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2002 Astro - can third row bench be moved to 2nd row captain

9K views 14 replies 8 participants last post by  ChocloConQueso 
#1 ·
I'm looking at buying a 2002 AWD that has captains chairs in second row and a split bench in 3rd row... I've never owned one with captains chairs and not familiar with the way they're anchored, all my Astros had 2 bench seats.. can the 3rd row bench be moved to the 2nd row? I always have the 3rd row seat out to accommodate tools and cargo, and the second row bench in place as a barrier from tools flying at me, and when my dogs travel with me they lay on the bench...
 
#3 ·
I've never seen one with captains in person, so I'm not familiar with how they are anchored, I,m assuming they can be removed similar to the rear bench...I'm in Lockport NY and the van is in Cleveland Ohio so it's not like I can just go check it out... it's a 6 hour round trip if I decide to buy it.. it's in great shape with 87,000 miles on it... but the captains chairs may be a deal breaker if they don't come out like all my other Astros..
 
#5 ·
Stock 2nd row buckets seats mount exactly the same as the stock front bucket seats, 4 bolts sticking up from the floor, they are interchangeable. The bench seats have brackets that hook to pins mounted in/below the floor.
captains chairs, usually a conversion, probably different.
pretty sure on this, but my Astro is a 98. pretty sure buckets & bench do not interchange.
 
#7 ·
nope, probably a good 45 minutes to unbolt them & the 8 bolts would be sticking up about 2 inches off the floor.

I switched mine from bench to bucket. It was a pain mounting & welding in the 8 bolts.
 
#8 ·
Wait a tick.
I seem to remember my Bro-in-Law's Astro van having fancy leather seats in the rear of his 2004 or 2005.
They featured two seats per bench and they had the same mounting points on the floor as my traditional bench seats.

Is everyone here talking about different "captain chairs" which are separate? and not in "bench format?"
 
#9 ·
Yes they are separate..... deal breaker for me.. too bad the van is in great shape and only has 87,000 miles in it...$3,900... I found another one with bench seats in great shape as well with 82,000 miles but it's listed for $6,5000 through a dealer... I was hoping to buy cash but am going to check it out, if monthly payment is low enough I'm going to buy it...
 
#11 ·
If you can find a skilled and creative body man with a plasma welder and the courage and skill to figure out how to solve (any) problem, then with a few bucks and 5-6 hours, you can solve this thorny project of moving a third row bench seat to the middle, replacing captain's chairs. The major puzzle - the seats do not share the same base fitment - one that can seem to defy logic.
I found such a guy, a young car builder, who saw a way to make this happen, and in 5 hours, he did it, and did it well (as I think the photos illustrate).
One of the bases each of the captain's chairs was saved, used to mate with the altered base of the bench seat. The bench had a click into tunnel fixture while the captain's chairs were held down at four corners by bolts through the floor. The inner frame of the outboard captain's chair was saved and plasma welded together to form a new base (see photo of the base) and the same approach was made for the inboard base.
Then the bench seat was bolted to the new base and thanks to GMC design, the seat belts were completely useable in the transfer as they remained attached to the van inner side wall.
Even if an OEM middle bench could have been found, the new, redesigned base would have to be built, so there was an advantage, in this project, to use the existing third row bench because 1) the captain's chairs were used a part payment for the job and more importantly, their bases used for the new middle seat base and 2) it was there and in excellent condition and 3), it seemed to be the same width and style a the OEM middle bench.
In my case, my "builder/artist" brought a bonus. He took extra care to make the job look sort of like an OEM conversion. You can be the judge of that - I was more than pleased with the look.
The "new" seat is comfy, is solidly attached to the floor and will withstand a crash event, looks decent in place, allows movement back to the cavern (back space), matches the interior, and provides full and correct use of the seat belts. Also, the bench retains its adjustability - and is shown now in rearmost position.
Lastly, the wife is VERY happy.
Comments or questions welcome.
Be not afraid. You want middle bench seat? Find an "artist" and grab a few hundred bucks and go 4 it.

"There are two kinds of ships; submarines and targets".
 

Attachments

#14 ·
Capt Dave said:
If you can find a skilled and creative body man with a plasma welder and the courage and skill to figure out how to solve (any) problem, then with a few bucks and 5-6 hours, you can solve this thorny project of moving a third row bench seat to the middle, replacing captain's chairs. The major puzzle - the seats do not share the same base fitment - one that can seem to defy logic.
I found such a guy, a young car builder, who saw a way to make this happen, and in 5 hours, he did it, and did it well (as I think the photos illustrate).
One of the bases each of the captain's chairs was saved, used to mate with the altered base of the bench seat. The bench had a click into tunnel fixture while the captain's chairs were held down at four corners by bolts through the floor. The inner frame of the outboard captain's chair was saved and plasma welded together to form a new base (see photo of the base) and the same approach was made for the inboard base.
Then the bench seat was bolted to the new base and thanks to GMC design, the seat belts were completely useable in the transfer as they remained attached to the van inner side wall.
Even if an OEM middle bench could have been found, the new, redesigned base would have to be built, so there was an advantage, in this project, to use the existing third row bench because 1) the captain's chairs were used a part payment for the job and more importantly, their bases used for the new middle seat base and 2) it was there and in excellent condition and 3), it seemed to be the same width and style a the OEM middle bench.
In my case, my "builder/artist" brought a bonus. He took extra care to make the job look sort of like an OEM conversion. You can be the judge of that - I was more than pleased with the look.
The "new" seat is comfy, is solidly attached to the floor and will withstand a crash event, looks decent in place, allows movement back to the cavern (back space), matches the interior, and provides full and correct use of the seat belts. Also, the bench retains its adjustability - and is shown now in rearmost position.
Lastly, the wife is VERY happy.
Comments or questions welcome.
Be not afraid. You want middle bench seat? Find an "artist" and grab a few hundred bucks and go 4 it.

"There are two kinds of ships; submarines and targets".
Could you provide better pictures of how the bench was welded and did he weld a plate to the seat? I plan on doing this myself and would like to see more details of how it was done.
Thank You
 
#15 ·
Great thread. Answers several questions of mine. I had seen the 2 captains up front, 1 captain behind the driver configuration, which makes for excellent use of space and ease of access without the second captain or the passenger side half of a bench cramping the sliding door entrance. I was interested in duplicating it and found perfect donors at the yard, but when I inspected the captain behind the driver I noticed it had two nooks in the floor panel for the seat to latch into, plus the bolts. Bolts are minor issue, but realizing my triple-bench (now double lol) didn't have those same nooks in the floor panel where the right side of the captain would lock in I abandoned the idea.

However my front captains are in bad shape, so if captains from mid or rear are interchangeable with those in the front that will certainly expand my options while looking for seats to replace what I've got.
 
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