DIY - Finally! 1989 Wagon DX Under Seat Storage Tray
SuperDookinWagon
Band Wagon
So I purchased an under seat storage tray for a 1995 Honda Odyssey (08U40-SX0-100) to install on my USDM 1989 Honda Civic Wagon DX thinking it was going to be a quick and easy install like others have posted. Then I actually looked under my passenger (front right) seat and found that there are no holes drilled for it, nor any reference holes that were visible that I could use to drill new holes. So I procrastinated on it for while and four months later I finally got to installing it. So here is how I did it.
This install is fairly easy to do, though it took me about 3 hours do it (not including the 24 hours for the JBWELD) since I had to figure it out as I went along. It should only take an hour or less with these instructions.
If you’re installing a tray under your driver’s (front left) seat instead of your passenger (front right) all you need to do is use the right hole instead of the left hole as a reference.
I have written the instructions very step by step so anyone can pretty much do it.
Tools & supplies:
12mm deep socket
10mm deep socket
10mm box end wrench
Ratchet
Needle nose pliers
Center punch
Hammer
Rubber mallet
Drill
23/64in (9mm) drill bit
15/64in (6mm) drill bit
Phillips screwdriver
Pokey stick
2 plastic mounting inserts (3 comes with the tray)
2 mounting screws (3 comes with the tray)
1 - M6x1.0x35 hex bolt
9 - M6 flat washers
6 - M6x1.0 hex nuts
JBWELD
Step 1
Tools & supplies:
12mm deep socket
Ratchet
-Remove passenger seat
-Four bolts, one on each corner of the sliding rails
-You need the seat all the way forward to access the rear two bolts
-Remove seat from vehicle and place on towel so seat will not get dirty
Step 2
Tools & supplies:
Needle nose pliers
-Flip seat on its back
-Remove hog rings from the upper middle and right corner seat cover flaps (five hog rings in all)
-Masking tape flaps out of the way
Step 3
Tools & supplies:
Center punch
Hammer
Rubber mallet
Drill
23/64in (9mm) drill bit
Phillips screwdriver
2 plastic mounting inserts
2 mounting screws
-I noticed there were four holes in the upper section of the seat frame so I mocked up the tray bracket to those holes to see if any of them would work. I found that if you use the upper left hole as a reference point the other two holes aren’t be too hard mark and drill
-Enlarge the upper left hole to a 23/64in (9mm)
-Cut the corners of one plastic mounting insert with a sharp razor until it can fit snugly into the upper left hole
-Install upper left insert, lightly pound with a rubber mallet if needed (you will be removing it later)
-Mount upper left of the tray bracket to the upper left insert you just installed
-Line up the tray as straight as possible and scribe a mark through the upper right mounting hole of the bracket
-Remove tray bracket
-Center punch the scribe mark you have just made
-Drill that center punch to a 23/64in (9mm) (see recommendation below)
-Recommendation: Drill hole with a smaller bit first then gradually go up in size to a 23/64in (9mm) or else there is a high chance of ripping the metal as for it is fairly thin (this is what happened to me) (fixable with JBWELD if it happens to you, goes more in depth about this later)
-Cut the corners of the second plastic mounting insert with a sharp razor until it can fit snugly into the upper right hole
-Install upper right insert, lightly pound with a rubber mallet if needed (you will be removing it later)
-Test fit tray bracket with both mounting screws
-Now that we have the two upper holes drilled we have a good reference for the lower hole
-As you can see the bottom mounting hole of the tray bracket doesn’t touch the seat frame so we’re going to have to make it work
Step 4
Tools & supplies:
Center punch
Hammer
Drill
15/64in (6mm) drill bit
-Remove tray bracket and flip it so you can see the lower mounting hole
-Enlarge lower mounting hole to a 15/64in (6mm)
-Use that freshly enlarged hole as a guide and drill all the way through the tray bracket
-Now you can see straight through the lower mounting hole
-Mount the tray bracket with the two upper mounting holes
-Without the drill insert the 15/64in (6mm) drill bit through the lower mounting hole until it touches the seat frame
-Rotated the drill bit with your fingers until you have a nice mark on the seat frame (this will be your reference mark for drilling)
-Remove tray bracket
-Center punch mark on seat frame
-Drill center punch to a 15/64in (6mm) (see recommendation below)
