eche_bus: 1976 Westfalia Deluxe Camper

[eche_bus]

Yeah, I'd read they were poor but mostly in older posts. Had hoped things had improved, but I also didn't know exactly in which ways they were bad. Sure know now. I had a choice between having open holes or functional lights so went with the latter. Will add them to my list of parts to find ongoing. Fully understand now just how much of a "joke" the repro VW parts situation is (not laughing at all). The retailers sure don't have any trouble taking my money, just don't seem to get how to hold up their side of the deal.

Side markers were completely unavailable repro for my 70 Mustang, and NOS even very hard to find. Ended up paying over $100 a piece after searching for several years. I guess it's good the repro markers are cheap as they'll just get thrown in the trash as soon as good originals are found.

[Stuartzickefoose]

[Bala]

[eche_bus]

Bala - Thanks for the tip. I sent Greg a PM.
Stewart - yeah, I'd rather not see them go to waste. They do light up and seal the holes after all.

[eche_bus]

Onward ...

Remember this old upholstery? Such aesthetic beauty and a fine rodental domicile. That was just the passenger side.

After stripping the seats down to the bare frames I could see some of the more serious damage. I knew the driver side had a broken spring - it ripped my pants the first time I drove the bus. Kind of like getting bit by a puppy before bringing it home.

I also found a "repair" that was just waiting for another ass to kiss. Yankee ingenuity, I guess.

Nothing a welder couldn't fix. So once properly repaired, I degreased and painted the frames and springs with a rust-neutralizer then spray canned them with a good coat of semigloss black to seal everything up. Lastly, shot the exposed parts in good 'ol Grey-Black so they'd appear as original. Nothing too exciting to see. Just lots of tedious cleaning and spraying.

Everything painted, it was time for reassembly. Here you can see the frames, new BusDepot seat covers, WolfsburgWest coconut pads, black fabric to place between the frames and pads, and (the wrong) jute padding to glue over and around the pads.

I cut the black fabric to size and positioned it inside the pad. The texture of the pad really keeps the fabric from moving around - no need to hog ring it to the frame as some have shown. Getting the first coconut fibre pad installed though was really kind of a b tch. They're understandably not made in real close tolerance and it really took a lot of pushing and pulling to get completely over the frame. Believe me, I tried several different ways and only one was successful. The second seat base pad went on much more easily.

Next was spray-gluing the cotton batting over the pad. I'm sparing you the photo of me using too-thick jute padding, running all around town trying to find something thinner, and locating the right stuff right back at Wolfsburg West. I don't know if they didn't carry it back when I bought the fiber pads or I just stupidly missed it, but I was sure glad they had it.

Now for the "fun" part. All the heating and stretching. Definitely a two person job and I can imagine VW had a special machine just for this. At last. One seat base reupholstered.

The base wasn't done without the track and adjustment mechanisms back in place. They beckoned in their freshly-painted Grey-Black glory...

Installing the tracks is a piece of cake. Installing them with the seat back and getting the pivot torsion rod in place and the pivot tube engaged with the adjuster ratchet mechanism is not. I figured it out eventually, but it is neither intuitive or easy. (No, I don't know the real names for these parts. Then again, I don't speak German.)

A seat base was complete!

[eche_bus]

It takes more than a base to make a seat. Time to build a back.

Same basic construction. Black cloth under pad to isolate it from the metal springs. The back pad went on pretty easily, but didn't seem to really want to stay in place over the top where the headrest goes. Fortunately the rest of the stuff keeps it well in place.

I don't show the cotton batting that is glued over the coconut fiber pad. It's very much the same as the base, just a little more involved as it extends over the top and midway down the back of the seat frame. I guess we (my wife helped immensely with cutting/gluing the corners so they would be smooth) got busy and didn't think to take a picture.

I was told the back cover would be fairly easy to install. It was not, nor could I see how it would ever be. It's tight, real tight and it took every trick we could come up with to finally get everything in place and attached through the little metal hooks at the bottom of the back. No fun was had.
Still. The results ... not bad, right?

Now, I have to say, cutting holes in the nice new upholstery to fit the headrest guides ... kind of worrisome. To get this far and mess it up. Hard to even ponder. Survived the experience though. First VW seat reupholstery I've ever done. What ya think?

[courtneyf82]

Thats a super clean bus, and that Mustang is pretty nice too!
_________________
-1973 Westfalia

-2008 R32

[Stuartzickefoose]

i see a snag on that seat....



just kidding


looks amazing! i gotta fix a vanagon seat i have laying around soon and will have to figure out how to reattach the back to the bottom, and find all the missing hardware. im not looking forward to it.
_________________
Stuart Zickefoose

2011 Jetta Sportwagen TDi 6 speed manual

206-841-7324
[email protected]

[kguarnotta]

hey Jon,

That seat work looks great - I've wrestled with a couple different upholstery jobs, they are a pain in the butt.

One thing (I'm not sure if you want to hear) but I was going to de-grease some seats I was re-upholstering on another VW, and learned from some other VW folks, that you want some thin layer of grease on the frame, as it keeps the seat from squeaking.

