How to retrofit a rear seat pass through – For those vehicles not equipped.

[yel-low]

Most of you guys are lucky enough to own newer Millenias with rear seat pass throughs. This write-up probably won’t relate much to those that already have one. My 97 unfortunately did not. I use the vehicle predominantly as my beater /grocery getter. I increasingly find myself ending up at the home improvement store with a good length of pipe, 2X4, or the random item that is just too long to fit in the car. It’s frustrating enough to not have rear seats that fold down much less no pass through to slide things through in order to close the trunk fully. I decided to retro-fit my older Millenia to accommodate one.
This is what I started out with.

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You will have to remove the rear bench seat and back. This is what mine looked like.

The next step is to remove all these metal hog-ring clips. A few pliers work just fine to spread them open.

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With the carpet backing removed you will find the vinyl covered hardboard attached with four locking clips.

This is a close up of the type of clips used. They are super easy to remove. Just press in the center pin and pull them out.
Here is the clip:

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This is the clip with the center pin pushed in.

When you are ready to re-install the clips you have to push the pins all the way back out of the clip so that the pin protrudes a few millimeters above the head. Install the clip and push the pin flush with the clip. It will then be locked into place.

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With the carpet peeled back and the board removed this is where you will end up.

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Now all you have to do is lay the carpet back down and make a few snips. You should then be able to tuck the excess all the way around the hardware that the leather is stretched on. This leaves a nice clean OEM look.

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Here is the final result. Once you reinstall the seat on the car you will have to trim the interior trunk trim to allow for removal of the board we just liberated. You can affix the trim with some glue or Velcro to the back of the board to maintain an OEM clean look. All you need to do from now on is just pop those four clips loose and pull the panel down.

Here is a shot from inside the car. The OEM factory look is completely preserved.

[Gripdog]

I just bought seats from a 2001 and they have cup holder in the arm rest, which you can conceal, adjustable head rests and a pass through, just another option

[bigb]

nice writeup

I was secretly hoping to see a reciprocating saw somewhere in that writeup lol... but alas you were being serious

[yel-low]

Probably one of the most pointless ones I ever did but hey... I took pictures so you all have to suffer along with me.

I have better ones coming. I promise!