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Thu Jan 17, 2013 3:36 pm

Is there a way to make the stock vanagon seats recline fully?

Thu Jan 17, 2013 3:39 pm

I just picked up a set of newer ones with adjustable armrests. Maybe Ill mess with my old ones and see what I can do.

Thu Jul 09, 2015 10:36 am

Hi Guys,
this is an amendment to the Eurovan seat in vanagon discusssion. I recently acquired 2 nice newer seats from a 2001 Eurovan. I did not want the older more vintage seats, as they would probably need work anyway.
That being said, the newer seats are difficult enough to diassemble, that I was looking for an alternate method. Only way really to mount them on vanagon seat rails, (as the new seat rails do not fit), is to bolt them on top of the existing rails. This also will not work if you are tall, as I am.
My upholstery guy and I did some measuring, and not only does my head hit the roof, but my knees now also hit the steering wheel ! My plan is to grind out the existing rails, and drill and bolt the new seat rails to the existing swivel plate. This will drop the height by just enough ( 1 1/4 inch). I will tackle this project in the near future, as my seats have been rebuilt, and are still comfortable. I will ,when I do this, post photos.
Ben

Sat Jul 18, 2015 4:34 pm

Do the non Westy stock GL seats still allow swiveling? I know they are higher, no problem for me as I am short 5'8", but I don't know about the extra length of the bottom cushion and whether or not that will still allow the seat to swivel fully or not

Fri Aug 07, 2015 12:32 pm

Hi Stan,
yes they do, but ! I modified my passenger swivel removing the rails for the old style seats. This is fine now. The driver seat, as I am tall ,I removed the swivel completely, and bolted the seat directly to the mounting under it ! The seats were always too high for me anyway.
Be advised, if you buy the older eurovan seats, ,up to 1997, I believe, they will fit with minor modifications. If later seats, you got some work ahead of you. Whoever is listing newer seats and saying 1.5 hours for the install, is not being truthful.
As far as the driver swivel, which is to me, useless, I could never turn the seat in my van more than 90 degrees, and to remove it, I usually removed the steering wheel.
Hope this helps.
Ben

Tue Jul 25, 2017 3:41 pm

I have been able to install 90's model jetta or passat seats into my 84 vanagon, it's not the easiest, but possible. You have to strip the seats down to the bare frames and the modify them so they can be welded onto the vanagon turntables. The biggest issue is seat height, due to sitting on top ofthe wheels.. I am tall, so i decided to sacrifice the driver's seat turntble and make the seat fit into the rails located under the turntable.. its abit of work but possible.. very comfy end result. the multi adjustable passat seats are nice.