Middle seats

[j.pickens]

I'd post a trade ad up in the classifieds. Someone with a pre 67 bus might be sitting on your 67 2/3 style seat and want to trade. Yours is a beauty.

[d-rick]

[RHD Notch]

WTH is this?!?

I always refer back to Lind's post #2 in this thread when seeking middle seat clarification and I don't think this made the list...Thanks in advance!

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=2260170
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[oakman]

[QUIKCOLOR]

I have a pre BD middle seat...needs to be repaired, but most of the bones are there! check my gallery, willing to trade for other parts for my project!

[RHD Notch]

[oakman]

[EverettB]

[de oli]

hi there,

i´m a newbie in writing messages in the internet.....so i read the whole thread and i found out that there are many questions about this theme...
and in these days i decided to join "thesamba", because i´, the owner of a 1957 pgsg.

it´s been a looong story till now. at the end of 2018 i thought about getting a certificate from this car and wrote to wolfsburg autostiftung.
and on the 6th of february the letter came.....
first i thought it would be a 1958er....but that was not right.
the car was produced at the first of april 1957.
i was a little bit proud of having such a beauty...i´m still..
the next funny thing was, that i painted it first brown...with beige interieur....that was 10 years ago...

i had no middle seat and that was ok for me.

than i decided to paint it another way. there where many things to do and because of that i told the man who made the new restauration..."make it pgsg"....i love this combination!

and THAT was the other information from wolfsburg:

my car was produced in pgsg!

sorry for talking so long. there is a new flame in me with this car. it causes many "pain" in the past and still does( i´m in big trouble with the guy who said " it could take two years for the bus".....this happend in 2010!!)

...

so this feeling for the bus brought me here....

i thought about getting a middle seat.
so this would be nicer.

but than i thought about getting only a 2/3 seat.

and that was the beginning of my searching.......

now i´m here and i read everything but still have the question:

is it possible to build a baywindow 2/3 seat into a 1957 2/3 seat?

i have the possibility to get a 2/3 seat from a bay window...

did anybody build this from beginning to the end?

i try to put two pictures which i found here in my post....

thank you for your time, i will be better in writing english the next time. ..


kind regards

Oli ( de Oli )

[EverettB]

I am not sure but here are my thoughts on a Bay Window seat conversion into a '57 seat.

The 1957 seat has a "flat" back rest so the Bay Window seat has the wrong shape springs on the back rest. I am not sure how you could correct this problem.
This may be a better photo of how the back rest is "flat" and not curved like 58 and later seats:

I think the bottom is the same shape? I don't know.
The spring are different but this might not be a problem if it's the same shape.

You would have to move the left leg - it should be on the edge of the seat as you see in the photo above.

The 1957 seat you posted has no arm rest.
It should have a "full circle" arm rest.
You could change this with some tubing and welding.
Full circle arm rest example

You would need to metal grab handle on top but there is a seller that makes this part.
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[BarryL]

[de oli]

Thank you Everett,

there are some oportunities for me.
i asked several customers for their benches.

i will study the whole thing and than i would like to try it and make a step by step documentary of it.


kind regards

de
oli
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1957 Typ 221 Bus Palmgrün Sandgrün PGSG
1959 Typ 1 Bug Kieselgrau

[Colm5928]

I got a few inquiring about my middle seat... Here is my attempt at make a split bus middle seat out of a bay window middle seat.

Note1.. . I had no correct middle seat to look at or take measurements from, any help I got was through this thread so thank you samba. There are a few things I would do differently, but not too many.

Note2.. I didn't cut or weaking the main framework of the seats, they were really only added to.

When you live in a country where the environment is harsh on old cars, parts for these old cars can be impossible to find. That was one of the reasons why I tried my hand at converting a reasonably plentiful bay mid seat to split type... The other reason was I couldn't afford or justify the crazy prices these things were demanding.
The back rail of the bay seat is a little bit different to the split, the main difference is, there are no vertical slots to place the grab rails into

The split looks something like this

[Colm5928]

The bay seat has to be modified to incorporate these slots, which from memory the GB would need an internal diameter of 20mm to accommodate the grab rail mount and the upholstery fabric to surround it.
Couldn't find a suitable pice of GB any where so I was going to have to fabricate one from a 25mm od electrical conduit tube

Using a bit of trigonometry I calculated the amount of sidewall that needed to be removed to allow the tube to close to internal diameter of 20mm

The tube was closed in the vice and seam welded

The piece was offered up and ground accordingly

[Colm5928]

I had to do this for all four posts, and it really wasn't that big of a job once I got going. The seat pads and upholstery I was using was from wolfsberg West so at all times I had to be mindfull of the dimensions I was working to.

Flip seat catch was removed to be in keeping with era

The ops remain were welded closed

[Colm5928]

The first 10mm of the pipe was ground using a die grinder with a slight taper to ease the entry of grab rail and waste fabric.

I used a 20mm od electrical conduit pipe to go across the top as I knew a little bit extra frame was required to take up the WW upholstery SLACK. First mistake...10mm of a rise here would be better.

]

[Colm5928]

That's really it, I'm sure I've missed a few instructions here and there but you should have a bit of an idea of what I did.Okay, its never going to be a correct part but it's the only option I had.. Hope it helps.. Colm

I then wire brushed the frames, primed and painted. Fitted seat pads and seat covers..

[j.pickens]

Nicely done!
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[kombinauta]

Would anyone be so kind to point me in the right direction to buy a middle seat handrail for a 1960 split kombi? thank you in advance

[EverettB]

This guy in the USA makes the ends, look through his ads
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/search.php?username=Garybon
Specifically:
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1118582

Another seller in Europe:
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/classifieds/detail.php?id=1537653
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