Hi All,

I mentioned in the 'Hidden features that amazed you' thread a few days ago that I'd discovered my STR was fitted with folding seats from the factory. I had an afternoon off work today, so thought I'd have a snoop and see how hard it would be to remove the bulkhead panel. It ended up being so easy that the snoop turned into job complete in under an hour. I also found almost £7 in loose change - and a lot of jelly babies - under the rear seat squab. About time this car gave me some money back :-)


I'd done a few searches on whether the car had folding seats before I made the purchase, and come to the conclusion it didn't but bought it anyway - so my hope is this thread will help any future searchers know that the STR can indeed be a practical load lugger with just 1 hour of labour, an electrical screwdriver, and a 10mm ring spanner... Obviously this panel is there for a reason and no doubt provides some rear end stiffness, but for my personal requirements, the ability to carry large loads on demand far outweighs this. Each to their own, of course. Nothing is modified to remove it so I can always pop it back in before sale if necessary.



Start by removing the rear seat squab as per JTIS. This is just 2x plastic clips (white in the photo), and the electrical screwdriver is to stick in the release hole of the central seatbelt clip. Now remove loose change and jelly babies. TIP: If you decide to hoover the residue of sweets of children of previous owners, note the sound deadening mat is NOT stuck down well, so be careful. Then to remove 2x seat bolsters, again as per JTIS you need to lower the seat backs, which will reveal a single plastic clip on each bolster at the upper end. Unclip, pull out slightly, and slide upwards to remove.



The brace itself is held in entirely with 10mm fixings, all accessible from the rear cabin area. 3x nuts on short studs visible at the bottom, and 6x setscrews at the top, which are hidden under the forward lip of the parcel shelf. After removing the 3 obvious trim clips, the parcel shelf can safely be levered a few inches out of the way so you can get a ring spanner on to crack them, then remove them by hand. I've circled the location of all fixings in the photo below.



Et voila... Panel removed! (so you can access your beer from the passenger cabin.) Reassemble in opposite order, make sure the bolsters are firmly in position - down and back - before putting the squab back in, and make sure the sealing strip up the edge of the doorhole isn't caught up in them.




I do haave one remaining question at the end of this is to non-STR owners. Where are the seat release handles mounted in your car? In mine they are just floating loose in the boot, and uncomfortably close to catching in the hinge mechanism. They look like they should clip into some sort of holder, but I can't work out where this could be, unless we STR owners have a bracket missing or similar.

 

I have attempted to order the correct clips so those cables can be installed like the factory. There is a part number and I did get a plastic holder of some kind but it was not even close!

I would suggest getting them from a junk yard car as all S Types have them except the STR models.

Let us know if you get more creaks and groans after removing the panel. The STR is pretty stiff but I still feel and hear some flexing when I back out of the driveway. This has kept me from removing the panel but the small ski sack is not very useful for me.
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I also removed the bulkhead on my 2005 STR. Just had my mountain bike back there yesterday. Was able to fit it with only the front wheel removed and only the 60% seat folded. On my former 2003 V8 NA I even fit two mountain bikes back there on one vacation trip. The release knobs attach to the underside of the parcel tray. When one broke on my 2003 I used a magnetic paper clip holder to keep the knob/cable up and out of the way.