the phone inspections. Just give them the vehicle details, pay an extra amount and look your car passed. And chances are, if your car doesn't fit into the "hoon" category your have to be pretty unlucky to get pulled over and inspected. Back as far as i can remember, i've only ever seen maybe 3 roadside inspections (like a breath test stop where they pull heaps of people in) but never known someone who was pulled into one.

hehehe a phone-worthy inspection as my dad calls em

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