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How to: Retro fit the drawer under the passenger seat in the Astra J

3K views 0 replies 1 participant last post by  MusicLoverUK 
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Introduction

Following the research in this thread (and thanks to all who contributed (Y) ) I now present the How-To guide on fitting the drawer under the passenger seat in the Astra J (Front passenger's underseat storage facility as Vauxhall call it).

Disclaimer: As with all posts in this forum, all information is provided in good faith and no warranty is provided by the site or by me. Any work you undertake based on information in this thread is entirely at your own risk and neither I nor the site accept any responsibility for damage or injury to your vehicle or yourself resulting from using this information!

Firstly, here's a picture of the drawer which I retro-fitted in my 2011 Astra J SRi:



The storage tray is 301mm wide internally and the walls are 76mm high but there is clearance for objects up to 102mm high. The front and rear walls of the storage tray are not straight - the largest rectangular object you can lay flat in the tray is 301mm x 190mm, but the depth is up to 210mm at the widest point. Markings on the drawer state a maximum weight of 3kg.

Based on research I believe the drawer can be fitted to seats that are not height-adjustable. Also the Vauxhall configurator does not allow you to order the drawer on a new car with full leather seats, but I have not been able to identify for certain yet why that is (you can have the drawer with heated full leather seats in Germany).

Parts Required

Here's a picture of what you need:



Drawer p/n 13327221
Housing p/n 13327220
Bracket p/n 13327205
Screws p/n 13327202 Qty: 4
Total cost at time of ordering last week was ÂŁ103.30 inc VAT at retail price, or ÂŁ98.20 using Trade Club.
(These are the part numbers to fit the UK passenger seat - different parts may be required for left-hand drive cars)

In the factory fit they use six screws p/n 13336060 to go through the 5mm and 6mm holes in the seat frame and self-tap into the 4mm holes in the bracket, but this would have to be done from the seat cushion side before the upholstery goes on the frame. For the retro fit, to avoid having to remove the upholstery, I drilled out the bracket and used four M5 x 12mm normal bolts with 8mm nuts. A pack of 10 bolts with nuts cost me ÂŁ3.58 at B&Q.

Before We Start

This is the housing and bracket viewed from the top:



Points A and B are where the bracket bolts to the seat frame. Points C would also bolt to the seat frame in the factory fit, but this is not possible without removing the upholstery. Spikes D on the housing locate into holes D in the bracket. Clip E on the housing locates into slot E in the bracket.

And this is upside down to show you the under side:



The four points F on the housing line up with the four points F on the bracket.

You will have to fit the housing into the bracket after you've bolted the bracket to the seat frame and it's very tricky, so at this point I strongly recommend that you practice fitting the housing into the bracket so that you understand how to manoeuvre it.

Here it is the right way up viewed from above:



And here it is upside down to see the under side:



Note how each point F has a long slot and a round screw hole. You'll need to locate these screw holes and put the screws in blindly later, so make sure you've seen how they line up and you can feel for the screw hole.

Fitting Part 1: Bolts

Below is a picture of the area under the passenger seat. Points A on the bracket will bolt to the Points A indicated here under the seat. I recommend at this point that you practise manoeuvring the bracket into position so that you can see which holes line up for the four bolts, and also the practise will make life easier later when you have to do this with the bolts in place. Sliding the seat forwards gives you more clearance from the floor. Also noted in the picture is a wire which can get in the way of the housing later on so you need to keep that out of the way.



Now you have to get your four M5 x 12mm bolts and drop them down through the holes in the seat frame at Points A and B like this:



Here's an upside down shot to show the bolts a bit more clearly. Also indicated here is the access hole you can get your fingers into to get the bolts to Points B:



Getting the bolts into Points B is not too bad as the bolt will sit in a little 'dish' while you poke it about to make it drop through the 6mm hole in the seat frame. Points A only have a 5mm hole and nothing to guide the bolt towards it, so I used a little slip of card to hold my bolt as I moved it into position, then you can just tear the card away once it's in:



Fitting Part 2: Bracket

As previously mentioned, the factory fit drives self-tapping screws into the 4mm holes at Points A, B and C in the bracket, but we can't do that with the upholstery in the way. You therefore need to drill out holes A and B in your bracket to 5.5mm to accept the standard M5 bolts we're using. You're drilling steel so if you've never done that before get some proper advice from elsewhere first! The main point with drilling steel is that you must submerge the cutting face in oil. Cover your workbench with something that will catch the oil and swarf and place your bracket the right way up. Putting a bit of sticky tape on the under side of each hole will allow you to put a few drops of 3-in-1 oil in the hole, filling the hole and also covering around the top of the hole where you'll be drilling. Then use a good 5.5mm HSS drill bit and drill at a steady speed without too much pressure on the drill. If you press too hard the bit will bite too quickly and literally bite off more than it can chew! Remember you only have to drill Points A and B - we can't get bolts into Points C without removing the seat upholstery. If you don't have a 5.5mm bit you can use 5mm, but locating the bolts into the holes will be a bit trickier. Clean all oil and swarf from your bracket, but you don't need to worry about a bit of a burr on the under side of the holes (the nut will crush that down later).

Now manoeuvre the bracket into position under the seat - moving the seat forwards will give you more clearance from the floor. Get the bracket close to the bolts but not right up against the seat frame because you don't want to push the bolts back up into the seat cushion. One by one, starting with Points A at the back, get your finger behind the bolt to hold the bolt in place, locate the bracket onto the bolt, then slip the nut loosely onto the bolt to stop it escaping. Do the two back bolts (Points A) first, then the front bolts (Points B).

Here's the bracket mounted under the seat:



Use an 8mm socket on a small ratchet to tighten up each nut to a suitable torque. You may need to use a deep-drive socket or a small extension bar to reach the nuts at Points B because of the strut in the way. I found three of the four nuts tightened up no problem with the ratchet (I just put my figer on the head of the bolt to stop it turning), but one bolt just decided to spin round rather than tighten up. If you get that problem you can hold the threaded end of the bolt with some pliers and tighten the nut with an 8mm spanner. Just make sure you line the jaws of the pliers with something so you don't damage the thread of the bolt. If you do damage the thread you'll have problems if you need to remove that nut later because the nut won't get past the damaged thread without you getting a decent grip on the head of the bolt which you can't do with the upholstery in the way! Here's a picture:



Fitting Part 3: Housing

Now here's the difficult bit: manoeuvre the housing into the bracket and get all the locating points lined up. This is very awkward and will take quite a few attempts which is why I told you to practice earlier when you could see what you were doing! After about half an hour of jiggling I eventually got it in place. Sliding the seat forwards gives you more clearance from the floor. Also take a look from the rear footwell to see how you're doing and remember to keep that wire out of the way. I think the hardest part is getting Spikes D into their holes without catching on everything else on the way! You'll know you've got it right when you can feel Points F all aligned properly. I would suggest that you don't engage Clip E until after you've done the four screws at Points F (see below) because if you find you need to re-position the housing it wouldn't be easy to disengage Clip E. Here are a few pictures on the housing in place:







Now you have to insert the four screws (p/n 13327202) to secure Points F of the bracket to the screw holes in the underside of the housing, and as I mentioned earlier you will have to feel your way around as you can't see what you're doing here.

Feel for the front screw holes and put the screw in as much as you can with your fingers. There is just enough clearance to get a Torx T25 bit on a small ratchet under there to drive the screw home:



Keep a gentle feel of the torque - the change is barely noticeable when you have the screw fully home, so if you're not careful you'll just go stripping the threads because you're screwing into plastic.

The front screws can be done with the ratchet. The back screws have even less clearance from the floor even with the seat fully forwards, so Plan B is required. I put the screws in with my fingers, then inserted a T25 bit from a screwdriver set and held the bit in place with my finger while I turned it (a quarter turn at a time) with a spanner:



It's a good job that Vauxhall use Torx head screws because you wouldn't stand a chance doing this with a philips or slot-head! Standard screwdriver bits are quarter-inch and since I don't have a quarter-inch spanner I had to use my small adjustable spanner. I put sticky tape over the adjuster screw to keep it perfectly set while I worked. Again keep a REALLY gentle feel of the torque so you know when the screw is fully home without going too far.

Fitting Part 4: Final Fit

Make absolutely sure that the housing is properly in place, then engage Clip E (it's very hard to disengage Clip E again if you find you've not positioned it right, so make absolutely sure first!). Check AGAIN to make sure the housing is correctly positioned, solid and rattle-free before inserting the drawer. The drawer has a latch which stops it from being pulled out so once it's in you won't be getting it out in a hurry!

Congratulations it's fitted! Here's the finished result:





I hope this comes in handy for a few people. Enjoy!
 
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