-Recommendation: Drill hole with a smaller bit first then gradually go up in size to a 15/64in (6mm) (on the upper right mounting hole the metal ripped because it was fairly thin) (the lower mounting hole is thicker metal though I still went from small to big just as a precaution)
-Now you have a hole for the lower mount of the tray bracket
Step 5
Tools & supplies:
Hammer
10mm deep socket
Ratchet
10mm box end wrench
1 - M6x1.0x35 hex bolt
2 - M6 flat washers
1 - M6x1.0 hex nut (plus however many to protect the threads when bending the bolt, I used 4 protecting nuts)
-Insert bolt with one washer into the lower mounting hole from the inside of the seat by sticking your hand and arm between the seat frame and the cushion
-Install one washer and nut on the threaded side of the bolt
-Tighten down nut by holding the head of the bolt with the 10mm box end wrench and cranking down on the nut with a 10mm deep socket and ratchet (you don’t want this to budge so crank it down tight and use Loctite or superglue)
-As you can see the bolt is at an upwards angle due to the design of the bottom of the seat frame
-We’re going to have to make this bolt more horizontal
-Thread a few nuts onto the bolt to protect the threads
-Tap the bolt with a hammer until it is more horizontal
-Remove thread protecting nuts
-Test fit tray bracket and adjust bolt angle until bolt is in the middle of the lower mounting hole of the tray bracket
-Your lower mount is finished
Step 6
Tools & supplies:
JBWELD
Mixing stick
Mixing container
-Now is the time to bust out with the JBWELD
-Remove the two upper plastic inserts
-Apply JBWELD the inserts and reinstall them into the upper mounting holes
-Let sit for 24 hours
-I ended up JBWELDing the two upper plastic inserts into the seat frame to make sure they wouldn’t pop out in the future and also to cover up my mistake of being lazy and drilling out and ripping the metal of the upper right mounting hole by starting with a large drill bit instead of gradually sizing it up from a small one. Anyway, I would highly recommend starting with a small drill bit and gradually working up to the 23/64in (9mm) drill bit since the metal of the upper mounting holes is very thin and the upper right mounting hole you drill is already near a predrilled one.
Step 7
Tools & supplies:
Needle nose pliers
Pokey stick
5 - Removed hog rings
-Remove tape from seat cover flaps and install hog rings
-Locate the holes in the plastic inserts for the two upper mounts and use your pokey stick to poke holes through the seat cover flap
Step 8
Tools & supplies:
Need nose pliers
7 - M6 flat washers
1 - M6x1.0 hex nut
-Determine how many washers it will take to fill up the space between the seat frame and the lower mount of the tray bracket (it took 6 washers for me)
-Install spacer washers
-Insert bolt into the lower mount of the tray bracket and loosely install one washer and nut (kind of a pain in the ass to do)
-Install and tighten upper mount screws into plastic inserts
-Apply Loctite or superglue to the lower mounting bolt threads and tighten the nut (there isn’t enough room to get a 10mm wrench or socket in there so I used my fingers to snug it and needle nose pliers to tighten it)
-Since Loctite or superglue has been applied to the threads the nut shouldn’t back out
-The under seat storage tray bracket is installed!
-Test fit the plastic tray and make sure it slides smoothly and stops before it comes out completely
-If the tray comes out all the way without having to lift it up a little you may need to bend the tray bracket rails in a tiny bit
Step 9
Tools & supplies:
12mm deep socket
Ratchet
-It’s time to install the passenger seat!
-Since you’ve removed it you should know how to install it, though that isn’t always the case
-Remove plastic tray so you don’t accidentally break it in the seat installation process
-Line up all four seat mounting holes
-Loosely thread in all four bolts before tightening them
-Tighten bolts evenly while trying to match the bolt head marks already made on the rails
-Install plastic under storage seat tray
You’ve done it! Now you can try to stuff your tray with one stick of gum or maybe a bag of marbles!
This install is fairly easy to do, though it took me about 3 hours do it (not including the 24 hours for the JBWELD) since I had to figure it out as I went along. It should only take an hour or less with these instructions.
If you’re installing a tray under your driver’s (front left) seat instead of your passenger (front right) all you need to do is use the right hole instead of the left hole as a reference.
I have written the instructions very step by step so anyone can pretty much do it.
