Giant Robot Destroy Tokyo

[kingandy]

There may have to be a change of plans - at first glance it appears that Raj's rear seats do not fold down, making it impossible to fit the tent poles in. One ray of hope comes from one of the reviews on this page - "if they will open their eyes and/or read the owners manual! (i.e. the complaint that the back seats dont fold down on their 98--same year as mine---and mine sure do! Gotta unlock them, but they do fold down.)" No indication whether this is true on older models, but the fact that some people were misled by the apparently hidden lock mechanism at least allows for the possibility that I just can't see it...

UPDATE: samharber has found the manual page depicting the seat release. Unfortunately, this does not accuractly depict Raj's innards. Either he's an earlier model or the fold-down seats were an optional extra, because the escutcheon is conspicuous in its absence, and T-shaped release latches are notable only in that they are not anywhere to be found. There's a hole for them to be in, but they are not there and there's no sign that there was ever anything for them to connect to. The seats remain resolutely attached.

Comments

[arwel.livejournal.com]

One would hazzard a guess that Alex's car is big enough seeing how he got the poles from his to yours. I'm sure Bacon would be greatfull for any help he could provide ;)

[kingandy]

The thought did occur. The further thought occurred that things are possible when travelling across town that would be undesirable down the motorway.

Your icklejo has offered her car for pole transportation. I think if we operate under the general principle that we should be able to fit all people, kit and tentage in between our three cars (hers, Raj and samharber's), we should be onto a winner...

[stsquad.livejournal.com]

Big enough to get from mine to Bacons without fitting in any other kit as they had to go in diagonally. So 'fraid not. Wouldn't of been a problem in the Passat but someone nicked that....

[kingandy]

That's what I figured.

Of course, if you did take the poles we could then fit your kit in my car ... but I think four cars would be excessive.

[stsquad.livejournal.com]

Well I suppose if there was *no other way* I could be pursuaded. However it was a hell of squeeze fitting it my car and the poles butted right up to my windscreen so no sudden braking!

Have you got the Haynes manual for Raj? Certainly as Gem pointed out removing seats isn't too hard. They are usually only fixed by 2 or 3 big screw/bolts and if your not carrying passengers you will notice how much more space you gain. My Polo sans seats was a great kit carrier :-)

[kingandy]

No manual, no... I couldn't see any bolts either. The damn things seem to be permanently affixed.

[samharber.livejournal.com]

I suspect Raj may be a cut and shove.....

[icklejo]

Shut my dear, cut and shut.

[kingandy]

Er ... does that mean "seats do not fold down?"

[samharber.livejournal.com]

It means the back half may not have originally belonged to the front half.

[kingandy]

Oh. Well, both halves look like a Honda Accord, and the manual you found was for a 1991 model ... the seat does look like the one in the picture (even down to the headrest-bumps and fold-out armrest), it's just all of a piece instead of having "R. Side Seat Back" and "L. Side Seat Back" as distinct components.

You can tell from the diagram that even at that point there were at least two models of seats (built-in headrest and separate adjustable headrest). Looks like I've got a non-fold-down model. Could be something to do with boot security, there's a number of features aimed at being able to give your keys to a mechanic without letting them into the boot...