I think originally they used something like cosmoline...Not sure if you can still spray some on the seat from underneath...
_________________
-Kevin
Lincoln, MA

2001 Eurovan
'86 Triple Knob Syncro w/EJ22
'78 Westy
'69 Single Cab
'65 Kombi - EZ-Camper

[notchboy]

What did you put on the back here to get that nice back? A board over the springs?

_________________

[Bala]

Once again, excellent work! I've got seat envy.
_________________
1976 Westy

1966 Beetle

[eche_bus]

Wow - it's been a busy day. Don't want to ignore anyone.

Bala - thank you, sir. May you soon have seats every bit as fine.

notchboy - I really only followed the photos on Ratwell's site. He showed the cotton batting extending down over the top of the seat back and down to the cross-brace that sits about 1/3+ down from there. I extended and glued the batting over the edge of the cross brace. This runs the full width of the seat back. This way the vinyl doesn't rub on the metal brace and the brace edges don't show. As well, the tightness of the vinyl is a factor in making it look smooth.

kguarnotta - Thank you. You make a good point about something I failed to mention earlier. As I was cleaning the seat spring frames I began noticing that there was semi-dried goo where many of the little short wires (the things that tie the springs together) were wrapped around the springs. I realized eventually this was some kind of grease. After painting the frames, just before putting on the coconut fiber pads, I took a paintbrush and dabbed grease back into those same places. One of the seats squeeked a bit before doing that. Afterwards it was silent. It makes sense as otherwise it's just plain dry metal-on-metal and these things move around quite a bit under use.

Stuartzickefoose- you can be the designated inspector. Thanks and good luck trying to puzzle out that vanagon seat. I imagine they're more complicated than these stone-age 70's ones.

courtneyf82 - thanks for the compliments on the car "collection". The bus still has a lot left to do, but it's pretty darn solid and hopefully worthy of good treatment. The Mustang was a heck of a lot more work, but makes the VW look like what it is - a driver ... soon ... I sure hope.

[eche_bus]

Not a lot of time to do stuff tonight, so tackled a small project. Not real exciting, but it all adds up one bit at a time.

The bus no longer has a rusty gas pedal with the paint half worn off.

Instead it has one stripped, bead-blasted, epoxy primered and sprayed with hardened Grey-Black urethane, and a cleaned and greased spring and pin to boot. (The camera flash reflection made it look lighter than the nearby original parts.)

Seems an improvement.

Rubber mat is standing in for carpet right now. Will likely keep it and use it over the worn-out original, as another original green carpet seems wholly unobtainable. If you know of an available used green carpet (manual trans.), please let me know.

[hoagy86]

wow that seat turned out most excellent! well done!

[eche_bus]

Thanks, hoagy86. It's really nice not to have to sit on a board when I move the bus in and out of the garage now!

This old bus has done a real fine job of keeping my garage floor oiled. That is, when I forget to put down a piece of cardboard.

Sidenote: I hate to show any photo that includes the embarrassing exhaust system the PO thought was "good enuff". Too many other things to do to fix it yet. It funnels exhaust gases out the tailpipe and is quiet enough not to get a ticket. Otherwise it's a rusty eyesore that will end up in the trash some happy day.

When I first bought the bus, I replaced the pushrod tube seals and valve cover gaskets. It helped, but wasn't enough. Oil still leaked from the drain plug, the oil screen cover, and the taco plate. Enough of that nonsense - it was finally time for new copper & aluminum washers, gaskets, and an O-ring.

With everything installed and torqued to spec, hopefully the leaks have stopped and I can get more of the old oil and grease off the engine.

[eche_bus]

The last bit of the battery tray work is done. The RH tray that started out like this ...

... is now finished on the underside.

Brushed copious amounts of seam sealer on overlapping repair seam, primed, painted, then 3 coats of 3M rubberized undercoating. No water is getting into this baby.

But that's not the big deal. This is.

Doesn't seem to suck quite as much now.

[Stuartzickefoose]

make sure you have some drain holes for that battery tray...dont want to hold water in it either...

also, considor a battery box or a gel cell battery (optoma for example) so that rainwater doesnt pick up acid off the top of your battery, and wash it right onto the tray again...


just a thought to considor
_________________
Stuart Zickefoose

2011 Jetta Sportwagen TDi 6 speed manual

206-841-7324
[email protected]

[eche_bus]

Hi Stuart,

Thanks for highlighting those important concerns.

Both battery trays have the factory drain holes and have new rubber valve plugs installed in them. These tend to block stuff from getting in from underneath, yet let water run out from the top.

I wanted to use the original battery mounting and opted for a high quality new maintenance-free battery for the RH side. The tray is sealed well enough to resist acid for a good long time, and this repair was meant to be largely temporary. A permanent repair would have involved welding in a new tray which would involve having to repaint the outside of the bus.

I plan to remove the battery and clean/neutralize the tray each year before storage to minimize accumulation of acidic crud that will eat away at things.

[Stuartzickefoose]

[eche_bus]

Nope. I looked at them and didn't see a way to use one without a LOT of work. It was all I could do to find two modern batteries that mounted using the original retaining brackets. I'm done with it. Way too many other things to do yet ... goal is to get this thing out camping before the summer is over!