Tools & supplies:
12mm deep socket
10mm deep socket
10mm box end wrench
Ratchet
Needle nose pliers
Center punch
Hammer
Rubber mallet
Drill
23/64in (9mm) drill bit
15/64in (6mm) drill bit
Phillips screwdriver
Pokey stick
2 plastic mounting inserts (3 comes with the tray)
2 mounting screws (3 comes with the tray)
1 - M6x1.0x35 hex bolt
9 - M6 flat washers
6 - M6x1.0 hex nuts
JBWELD
Step 1
Tools & supplies:
12mm deep socket
Ratchet
-Remove passenger seat
-Four bolts, one on each corner of the sliding rails
-You need the seat all the way forward to access the rear two bolts
-Remove seat from vehicle and place on towel so seat will not get dirty
Step 2
Tools & supplies:
Needle nose pliers
-Flip seat on its back
-Remove hog rings from the upper middle and right corner seat cover flaps (five hog rings in all)
-Masking tape flaps out of the way
Step 3
Tools & supplies:
Center punch
Hammer
Rubber mallet
Drill
23/64in (9mm) drill bit
Phillips screwdriver
2 plastic mounting inserts
2 mounting screws
-I noticed there were four holes in the upper section of the seat frame so I mocked up the tray bracket to those holes to see if any of them would work. I found that if you use the upper left hole as a reference point the other two holes aren’t be too hard mark and drill
-Enlarge the upper left hole to a 23/64in (9mm)
-Cut the corners of one plastic mounting insert with a sharp razor until it can fit snugly into the upper left hole
-Install upper left insert, lightly pound with a rubber mallet if needed (you will be removing it later)
-Mount upper left of the tray bracket to the upper left insert you just installed
-Line up the tray as straight as possible and scribe a mark through the upper right mounting hole of the bracket
-Remove tray bracket
-Center punch the scribe mark you have just made
-Drill that center punch to a 23/64in (9mm) (see recommendation below)
-Recommendation: Drill hole with a smaller bit first then gradually go up in size to a 23/64in (9mm) or else there is a high chance of ripping the metal as for it is fairly thin (this is what happened to me) (fixable with JBWELD if it happens to you, goes more in depth about this later)
-Cut the corners of the second plastic mounting insert with a sharp razor until it can fit snugly into the upper right hole
-Install upper right insert, lightly pound with a rubber mallet if needed (you will be removing it later)
-Test fit tray bracket with both mounting screws
-Now that we have the two upper holes drilled we have a good reference for the lower hole
-As you can see the bottom mounting hole of the tray bracket doesn’t touch the seat frame so we’re going to have to make it work
Step 4
Tools & supplies:
Center punch
Hammer
Drill
15/64in (6mm) drill bit
-Remove tray bracket and flip it so you can see the lower mounting hole
-Enlarge lower mounting hole to a 15/64in (6mm)
-Use that freshly enlarged hole as a guide and drill all the way through the tray bracket
-Now you can see straight through the lower mounting hole
-Mount the tray bracket with the two upper mounting holes
-Without the drill insert the 15/64in (6mm) drill bit through the lower mounting hole until it touches the seat frame
-Rotated the drill bit with your fingers until you have a nice mark on the seat frame (this will be your reference mark for drilling)
-Remove tray bracket
-Center punch mark on seat frame
-Drill center punch to a 15/64in (6mm) (see recommendation below)
-Recommendation: Drill hole with a smaller bit first then gradually go up in size to a 15/64in (6mm) (on the upper right mounting hole the metal ripped because it was fairly thin) (the lower mounting hole is thicker metal though I still went from small to big just as a precaution)
-Now you have a hole for the lower mount of the tray bracket
Step 5
Tools & supplies:
Hammer
10mm deep socket
Ratchet
10mm box end wrench
1 - M6x1.0x35 hex bolt
2 - M6 flat washers
1 - M6x1.0 hex nut (plus however many to protect the threads when bending the bolt, I used 4 protecting nuts)
-Insert bolt with one washer into the lower mounting hole from the inside of the seat by sticking your hand and arm between the seat frame and the cushion
-Install one washer and nut on the threaded side of the bolt
-Tighten down nut by holding the head of the bolt with the 10mm box end wrench and cranking down on the nut with a 10mm deep socket and ratchet (you don’t want this to budge so crank it down tight and use Loctite or superglue)
-As you can see the bolt is at an upwards angle due to the design of the bottom of the seat frame
-We’re going to have to make this bolt more horizontal
-Thread a few nuts onto the bolt to protect the threads
-Tap the bolt with a hammer until it is more horizontal
-Remove thread protecting nuts
-Test fit tray bracket and adjust bolt angle until bolt is in the middle of the lower mounting hole of the tray bracket
-Your lower mount is finished
Step 6
Tools & supplies:
JBWELD
Mixing stick
Mixing container
-Now is the time to bust out with the JBWELD
-Remove the two upper plastic inserts
-Apply JBWELD the inserts and reinstall them into the upper mounting holes
-Let sit for 24 hours
-I ended up JBWELDing the two upper plastic inserts into the seat frame to make sure they wouldn’t pop out in the future and also to cover up my mistake of being lazy and drilling out and ripping the metal of the upper right mounting hole by starting with a large drill bit instead of gradually sizing it up from a small one. Anyway, I would highly recommend starting with a small drill bit and gradually working up to the 23/64in (9mm) drill bit since the metal of the upper mounting holes is very thin and the upper right mounting hole you drill is already near a predrilled one.
