That's the BMC dealer-fit van rear seat conversion. The spare tyre goes in the gap on one side, the battery in the other (under the cover in the pics). I've got a brouchure for this kit somewhere.

_________________
Brett Nicholson
Greendale (near Ballan) VIC.
1971 Morris Mini Moke
1966 Austin Mini
1965 Morris Mini Traveller
1973 LR Series 3 88
2007 LR Freelander 2

First off - thanks for posting the pics!

It has brackets that go up the side as you can just make out - there is loads of room in the back leg room wise which is good BUT your correct - not much room for groceries behind seat - yes the van has same internal rear door opening restrictors but at 6'5" I am not too keen to try n fit in the back at all. Rego papers state it is 4 seater too - although - the seat probably wouldn't fit todays safety standards!

Mk

That's a pajero seat, fits well and very strong, but sits high at the front. Was thinking of using this for rego, maybe even have it recovered to match the front seats.

The stange part with my van is the bar / hinge (very hard to see in the bottom right of pic). This is on both sides - can't work out what system they ran.

bnicho, any chance of some pics from the brouchure?

Still thinking of welding the brackets back on at the rear shocks and getting some marine ply, piano hinges and get it covered - just has to look origional for rego or I may have rego / body mod engineer problems.

If I can get a brochure, I may be able to rego without the seat, showing it was a factory / after market mod of the time, but I don't have the seat.

Tom , since your's still has the center bit coming up from the floor I wonder if it was made like the Estate's seat . Below is a scan from a 1978 brochure from the clubbie estate , it shows the squab tilts forward (no idea of hinges but you could have 3 , one on the bracket either side and one in the middle) and the back hinges down to give your flat floor . If you put some extra bracing in for the back to rest on more rigidly you'd have a good chance of getting it engineered etc .

_________________

So would you guys say this is a rare little mini ? I know the paint looks sad but that can be fixed - as can front end, back seat is a little mouldy but wipes off easy enough.

Try an early model Nissan patrol MQ rear seat from Delux wagons or Short wheel base patrols - fits between patrol rear arches so its about 102cm wide I would say if memory serves me correctly - 14 and 17mm bolts up front and a pair of 16 's holding down rear catch - possibly a little heavy for mini and maybe too wide?

Just a thought for you all.

Mk

all minis are rare especially vans they are getting harder to find these days but i would say yours in the condition it is in you could probably get 2 to 4 thousand for it depending on how much rust,condition of body,if complete or not and who you are willing to sel it to......

Ok - cool.

Its 100% complete and has no rust in it so I am happy to see I didn't pay too too much for it - maybe a little bit but thats ok I guess.

I suppose everyones point of view is different mind you

It looks like a good buy to me.

The Estate/Traveller/Countryman have pivots at both sides of the base squab that fit onto the storage bins. The backrest is simply covered plywood and it is secured upright with a couple of simple latches that look like they came from a hardware store.

Travellers have less leg room but more luggage space than the van conversions like this.

I'd try a Suzuki Sierra rear seat. I bought one cos it measured up about right for a conversion like this. But I never got around to doing the conversion and sold the seat to Timbo for use in his Moke.

_________________
Brett Nicholson
Greendale (near Ballan) VIC.
1971 Morris Mini Moke
1966 Austin Mini
1965 Morris Mini Traveller
1973 LR Series 3 88
2007 LR Freelander 2

This seat was not an aftermarket add on eg mitsubishi or anything else the seat is a B.M.C seat I reckon it is the real deal VERY interesting period peice

_________________
That's why it's good to be.............ME

Posted for AWOODY.

I'll take a pic of the brackets on my van, after looking at Ian's pic, is very similar - allowing the seat base to pivot forward allowing the top to sit flat.