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Fri Feb 27, 2009 8:26 pm

These are not the gowesty versions. I had these made for me locally.

Vanagon seats-$100
Plaid Material-$80
Pea Green Vinyl (Gowesty)-$40
Labor-$280

Total-$500 (half the go westy price)

Comfort and Looks-PRICELESS

CAUTION: If you are over 5'10 you will not like these seats. I am 5'10" and my head is a bit to close to the roof. It works out for me but if I was any taller I would feel crammed. I have hit big bumps before and felt my hair graze the ceiling. Nothing bad but if you are taller you may regret this option.

Fri Feb 27, 2009 9:08 pm

casey79westfalia wrote:
Vanagon seats-$100
Plaid Material-$80
Pea Green Vinyl (Gowesty)-$40
Labor-$280

Total-$500 (half the go westy price)

How much of the plaid material did it take to do the job? 2 yards? Or did you get it used?

I'm planning on doing the same thing as you

Sat Feb 28, 2009 5:20 am

casey79westfalia wrote: CAUTION: If you are over 5'10 you will not like these seats. I am 5'10" and my head is a bit to close to the roof. It works out for me but if I was any taller I would feel crammed. I have hit big bumps before and felt my hair graze the ceiling. Nothing bad but if you are taller you may regret this option.

I'm 6'4" and use Vanagon seats in all of my late Bays. I have no trouble with hitting the roof or feeling cramped in any of them. None of my friends that are as tall as I am have ever commented on feeling cramped or not having enough headroom in any of the Buses.

Sat Feb 28, 2009 6:22 am

I wonder why mine seem so high. Is there a way to change there height? I also notice that since I sit a bit higher and my line of sight out the front window is higher and makes it harder to see things like traffic lights and I have to hunch sometimes to see things in the center of the window..

Sat Feb 28, 2009 8:36 am

casey79westfalia wrote: I wonder why mine seem so high. Is there a way to change there height? I also notice that since I sit a bit higher and my line of sight out the front window is higher and makes it harder to see things like traffic lights and I have to hunch sometimes to see things in the center of the window..

I was like that with the original seats in my bus. Had to bend over and look up at the lights. I'm 6'1 and the Vanagon seats didn't make any height difference for me what so ever.

Sat Feb 28, 2009 9:12 am

Recaro/Scat use the same mounting pattern, I've used several different styles...

Sat Feb 28, 2009 10:05 am

RatCamper wrote: What about fitting the fairly standard four bolt seats from most other vehicles? I.e. a bolt on the front and back of each rail.

What needs to be done to ensure it's nice and secure so it can pass an engineers report?

I'm not sure about passing an engineers report, but the Porsche seats I installed were four bolt and I used the thickest stainless steel bolts with lock nuts that fit and the largest washers I could find. I think they were about 2" wide and pretty beefy.

I took a look at the steel plate used as a backer for the seat belts (in the front wheel well) and figured that would be sufficient if I went along those lines. The seat belts use pretty beefy hardware and backing and the seat mounts probably should too. Might be a bit overkill, but better safe than sorry.

Sat Feb 28, 2009 10:28 am

gmag69 wrote: That's odd they usually don't hit without the air vent on there. :-k You'll probably have to just take off the outside armrest then. you'll just have a slit in the side of the seat like this.

I ended up ripping the seat alittle more cause I had to beat the hell out of the armrest to get it off. :roll:
You could get some scrap sign vinyl from a sign shop and cut a few circles and you can cover the holes may not match exact but at least it wont look as annoying. And at later it could be removed if wanted even a domed vw decal might look cool. 8)

Sat Feb 28, 2009 10:39 am

akscooter wrote: gmag69 wrote: That's odd they usually don't hit without the air vent on there. :-k You'll probably have to just take off the outside armrest then. you'll just have a slit in the side of the seat like this.

I ended up ripping the seat alittle more cause I had to beat the hell out of the armrest to get it off. :roll:
You could get some scrap sign vinyl from a sign shop and cut a few circles and you can cover the holes may not match exact but at least it wont look as annoying. And at later it could be removed if wanted even a domed vw decal might look cool. 8)

I saved some of the vinyl that was on the armrests to put over the holes. The problem will be finding it went I go to patch them up. I'd loose my head if wasn't attached. :lol:

Tue Mar 03, 2009 8:30 pm

As an update to the heated seat elements I installed earlier in this post, I just combined function with form. I installed a potentiometer and also wired the power to 12v switched ignition.

A kill switch was also added for the passenger side so I don't cook my dog, it's the black bat switch beside the hazard. Now when the ignition is switched on and off, so do the heated seats, then they are controlled through a low-(3.5v), medium (7.5v) and high (12v) potentiometer. Don't have to worry about leaving the heated seats on and now on the slightly warmer days I can kick the heat down a bit. This mod has transformed the meaning of bus heat and comfort for me. I also like the placebo effect of the word "heat" on a switch.

Tue Mar 03, 2009 8:36 pm

Speaking of Vanagon seats, check out these swank velour seats from The Continental conversion by Viking Industries in Flandreau, SD. The advertise 4 reclining captain chairs.

Tue Mar 10, 2009 1:11 pm

they work fine i have a set in mine right now from a dodge caravan, they are mounted in by the 4 bolt hole pattern your mention,

what the po has done was take a hammer smash down the og rails and rivet a piece of sheet steel over them then he simply drilled and mounted the seats to the pedastool, as far as passing and engineers report, it's like the wild west out here no such thing needed, now if i was you i'd do the same thing but maybe create some plates/bars the width of the seat and drill and mount the bolts through that on the underside of the pedastool, that seems to be the easiest way to me, short of directly welding the seat tracks into the frame like they should be ;-)

Sat May 16, 2009 8:07 pm

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

How the hell did you do plaid vanagon seats? That is ultimate!!

Sat May 16, 2009 10:08 pm

Atlantis wrote:

How the hell did you do plaid vanagon seats? That is ultimate!!

The answer you seek is at the top of page 4.

Sat May 16, 2009 10:51 pm

jonyem wrote: Atlantis wrote:

How the hell did you do plaid vanagon seats? That is ultimate!!

The answer you seek is at the top of page 4.

It was kind of a rhetorical thing. I don't know if I have the ability to reupholster.

Sat May 16, 2009 11:01 pm

I have a 71.
Has anyone ever used boat seats?

http://www.boatingseats.com/

What about semi seats with air ride?

Sat May 16, 2009 11:12 pm

I see what your up to.

Sat May 16, 2009 11:37 pm

Buckly wrote: I see what your up to.

I am lurking the forums, creating crazy ideas for my bus, while it sits in a shop "on fire" so I just keep drinking beer.

Sun May 17, 2009 3:52 am

vanagon seats recovered in alcantara

Mon Aug 03, 2009 8:27 pm

casey79westfalia wrote: I wonder why mine seem so high. Is there a way to change there height? I also notice that since I sit a bit higher and my line of sight out the front window is higher and makes it harder to see things like traffic lights and I have to hunch sometimes to see things in the center of the window..

There are 2 different heights of vanagon seat. The difference is in the height of the bottom seat pad. On a Westfalia seat that has a swivel base, the seat bottom is shorter than on a non swivel seat so that it ends up at the same ride height. If you are going to reupholster, a shorter seat pad could be used to rebuild the seat to make it shorter if you are starting with a non swivel seat