TheSamba.com :: View topic - Dec. Zwitter floor pan / front seat question...

Sun Apr 30, 2006 1:03 pm

I own a Dec. (1952) Zwitter. This is what my floors look like. There are 4 studs through the floor and no seat tracks. Is this correct?

Close-up on the studs on the driver side...

I don't have any seats and am wondering what seats I need to be looking for to match up with what looks to be the original floor pans? If this is not an original floor pan / seat set-up I am going to replace the pan halves...any recommendations?

Sun Apr 30, 2006 6:11 pm

Yes, kind of. They are ment for a wing nut style seat mount.

There is a wing nut which screws into it holding down the mount.

It is an early type seat mount BEFORE the tracks were invented

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=223094

Sun Apr 30, 2006 7:26 pm

sconord wrote: Yes, kind of. They are ment for a wing nut style seat mount.

There is a wing nut which screws into it holding down the mount.

It is an early type seat mount BEFORE the tracks were invented

http://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=223094

That's not totally correct, while its true standard cars pre-date Deluxes 49+ the studs & wing nuts where for standard cars and were produced in parallel for many years. Deluxes had seat tracks if not from the beginning then very early on.

If your car is a standard then its correct. if somehow the standard pans where put in a your Deluxe then obviously it's not right.
I certainly wouldn't take out German standard pans and replace them repro, just weld some tracks in. I suspect your car is a standard and has the correct pans.

-Craig

Sun Apr 30, 2006 10:47 pm

I will take some pics and show you what they look like./ I purchased some standard seats and needed deluxe seats instead.

Mon May 01, 2006 7:27 am

I have a 51 standard, so I thought that they were all like that.

Mon May 01, 2006 7:54 am

Thanx for all the help so far...

Are the standard seats adjustable at all?
Once you wing nut them to the floor is that it?
One position?
What keeps the seat from tilting forward durring a hard brake?

From every indication my car looks to be a deluxe car...

What signs am I looking for to tell me standard vs. deluxe when this is pretty much all I have?

Mon May 01, 2006 8:13 am

Does the car have cable brakes? Are there holes in the side of the car where the trim would have gone?

Mon May 01, 2006 10:11 am

A std sunroof? Be interested to know.

Also, those studs look like they may have been welded in after the fact. Can you get a pic from underneath???

Mon May 01, 2006 12:09 pm

The easiest way to determine if your car is a standard or a deluxe is to see what kind of headliner it takes. If the body has the little crimping "teeth" for holding the headliner material in place going down the door pillar area, around the rear window etc, then you know it's a deluxe. Standards had a very small headliner that covered the roof area only. All the surounding areas were painted the body color of the car.
Cable brakes would also be a dead giveaway that it's a standard. Here in Canada, all of our standards still came with the exterior chrome body moldings unlike the European standards.

Tue May 02, 2006 9:31 am

standard ragtop beetles were produced thru the 1967 model year.

Tue May 02, 2006 7:17 pm

Also verify that pan and body VINs match, could be a standard pan/deluxe body?

Wed May 03, 2006 5:23 am

Are the standard seats adjustable at all?
Once you wing nut them to the floor is that it?
One position?
What keeps the seat from tilting forward durring a hard brake?

Wed May 03, 2006 9:02 am

They can be slid back and forth, you just have to loosen the wingnut clamps in order to do it. More work, vs a single lever as in the deluxes.

Thu Aug 24, 2006 10:57 am

I know this is a bit of an old thread but the standards did only have one wingnut on each side of the seat...

A standard -49: