Technical Ford ka interior in Panda.

[daveofkent]

Hopefully nobody minds be posting questions about ka/500 seats as i was unsure where to put this question as the car its going in is a panda

So I posted previously about coupe seats and decided to get a KA interior. Im unsure if anyone has attempted this before, if they have i couldnt find pics.

I'll post pics later as to how far ive got.

So, Ive fitted the rear seats but the ka bench is different to the panda, the front fixings (where your legs go) are the same(ish). but the the panda bench bolts at the back too and the KA doesnt it just has some triangular loops which go under the top part of the seat.

*Does anyone know if this is the same as the 500 (cant find pics anywhere) and if i need to do anything with these, such as if they go in to a locking mechanism like the one for folding the seats forward. I cant see what secures the seat properly

*The KA rear seat is MUCH thinner at the back (seating part) leading to a nasty gap between the back portion and the seating bench, is the 500 built up in this area from the floor? I looked closely at the pics from the fiat forum member who fitted abrath rear in a panda seats and there was also a big gap in the finished product (which leads me to believe 500/ka are much the same) which im trying to eliminate. Ive done it so far with some MDF but i dont want to build a final version until i understand what the metal loops are for

Again, apologies in advance is this is off topic - if anyone else wants to use a ka interior ill be more than happy to help with what i have learnt already and hopefully itll help anyone in the future to get the rear seat to sit right.

Thanks

 

[AB100]

Hopefully nobody minds be posting questions about ka/500 seats as i was unsure where to put this question as the car its going in is a panda

So I posted previously about coupe seats and decided to get a KA interior. Im unsure if anyone has attempted this before, if they have i couldnt find pics.

I'll post pics later as to how far ive got.

So, Ive fitted the rear seats but the ka bench is different to the panda, the front fixings (where your legs go) are the same(ish). but the the panda bench bolts at the back too and the KA doesnt it just has some triangular loops which go under the top part of the seat.

*Does anyone know if this is the same as the 500 (cant find pics anywhere) and if i need to do anything with these, such as if they go in to a locking mechanism like the one for folding the seats forward. I cant see what secures the seat properly

*The KA rear seat is MUCH thinner at the back (seating part) leading to a nasty gap between the back portion and the seating bench, is the 500 built up in this area from the floor? I looked closely at the pics from the fiat forum member who fitted abrath rear in a panda seats and there was also a big gap in the finished product (which leads me to believe 500/ka are much the same) which im trying to eliminate. Ive done it so far with some MDF but i dont want to build a final version until i understand what the metal loops are for

Again, apologies in advance is this is off topic - if anyone else wants to use a ka interior ill be more than happy to help with what i have learnt already and hopefully itll help anyone in the future to get the rear seat to sit right.

Thanks

Demi may well have fitted the Abarth 500 rear bench in his (I forget - he fitted the Abarth front seats). Am sure I read someone fitting a 500 rear bench and needing some adapting.

 

[freddies dad]

hey dave,

i am looking to do the same to my panda, i have recently purchased a panda 100hp and the seats (especially the drivers seat) are absolutely battered and causing a lot of back pain!

i am happy i can get the front seats in ok (i have had a look at the guide by lewey and it doesnt look to bad) but i am unsure about the rears. Did you manage to sort out the issue with the gap between the rear seat and the bench or the rear fixing (triangular loops?).

cheers for the advice so far by the way, finding someone who has successfully done it in the past has given the confidence to give it a go!

Freddies dad

 

[daveofkent]

Hello!

Probably the best thing to do is use a slab of MDF under the seat, cut to size and with the hole for the seat belts. The triange loops dont seem to do much even on the ka, the just fold under a metal bar, not securely. You could recreate this or secure them even better than original off your new mdf floor

I had to swap the brackets over on the 500/panda rear seats. The look the same but there's small differences. I can not overstate how soft the heads are on all of the fiat seating components. I would advise to heat with a mini torch and use good tools.

 

[freddies dad]

well i got my hands on the interior from the ka today and the drivers seat has gone in no problems. i managed to get my hands on one of the grey sets of seats and they even match the inside of my panda pretty well. soon as i got the drivers seat in i took it out for a spin and its so much more comfortable than the original that came with the car!

one thing i did note is that with the rear seats there is an isofix bar that sits under the seat squab and uses the rear mounting points. i was wondering if this might be the solution to your gap issue. the bar in question looks like this btw.

 

[daveofkent]

i was wondering if this might be the solution to your gap issue. the bar in question looks like this btw.

Nice one. My ka seats had more lower back support I noticed.

I didn't get one of those bars. Does it line up on the panda mounting holes exactly?

I would have thought you might still need MDF as the panda seats have a rigid structure and the ka seats are much thinner. Let me know how you get on and I'll get one of those bars

 

[freddies dad]

I have yet to have a go at fitting it as yet (been away on holiday) but I am going give it a go tomorrow if I get a chance so I will let you know the outcome.

 

[freddies dad]

hey,


sorry it has taken me so long to reply, life and the weather got in the way of me fitting the rest of my seats but I am glad to report they are now in!


The isofix bar is definitely the source of the problem with the rear seats on the Ka it is separate on the panda it is integral to the seat base. unfortunately it is not the solution to the problem however. the Ka hing point is too low so when I tried that mounting the seats wouldn't attach at the top properly.


in the end I cut down the ford bar and fixed it to the original panda central hinge part. so it ended up looking like this -

 

[freddies dad]

I only got to this point using a lot of trial and error and this still resulted in some space under the seat cushions that I filled with seating foam I had left over from a previous job. but I am happy with the end results and it gave me something to fix the metal loops at the back of the ford cushions to!


heres what the rear seats ended up looking like -

 

[Makarintosh]

Do the "reclining" mechanisms work to drop the seats down for more boot room? I have been wanting to do this modification myself! Thanks for posting this up

 

[daveofkent]

Do the "reclining" mechanisms work to drop the seats down for more boot room? I have been wanting to do this modification myself! Thanks for posting this up

The mechanism for dropping the rear seats flat is exactly the same as the panda, it works fine ive used it several times already when taking stuff to the tip

 

[Makarintosh]

Which generation is the Ka you got the seats from?

 

[daveofkent]

2nd generation 2010 -->> as it's much the same as a fiat 500. The seats even say fiat/lancia on the subframe. In Europe ( I write that as I just came back from Brazil and their KA is totally different so im unsure where else has a different KA)

be careful not to get the seats from the 1st gen they are totally different.

 

[freddies dad]

Also be wary that you need the original panda central hinge.


So if you don't have split folding rear seats at the moment (I believe some pandas don't?) then you would have to source this part as well!