TheSamba.com :: View topic - Austin's 1974 Standard Beetle Body-off Restoration Project

Fri Feb 10, 2023 1:12 pm

To cover up the square holes in the end of each bracket, I designed some plugs with little VW logos on them to finish off the look. Easy enough job for my 3D printer.

After a few coats of Rustoleum and some test fits of the plugs, the brackets are complete.

Fri Feb 10, 2023 2:16 pm

19-VW-74 wrote:

Nice job, looks like a ton of work, and planning.

Fri Feb 10, 2023 3:59 pm

Busstom wrote:
Nice job, looks like a ton of work, and planning.

Thanks! It took about 3 whole Saturdays to complete, but it was a fun project!

All told, it was about $250 (plus $100 for the urgent care visit - 5 stitches in my knuckle) , so I saved plenty enough money to justify spending on other fun bits :lol:

Also, the seats are SOO much more comfortable and fun in the turns. But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Thu Feb 23, 2023 12:39 pm

With the brackets all sorted and installed, it was time to tear into the actual seats. Starting with the passenger seat, I pulled off the factory covers by cutting all the hog rings. These seats are similar to the VW seats in that they are almost completely upholstered with hog rings attaching the covers to the foam and springs.

I started with the passenger seat:

The passenger side base foam looked like this:

The only severe damage was to the outside bolster, which is what takes the bulk of the wear from people climbing in and out of the seat.

I cut out the deteriorated material and reinforced the remaining foam with contact cement and heavy fabric reinforced canvas (think soccer chair material).

I then shaped some bulk polyurethane upholstery foam with a long box cutter and glued it in with contact cement. To smooth out the transition, I put a worn 120 grit flap wheel on my angle grinder and ground down the foam with very little pressure and long sweeping motions. This makes a mess, so wear a good organic vapor respirator (not a dust mask, there are also fumes from burning the foam).

Moving to the seat back, there was very little wear to repair.

Just a little sun damage from the splitting upholstery. This exposed the seat frame at the headrest.

I formed some 1/2" polyurethane foam and glued it into place with contact cement. Then took the grinder to it to smooth it out.

The driver seat was in horrible shape. The seat bottom needed major surgery to be solid again. Nothing that contact cement, foam and canvas can't repair though.

The seat bottom was absolutely trashed.

Similar to the pass seat, I cut out all the foam that was loose/crumbly or torn. I then cut out large portions of foam to replace that which was cut.

The outer bolster needed to be completely severed and glued back in. There was very little good original foam left.

After some contact cement and work with the grinder, I was able to get the seat completely repaired. The seat back also had a shot outer bolster than needed to be cut out and built up new.

For some reason, one of the seat backs was missing its speaker grille cover for the head rest. These cars had the option of speakers inside the headrest. Pretty cool feature, but mine were missing. I already have a solid sound system in the car, so no worries. I filled in the voids with foam and 3D printed a replacement speaker cover that I reverse engineered from the one grille I had leftover.

I didn't take any in-process photos of the actual re-upolstery, but it's not much different from recovering VW seats. Only slightly more complicated. There was a lot stretching, heating, and trial fitting until I was satisfied with the fit.

I only paid $115 for the covers in this tan vinyl, and they look excellent imo.

Passenger seat:

Driver seat:

I put in the rails first, as I found it was easier than installing them to the seats and then placing the whole assembly in the car.

Here's how they attach to the rails.

And the final product:

I'm very pleased with the project, it transforms the car into a much more pleasant driver. Supports in turns, comfortable on longer trips. The Tan color isn't a perfect match to the TMI Tan #13 color - it's a little bit warmer/lighter. The TMI almost has a hint of green hue to it. But the match is close enough to not be obvious and much better match than the Corbeaus.

Plus it only cost me about $250 for the whole project. Can't beat that. 8)

Thu Feb 23, 2023 1:03 pm

Those seats came out great, nice work!! Where'd you get the seat covers? I might have to get a set for my Miata.

Thu Feb 23, 2023 1:07 pm

vwuberalles wrote: Those seats came out great, nice work!! Where'd you get the seat covers? I might have to get a set for my Miata.

Thanks! Here's the link:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/251295303724

BTW, 90-96 seats are not all the same, you may be aware. The earlier seats had bottoms that stick out past the side bolsters more than the later ones.

These fit better on the early seats. I think the change happened in 95 or so.