Step 7
Tools & supplies:
Needle nose pliers
Pokey stick
5 - Removed hog rings
-Remove tape from seat cover flaps and install hog rings
-Locate the holes in the plastic inserts for the two upper mounts and use your pokey stick to poke holes through the seat cover flap
Step 8
Tools & supplies:
Need nose pliers
7 - M6 flat washers
1 - M6x1.0 hex nut
-Determine how many washers it will take to fill up the space between the seat frame and the lower mount of the tray bracket (it took 6 washers for me)
-Install spacer washers
-Insert bolt into the lower mount of the tray bracket and loosely install one washer and nut (kind of a pain in the ass to do)
-Install and tighten upper mount screws into plastic inserts
-Apply Loctite or superglue to the lower mounting bolt threads and tighten the nut (there isn’t enough room to get a 10mm wrench or socket in there so I used my fingers to snug it and needle nose pliers to tighten it)
-Since Loctite or superglue has been applied to the threads the nut shouldn’t back out
-The under seat storage tray bracket is installed!
-Test fit the plastic tray and make sure it slides smoothly and stops before it comes out completely
-If the tray comes out all the way without having to lift it up a little you may need to bend the tray bracket rails in a tiny bit
Step 9
Tools & supplies:
12mm deep socket
Ratchet
-It’s time to install the passenger seat!
-Since you’ve removed it you should know how to install it, though that isn’t always the case
-Remove plastic tray so you don’t accidentally break it in the seat installation process
-Line up all four seat mounting holes
-Loosely thread in all four bolts before tightening them
-Tighten bolts evenly while trying to match the bolt head marks already made on the rails
-Install plastic under storage seat tray
You’ve done it! Now you can try to stuff your tray with one stick of gum or maybe a bag of marbles!
Comments
There is already a discussion and writeup that I did quite awhile ago.
Yeah, I saw you're post a while back. After looking at my seat I found that those instructions wouldn't work in my case since I have an USDM 1989 FWD Wagon. The underside of the seat is a slightly different design. There isn't that stepped area with predrilled holes for mounting so I ended up drilling holes and mounting it a little more forward. If I would have mounted it in the location on your DIY the tray would have not fit since there is a large bump on the bottom of the seat.
P.S.
If anyone was wondering if the tray gets in the way when sitting, it does not. It doesn't protrude any further than the seat cushion. And if anyone needs more photos feel free to request them. I have plenty more, pretty much step by step.
Doesnt' really matter as my only real purpose (since my car came stock with one) was to show that the odyssey tray worked just fine as opposed to those guys who were trying to sell the stock tray as some rare item that you couldn't get anymore and charging a hundred plus for it.
Your writeup is just more proof that this is a super easy alternative and way cheaper than the super rare discontinued wagon one. Good stuff
I don't really know where you were going with that, but the underside of my seat is completely different than yours. The only reason why I posted my DIY was because there isn't any exact information on how to install a tray on a 1989 FWD Wagon. Regardless of the fact I believe both of our posts are very informative.
wife must be pissed