86 Westy Rear Head Rest Install

[skippyjon]

[Kirsche Wasserboxer]

A question for those that have done the rear headrest install in a full Westy camper, does this mainly benefit passengers that are child size? With the relatively low seat back, can you get the headrest high enough to benefit adult passengers? I recently swapped out the front seats in my '90 Westy for the Chrysler T&C seats, and am considering keeping the headrests from the old seats for the back seat. Our kids are adults, and so are all of our passengers, so if it is only done to make it safer for your young kids, I'll skip the seat surgery required. I'll also get more money selling the old front seats with headrests, than without. I'm halfway done installing the Go Westy 3-point seat belts in the back (still have the cabinet cutting to get over), so this mod has my interest at the moment.

Coincidentally, I also have a pair of the new Beetle headrests shown above, in black leather. I used them in my 2012 TDI SportWagen, because the OEM headrests pushed your head too far forward for our liking. I sold the TDI back to VW, and no one in Seattle seems to want a cheap pair of New Beetle headrests. The stalks seem too short for use in the Vanagon to me, but if it was a child sitting there, they would probably work just fine too.
_________________
1990 Westfalia Vanagon
2.1 Wasserboxer

[kourt]

This is my 1991 Westy with rear headrests that were installed in 2015 by me. I used the kit offered by Gunzl parts in Germany.

I am 6' tall and am slouching a little bit, having just cooked these delicious quesadillas, but you can get an impression of how the headrests work.

In my experience they provide benefit to any adult up to 6' 2" tall.

kourt

[Kirsche Wasserboxer]

Thanks for the photo. It gives me a good visual idea of what I suspected. They look a little low for where I would like them to be on an adult. I'm 6'2" BTW. Those quesadillas do look good though:)
_________________
1990 Westfalia Vanagon
2.1 Wasserboxer

[FoggyBeach]

I see it was asked but I'm not sure about the answer.
Will other headrests work with the available kits? Say an early jetta or similar? I can find the insert kits but not vanagon headrests. If I'm installing the kit, I can obviously put them at the appropriate spots to line up with the arms but will they fit the insert?
Thanks

[tdivan82]

[kamzcab86]