Just recently me & my buddies were taking a road trip. I would've loved to drive but we couldn't take my car (I only got 2 seats). Instead I had to be stuffed into the back of a compact 4 seater for the 2 1/2 hour trip . I'd rather be driving!
When I first started looking at buying an HHR for myself, there were a lot of wagons to choose from. And I was ready to buy one until I saw a Panel version. Wow! OK, now I have to have one of those. A little research & I realize they dont have a back seat? Well I know I'm gonna need a back seat at some point.
I started reading the posts on HHR.net & saw that people were installing back seats from a wagon into their Panels. Bam, I knew that I could have the cool look of the Panel but still have the back seat of a wagon if needed for friends/family trips. Best of both worlds. I started searching for a Panel version from that point on & then when I bought mine I then started searching for a back seat. Hmmm, back seats are a little more expensive than I would've guessed. And kind of hard to find. Luckily I found this one & I'm now gonna take a little road trip & get to meet another HHR Panel owner. It's all good stuff!

 

Here's a couple of pics of the storage bins in a non-panel HHR. They fit from behind the seat to the edge of the spare tire storage area and are divided 60/40 like the seats.

 

What about seatbelts for the rear seat ?

 

alright! So I see the need for more seats. my old dodge van (Hippie mushroom van) did have a couple seats in back for UMMMM oh ya... FUN!!!

 

That's a good point.. I'm thinking they might still have the attachment places on our Panels for rear seat belts..

 

The seats I'm getting have the one attached center seat belt. I'll buy the others. I want it all installed correctly. Nobody will sit back there until it's safe

 

I wanted the panel for business but needed the ability to haul 3 kids occasionally. I figured adding the safety gear would be a PITA so I bought the passenger version with the solid rear quarter then picked up a pair of panel doors from a salvage yard (correct color too). This way I have all the rear safety gear including rear side airbags, etc. I will post up pictures and schematics of how I wired the doors in soon as I had a hard time digging up info. Luckily the dealer let me use their computer and print off all the schematics I wanted. I think I paid $500 for the pair of doors and about $10 worth of wire and relays from Radio Shack.

P.S. I told the dealer I planned to do this before I agreed to buy the car and made sure they agreed it would not void any warranties not related to that aspect of the vehicle. I saved my original doors so I could swap them back on if I change my mind someday.

 

It's always a good thing to have all the safety stuff in after modding..


When I was a kid, I didn't much care if I even had tread on the tires, I was cruising..

A lot has changed in that kid (me).. Now I'm buckled up before I leave the property..

 

I've buckled up ever since I got cutoff at 40 MPH in my Barretta GT
Centerpunched a pole, no brakes, no belts.

Broke the four ¼-20 bolts that held the steering column to the rack.
With my nose.
It hurt.

I always buckle-up before putting it in gear.

 

Ouch !!! I know that hurt..

I got T-boned yrs ago in one of my V-8 Vega Wagons....That wasn't pretty either..