TheSamba.com :: View topic

Mon Aug 25, 2008 11:58 am

Anyone ever modify 1973+ beetle seats to fit lower in a buggy? I can see I would have to modify the rear legs and make a different spring mount but I was just wondering if anyone has done it. I'd like to get them almost sitting on the floor if possible. I want to put them in a little side project I have going. :wink:
Jeff

Mon Aug 25, 2008 3:26 pm

I'm not certain but I think early (rabbit body stuff) water pumpers used the same track system. You could get some seats from a first gen GTI or Scirocco and slip them in. Modify from there as needed.

Tue Aug 26, 2008 8:14 am

Don't need sliders. I already have the seats. I'll just bolt them to the floor. I never understood why you need sliders. Put the seats where you're comfortable. Like someone else is going to drive it?
Jeff

Tue Aug 26, 2008 10:58 am

I adjust my seat back and forth when I'm on a trip just so I have another seating position or 2. If I'm racing I move the seat forward. Cruisin, I move it back.

Tue Aug 26, 2008 5:32 pm

JiI wrote: I never understood why you need sliders. Put the seats where you're comfortable. Like someone else is going to drive it?
Jeff

I have a family member who thinks I need to drive his buggy everytime I'm around. The seats have no sliders and are mounted comfortably for someone 6' or above. I'm 5'3 and if I hear "just put a pillow behind you" one more time I will scream!! If there is even a remote possibility that your girlfriend, wife, sister, mother or daughter will drive it - please put the seats on sliders.

Tue Aug 26, 2008 7:59 pm

Or...if you ever go to sell it (yeah...yeah..."I'll never sell it..") it would be nice to have some sliders. When I built my Manx I set the seats ALL the way back so I could squeeze my 6'2" frame in. My buyer was about 5'7"...he really appreciated the sliders.

They were generic sliders off ebay. Very low to the floor...maybe 1.5"?

Tue Aug 26, 2008 8:07 pm

The '73 seats have that pedestal for a front mount right? I don't recall ever seeing them modified to sit real low.

(continuing the derail...)
On my previous buggies I've only had the driver's seat on a slider and the passenger seat mounted solid. I like to have the adjustable driver seat depending on what shoes I'm wearing and if I'm wearing a heavy sweatshirt in the cooler months.

My Ocelot has both seats on sliders mostly because the MG seats I'm using have sliders that attach directly to the floor pans.

Tue Aug 26, 2008 8:40 pm

JiI wrote: Don't need sliders. I already have the seats. I'll just bolt them to the floor. I never understood why you need sliders. Put the seats where you're comfortable. Like someone else is going to drive it?
Jeff

Ahem, after spending about $8000 on project plus garage rental and tool purchases, you think if my wife who stands 4-11 and 1/4 inches tall and weighs in at 101 pounds says "I want to drive it", you think I'm going to say NO or YOU CAN'T because you can't reach the steering wheel or the pedals....

Some times I may seem a little dumb, but I'm not stupid....

Dale

Wed Aug 27, 2008 4:47 am

I took the original beetle seats, removed the seats and kept the complete rail

The welded two pieces of plat across to keep the rails in the same position as it is supposed to go, and another piece of flat between the to pieces I have put in already.

With the rail secured, I have cut of the top parts only leaving the rail with handle for the locking of the rail on the pan.

Fitted my bucket seats to it, and whalaa, it works

Wed Aug 27, 2008 6:55 am

My wife is 1" shorter than me so that shouldn't be a problem. (She doesn't know stick yet either.) The project I'm planning on putting these seats in honestly won't have much room to move in the first place. I rarely ever move my seat, that's why I question the sliders. I'll have them in some of my other cars, just not my Manx, Spatz and this side project. The other Manx, the speedster, the fastback (stock) and the 1970 bug (custom with built-in sliders) will have them. Now back to the original issue, how do I chop these seat bases down? :)
Jeff