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Sat Mar 03, 2007 1:48 pm

My front seats in my 73 camper are beat to (&*^&^. I am wondering if anyone knows of better seats that can be installed without too much trouble. For example, will seats from later model vans fit the type-2? Any after-market seats?

Thanks!

Sat Mar 03, 2007 1:57 pm

i have a pair of nice black vinyl ones from a '74. shipping may be costly depending where you are located.

Sat Mar 03, 2007 2:59 pm

I installed some seats out of a 75 VW Westfalia into my 73-they were much more supportive. Late m odel Vanagon seats-like the ones from a Carat or Wolfsburg Edition-are very comfortable and adjustable and I THINK they slide right in.

Sat Mar 03, 2007 3:31 pm

Didn't the seats and rails change in '75?

Sat Mar 03, 2007 3:39 pm

Unless you are concerned about keeping it 'stock', look into acquiring some vanagon seats for your bay. I found a '87 vanagon (at least I think it was an '87) and I took the seats out and slid them right into my '79 bay. Although they didn't match color wise, they are a 100% improvement. Since this is only a daily driver, I wanted the creature comfort. Someone on here will know about the sliding track limitations of '73 bay or just do a search. The other option is to go with the Wolfsburg pads, but I think I read in a recent post some bay seats may not be a perfect match for them exactly. Even if you had to move the rails, vanagon seats are a huge difference.

Sat Mar 03, 2007 4:01 pm

Sean Gallagher wrote: ...The other option is to go with the Wolfsburg pads, but I think I read in a recent post some bay seats may not be a perfect match for them exactly.

That was me. :?

Sat Mar 03, 2007 4:21 pm

http://www.ratwell.com/technical/FAQ/FAQContent.html#0803

Sat Mar 03, 2007 4:35 pm

The rails changed in mid 1976. I have the vanagon seats in my 77 and they're great.

Sat Mar 03, 2007 4:50 pm

Vanagon seats are very comfy, but I think Hippopotabus has the best seats ever....I'll see if I can find a pic.

Sat Mar 03, 2007 4:53 pm

hes got recaros

Sun Mar 04, 2007 12:22 am

So it seems that I can find replacements from buses up to mid '76. However, real improvement would be vanagon seats, which means welding. I will keep looking into this but I may end up re-stuffing and covering the seat I have.

Thanks again!
~S

Sun Mar 04, 2007 12:54 am

If you do recover them I'd recommend using the horsehair pads over the foam pads. Much more supportive. The foam feels like you are sitting on...foam.

Sun Mar 04, 2007 8:14 am

Sean Gallagher wrote: Unless you are concerned about keeping it 'stock', look into acquiring some vanagon seats for your bay. I found a '87 vanagon (at least I think it was an '87) and I took the seats out and slid them right into my '79 bay. Although they didn't match color wise, they are a 100% improvement. Since this is only a daily driver, I wanted the creature comfort. Someone on here will know about the sliding track limitations of '73 bay or just do a search. The other option is to go with the Wolfsburg pads, but I think I read in a recent post some bay seats may not be a perfect match for them exactly. Even if you had to move the rails, vanagon seats are a huge difference.

I've got a vanagon driver's seat in the Plump Truck too! 8)

Sun Mar 04, 2007 2:33 pm

The late model vanagon seats are so comfortable.

Sun Mar 04, 2007 2:36 pm

casey79westfalia wrote: The late model vanagon seats are so comfortable.

VGon seats + Plaid = ultimate combo!

Mon Mar 05, 2007 10:00 pm

I have a 74 westy and found nice vanagon seats for cheap. The driver seat slid right in, but I had to mess around with the forward backward adjustment. I ended up using bolts as a stopper. works great thus far. On the passenger seat, I had to cut out the "firewall" and then mount the swivel base from the vanagon. I did not have access to a welder so I just used olts. Works great. The swivel seats adds another room. I do not care about originality, I drive daily. I was looking for comfort. I will try to post pics inthe daytime. too dark now. I must say that the comfortable seats really make driving a VW more fun.

Tue Mar 06, 2007 8:26 am

On that vanagon seat subject, anyone has a picture of whatever a single cab vanagon uses as a passenger seat? :?

As mentioned, the Plump Truck has one for the driver side but I'd like to somewhat match the passenger seat to it! :-k

Tue Mar 06, 2007 8:47 am

Anything that just slides in sounds good. However, I have a refer and range behind the passenger seat so the swivel won't do me much good. Do you know the year of the vanagon you took your seats out of?

Wed Mar 07, 2007 11:12 pm

After scouring for reasonably priced vanagon seats in good shape with no luck, I picked these up off of craigslist for $100, from a 2005 dodge srt-4. They weren't exactly slide in, but only took an hour and a half to make them work. I didn't destroy the stock rails so original seats in the future are still an option.
This sort of thing may be an option for you if you can't find vanagon seats?

Wed Mar 07, 2007 11:21 pm

Quote: hes got recaros

I wish. Just SCAT Elite 2000 series. So comfortable.