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Mon Aug 03, 2009 9:46 pm

How about Brazilian Bay seats? My springs from 1977 are shot =(

Tue Aug 04, 2009 8:42 am

Porsche 924 pachas in my previous westy (70)

Tue Aug 04, 2009 11:41 am

I just recovered my 71 and was lucky that my Horse Hair was in excellent condition. Though I did spray the underside with 3M so that will stop the fine shedding. I love the firmness.

Fri Oct 09, 2009 4:34 pm

My 76 Westy was manufactured 3/76. Will I be able to just slide in the Vanagon seats as mentioned in this post?

Here are some pics of my rails.

Left side driver's seat

Right side driver's seat

Passenger seat swivel base

Fri Oct 09, 2009 5:48 pm

The seats in my '77 came from a volvo
but i had to lose the original vw tracks and bolt them to the tubs

The only problem is the air vent on the passenger side had to be removed because it was hitting the seat when the door was closed.
but i didn't have that problem on the drivers side.

Sat Oct 10, 2009 4:33 pm

3nero wrote: The seats in my '77 came from a volvo
but i had to lose the original vw tracks and bolt them to the tubs.

Nice but I'd like to install the Vanagon seats so I can have arm rests. Anyone know if I can slide those in given the tracks I have in my 3/76 Westy(photos above)?

Thanks!

Sun Oct 11, 2009 10:16 am

BUSBOSS wrote: My 76 Westy was manufactured 3/76. Will I be able to just slide in the Vanagon seats as mentioned in this post?

Here are some pics of my rails.

Left side driver's seat

Right side driver's seat

Passenger seat swivel base

I'll have to look when I get home from work tonight and I'll let you know. I don't see why you couldn't on the swivel part.The track looks the same as mine.I can't remember what the driver's side looks like though.

Sun Oct 11, 2009 10:22 am

gmag69 wrote: I'll have to look when I get home from work tonight and I'll let you know. I don't see why you couldn't on the swivel part.The track looks the same as mine.I can't remember what the driver's side looks like though.

Let me know what model year you used and pics would be great! Thanks man! I really appreciate it.

Sun Oct 11, 2009 10:32 am

BUSBOSS wrote: gmag69 wrote: I'll have to look when I get home from work tonight and I'll let you know. I don't see why you couldn't on the swivel part.The track looks the same as mine.I can't remember what the driver's side looks like though.

Let me know what model year you used and pics would be great! Thanks man! I really appreciate it.

I don't know what year the seats are from.All Vanagon seat tracks are the same as later bus tracks. They are probably like '86 up ones though. Early Vanagon seats are the same as bays with no arm rests. The later the better I'd say.Less butt wear on them. :D

Sun Oct 11, 2009 2:22 pm

gmag69 wrote: I don't know what year the seats are from.All Vanagon seat tracks are the same as later bus tracks. They are probably like '86 up ones though. Early Vanagon seats are the same as bays with no arm rests. The later the better I'd say.Less butt wear on them. :D

Okay let me know what things look like on your tracks when you get home. I'm concerned because I read that tracks changed mid 76 and my bus is a 3/76 unit. Thanks again!

Mon Oct 12, 2009 1:48 am

hey busboss you have the early seat tracks & vanogon seats will
not just slide in

i had the same tracks as you & what i did was
find 2 swival bases from later modals
pass side was a easy swap since i have a westy
then on driver side i installed another swival base
with the late seat tracks

& this is what i got now

driver swival seat & later tracks for vanogon seats 8)

Mon Oct 12, 2009 4:32 am

Sorry by the time I got home from work it was dark so I couldn't check the tracks. My bus is a '78 though.I'll look before dark tonight and let ya know.

Mon Oct 12, 2009 7:30 am

vw76westy wrote: hey busboss you have the early seat tracks & vanogon seats will
not just slide in

i had the same tracks as you & what i did was
find 2 swival bases from later modals
pass side was a easy swap since i have a westy
then on driver side i installed another swival base
with the late seat tracks

& this is what i got now

driver swival seat & later tracks for vanogon seats 8)

So you were able to put in the swivel seat with the bulkhead still in place behind the driver. Very inspiring. 8)

Mon Oct 12, 2009 8:07 am

vw76westy wrote: hey busboss you have the early seat tracks & vanogon seats will
not just slide in

i had the same tracks as you & what i did was
find 2 swival bases from later modals
pass side was a easy swap since i have a westy
then on driver side i installed another swival base
with the late seat tracks

& this is what i got now

driver swival seat & later tracks for vanogon seats 8)

Thanks! That's precisely the info I was looking for. Got any details or pics on the install of the Vanagon swivel bases? I haven't purchased the Vanagon seats so I don't know what I'm looking at yet.

One more thing - given that you have a 76 - can you still use the front cot with the Vanagon seats (headrests removed)?

Thanks again!

Mon Oct 12, 2009 10:51 am

[quote="3nero"]The seats in my '77 came from a volvo
but i had to lose the original vw tracks and bolt them to the tubs

So, do you and your passengers have extremely long legs and short torsos?

Or do you drive with blocks on the pedals and your head against the roof?

Mon Oct 12, 2009 11:36 am

josh wrote:

So, do you and your passengers have extremely long legs and short torsos?

Or do you drive with blocks on the pedals and your head against the roof?

No :?
I'm 5ft nothing and don't need to wear platforms or use blocks :roll:

Mon Oct 12, 2009 12:41 pm

on the driver side,the placement of base is very important

if you place the base to far back you wont be able to swival the seat
if its too far forward you wont be able to slide the vanogon seats in!
the trick is to put the base as far forward as possable but still be able
to get the seat in the tracks

Quote: One more thing - given that you have a 76 - can you still use the front cot with the Vanagon seats (headrests removed)?

vanogon head rest are not easily removable, the way bay head rest are
(you need tools to remove)
but they do recline more than bay seats, & if i move seat forward alittle then recline back, i can put the cot up without removing head rest
it actully works out pretty good because the head rest act as a guard
to prevent my youngest from falling out

Mon Oct 12, 2009 3:26 pm

Here are what my tracks look like in my parts bus. It's a '78.

The Westy looks the same as these do. Hope this helps.

Mon Oct 12, 2009 3:38 pm

My son's '71 has seats from a Porsche 944. Just simple, no power options. Grind off the old seat tracks and bolt these in. I installed power seats from a 956 Porsche. Same as a 911 but go for less money. Both seats are power which was easy to wire. You can find them with a heat option if you look. I found ours on http://pelicanparts.com in the classifieds. The '71 was comfortable to Atlanta from Ormond Beach. The '72 made a road trip to Ohio and last Saturday a rountrip to Charleston, SC and back. Very comfortable.

Mon Oct 12, 2009 4:28 pm

mywifesghia wrote: My son's '71 has seats from a Porsche 944. Just simple, no power options. Grind off the old seat tracks and bolt these in. I installed power seats from a 956 Porsche. Same as a 911 but go for less money. Both seats are power which was easy to wire. You can find them with a heat option if you look. I found ours on http://pelicanparts.com in the classifieds. The '71 was comfortable to Atlanta from Ormond Beach. The '72 made a road trip to Ohio and last Saturday a rountrip to Charleston, SC and back. Very comfortable.

Now that you mention it i think my volvo seats have heat elements in them aswell, i must check out the wires that are hanging from underneath. But they also still have the SIPS airbags installed so maybe fiddling with the wires might not be a good idea :?