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Hi, I think you need to check the regulations of where you live.

I am in New Zealand, and bought seats to put in the back of our van which is certified at 3 seats currently. I have read that because I am putting OEM parts in from another exact model I do not have to have it assessed. Otherwise I would have to take it so they could check mounting points etc at around $1000.

It has taken me a while to find the right seat as there are so many variations in the Toyota Hiace.

I cant answer a lot of your questions as I am currently doing up my first van so not a whole lot of experience and I am also based in NZ.

My van didn't come with a bulk head so I am going to create a thick curtain to separate the rear from the front when staying over night, I am hoping this will be suffice for my needs/environment.

Hi,

I am in the process of converting a Toyota Hiace and have also become a bit obsessed with sound proofing.

I have gone for high density foam underlay (carpet store) which I had stuck to the floor and over the wheel arches. I took off door trim and stuck 50mm polystyrene foam in gaps and filled in gaps with expanding foam. On top of the foam I have a plywood floor and I have built sealed boxes to go over the wheel arches which double up as benches.

The engine is located under neath the seats so there is a ledge between the front and the back, I built a box to go over this area which helps to keep the engine noise down. I also packed some spare foam in to the area around my air intake as is quite noisy. My rear door seal was wrecked when I bought then van, I picked up a second hand one and putting this in has really helped with noise too.

This has greatly reduced engine noise.

I think I will try and line the inside of the engine bay, externally between the van floor and exhaust and put sound absorbing foam on the roof to see if this also helps.