Thu Feb 23, 2023 1:15 pm

Looks great.... nice job.

I took the easy way and bought a set of new Recaros back in 1980 when by original seat was worn out.

I did have them recovered, professionally, since it's not in my skill set.

I give you :thumbsup: :thumbsup: for doing it.

Thu Feb 23, 2023 1:56 pm

Look-in Good!

Thu Feb 23, 2023 11:36 pm

I give you Thumbs Up Thumbs Up for doing it

X 2. Great job with excellent results

Sat Feb 25, 2023 12:13 pm

Thanks guys, it was a good amount of work, but it pays off. The modern slider mechanisms are so much better. And being able to recline the seats with very fine adjustment makes for a much more comfortable riding position.

As far as OEM seat swaps go, this one is probably one of the easier ones. You can get great quality vinyl upholstery in black as well for just as cheap as these, which makes them a good match for most interiors. And they fit the car perfectly, no issues being able to reach the heater levers between the seats and I can adjust the recline position without opening the door.

And there were lots of Miatas made, and plenty of boy racers getting rid of their stock seats to swap in whatever cheap racing seats they can find.

Sat Feb 25, 2023 12:46 pm

Uploaded a better video of the exhaust on Youtube after some tuning. It runs about as close to perfect as a stock 1600 could, imo. No problem maintaining 75-80 on the freeway, could do it all day. Gets about 24mpg on average with a lot of 75+ mph driving. I'm considering dropping my main jet from 130 to a 127.5 again. It may be that 130 is still too rich at 5000ft, even with the header and exhaust.

It really is quiet. I'm thinking about adding some IDFs in the spring. I like the sound of carbs more than exhaust :lol:

Sat Feb 25, 2023 1:47 pm

Nice work indeed! Sounds good and is not obnoxious, and no drone I'm sure. I'm inspired to do something similar for sure.

Thu Mar 23, 2023 2:56 pm

How are you liking the muffler set up you made and where did you get the 1 3/4 tubing for the initial run into the glasspack?

If you run the exhaust tip straight out the back past the body by an inch or two instead of pointing straight down it is even quieter! At least that has been my experience.

Tue Mar 28, 2023 11:14 am

74 Thing wrote: How are you liking the muffler set up you made and where did you get the 1 3/4 tubing for the initial run into the glasspack?

If you run the exhaust tip straight out the back past the body by an inch or two instead of pointing straight down it is even quieter! At least that has been my experience.

I'm still enjoying the exhaust. It is very quiet, even with the tip turned down. I'm sure it would be marginally quieter with it pointed straight back, but I like how it hides under the fender. At freeway speeds, induction and cooling fan noise are much more prominent, as well as wind noise. There is no exhaust drone, even at 80 MPH. Still have to sort out the wind noise around the doors at the A-pillars. It's pretty annoying above 55mph.

I bought the mandrel bends from this site:

https://www.fortluft.com/fortluft-custom-exhaust-tubing-kit-2-pcs-aluminized-steel-mandrel-bends/

I bought the kit through amazon, but 1.75" is out of stock right now.

One kit of two bent pipes was enough to do everything with a little left over.

Sun Apr 02, 2023 5:51 pm

I got a chance today to snap some current pics of the car with the new exhaust setup. Right before it snows again…

Wed Jul 12, 2023 6:03 pm

My car won it's first trophy at the 2023 VW Classic in Provo, UT.

Now to get the bumpers sorted. I've got all the parts, but my other project car has been taking up my time. Now that it's wrapping up, I can focus on the bug again!

Wed Jul 12, 2023 6:53 pm

Dude! Congratulations, it totally deserves it.

Wed Jul 12, 2023 7:04 pm

Excellent!! Congratulations

Fri Jul 14, 2023 4:28 am

Congratulations! Question, I see you're running sport bug rims. I'm curious what size tire setup you're running. Sorry if I missed it earlier, I haven't had time to go through the whole thread.

Wed Jul 19, 2023 7:56 pm

MuzzcoVW wrote: Congratulations! Question, I see you're running sport bug rims. I'm curious what size tire setup you're running. Sorry if I missed it earlier, I haven't had time to go through the whole thread.

Thanks!

They are 5.5" Sport Bug wheels all around.

Front tires are 185/60/15, rears are 195/65/15.

Front axle is narrowed 3.5" with 2.5" drop spindles.