Single Middle Row Seat

[Cherokee]

Hi everyone. I'm new. First post here. I've a T6 Highline 150 DSG LWB glazed tailgate, bulkhead omitted, in Candy White on order. Built last week, so should be with me soon. I've driven many LWB vans so I've no concerns with length. Specced the van up a little, front sensors, rear camera, electric sunroof (!), larger LCD apple play, LED tail lights and a few other bits. HOWEVER, I intend to get some conversion work undertaken, I'm going to use the van for work mostly, with a view to a full 4-berth conversion in the near to middling future. I'm going to have non OEM opening windows to sliding door and opposite panel, swivel seats to driver & passenger bench (Kiravan swivels hopefully), B pillar swivel table. I need to use as mobile office a bit, as I'm a maintenance electrician, and there's lots of paper/email work involved. (Sign of the times). I'm having a ply bulkhead installed somewhere near the rear wheel arches to section the 'day' part of the van from the 'work' part of the van.
My questions to my new learned friends are as follows:
Is it worthwhile at this point in time having sound deadening, insulation installed?
I need some smart roofbars to carry ladders (max load 40kg), any recommendation?
And most importantly, I'm wanting a single seat fitted, (removable) but I want it behind the drivers seat and not adjacent to the sliding door. And I'm not sure whether this is possible in a r/h drive van? Would a l/h drive specced van have the middle row seating opposite way round, i.e. Single seat where I need it.
Apologies for the long winded post, but any advice will be most welcome. Ta in advance!!

 

[Pauly]

Sound deadening makes a difference, you don’t need to go over board but if you are fitting a bulkhead that will restrict access later then might be better to do it now unless you plan on removing bulkhead later anyway, a sheet on each panel will help reduce the tinny sounds a bit
Same goes for insulation, unless you are spending time in the van will it matter ? I will say though that insulation (especially on the roof) help control temperature, helps keep the warmth inside in winter but more so helps keep the heat out in summer when the sun is baking your roof

LHD vans have the seats the other way around, the single is on the drivers side because the sliding door is on the drivers side but this means the tip release mechanism/handle is on the drivers side also

 

[Cherokee]

Many thanks Pauly,
I do intend to remove the bulkhead once the full conversion is planned.
A very good point on the seat tilt mechanism.

My thinking is that if the seat was on the sliding door side, (as in a r/h driver) it would get in my way when I'm using the van for work on a day to day basis. I could take it out, but I'd rather have the option of it in place behind the drivers seat, so I can sit and do my paperwork (perhaps in a Maccy-Dees car park?!!), without the grief of having to swivel a seat for 20 minutes.

Am I making sense here or missing something obvious.......?

So the next question has to be, would one of these seats be available in the U.K. for a converter to fit?

 

[Pauly]

They are available as it’s an option when ordering to reverse the seats but trying to find one second hand will prob be a bit of a mission, lots of seating comes from Poland and Germany so worth checking out Ebay etc
I wouldn’t want to guess what VW would charge for one new !!

 

[Cherokee]

Thanks again Pauly for your info on this. Perhaps I'm after something that may not be poss. Still, I've put it to the local converters, and I'll see what comes back.

I'll post the news on here when I get it. It may be useful to someone!

Your Ebay suggestion was correct, there are sellers dispatching from UK, but on the small print state that 'returns have to be sent to Poland' That will put most of returning stuff!!

 

[Pauly]

I suspect you could fit a regular (left) single seat on the right as the footprint/fixings would be the same but think the feet are offset underneath so the seat would sit a few inches out from the side of the van which prob wouldn’t be the end of the world and would give you access to the top mechanism ?

 

[Cherokee]

Done a bit more research. I think I def need a l/h drive middle row seat, as the seat belt connection to the seat will be required to be on the off side..

 

[Pauly]

Good point ! I didn’t think about that