rear mattress and seats

[DAIZEE]

Good encouraging post. You don't have to go any fixed way. The simpler the better sometimes. Like your bold use of color. So if you have $$$ to burn and aren't creative or know someone creative then spend your money for those perfect creations. But by using your imagination and creativity look what you can do!!!!
I know we have to support sponsors and our industry but for those on limited budgets and who would rather put their $$$ into the mechanical creation, well there are lots of options.

[SpudlyHotPotato]

At the risk of sounding as girly as I really am, I thought I'd respond to this post.

We got our van from a guy who makes very amazing interiors. I'm not sure what foam he used, but he bought new foam and reupholstered it in a VERY easy way. We've taken it on several camping trips and it holds up just fine.

He simply ordered upholstery material online (I found it after searching for several weeks. It's a Better Homes & Gardens retro-modern upholstery). The upholstery fabrics come in very wide pieces that are just right for the width of the rear bench seat.

We thought for a month that he sewed them all the way around. A little use of the van showed us that no, even easier! He just safety-pinned the fabric around the foam. The safety pins are jumbo sized and hiding underneath at the corners. There was a little bit of sewing involved (Anyone in Arizona who reads this and wants help with sewing or knitting can contact me and I'll trade you that service for some A/C with RedTek help . The sewing is only on three sides, making it like a pillowcase. The final side doesn't have complicated zippers or anything, just safety pins and it works just great. He did some stapling to make the backside of the seat back look really nice.

Once we saw how easy this was and how well safety pins work, we got bold. Since my husband and I are like the Princess & the Pea when it comes to camping sleeping (our first two camping trips had our arms going numb - maybe it was the type of foam), we devised an idea to make our own memory foam mattress toppers. (If you have a whining wife, I suggest this for sure.)

We found very inexpensive memory foam toppers on Craigslist, from a place that was selling new toppers that had lost their vacuum in their new boxes and popped out of the boxes (hence department stores can't sell them). Instead of like $250+ for memory foam we found King sized ones for only $70.

We did some measuring and on a trip to Ikea, bought some duvets that had a slick material to them similar to a sleeping bag, and safety-pinned them around our memory foam pieces. We made two: a brown one for the downstairs bed, and an orange one for the upstairs bed.

We ended up using both of them on the downstairs bed for a luxurious 6" of memory foam on top of the bench cushion. We just returned from an 11-day camping trip along the PCH and I never wanted to stay in a hotel once.

Here's a hyperlink to what our process of making them looked like.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=63769&id=1259044499&l=e520d0d943

And this is how it worked when laid out:

They don't currently lay down flat when folded in half in the trunk like the ones from GoWesty do (I didn't take that step yet), but we just arrange all the pillows and comforters (If you aren't into 5 pillows you can easily fit a large backpack in their place) and lift up the edge and fold it back over everything in the "trunk." Then to make the bed, we just lay the seat down and the bedding is all right there, flops into place, pillows and blankets and all.

Obviously we sort of use the pop top bed as an overhead storage compartment instead of a bed. But when we measured out the size of the top mattress and the lower mattress, they only differ by an inch or two. So I averaged out the difference and made both of the mattress toppers the same universal size. It's just memory foam, they fit just fine.

And the safety pins worked great! If you're unhappy with any of the fabric on your bench seat, I can't recommend them enough. Just wrap the fabric around the foam like you're wrapping a present, and safety pin all the folds and seams every 5" or so.

I suppose if we bring a friend we'll have to let someone sleep upstairs and give them one of our mattress toppers.

Even if you're not wanting to do this because of back issues while sleeping, it could be a good way to cope with not-so-terrific foam you got stuck with.

[BillM]

Where are you located? I have a rear mattress foam pad (the cover has a hole on one side but the other is nice,the hole is where someone leaned it up against the hot exhaust pipe). I won't ship the foam but if your near me,its yours.

Bill MYSTIC<CT>

[Perales]

[DAIZEE]

You mean you are Red Greening it? hahahaha I tried duct taping something and it actually didn't work!!! ticked me off but I'll get it some way or other!!!grrrrrrr
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'09 2.5L Jetta 5 cylinder, 5 spd, super turbo, see thread in H2O Cooled Jetta, etc...
83.5 Vanagon L Riviera Model with 98 1.9L TD AAZ 4 speed Daily Driver 3 out of 4 seasons (sold)
84 Vanagon GL Wolfsburg Westy WBX 4 speed (sold)

[Perales]

[DAIZEE]

find someone who is hungry for business. Honestly tho the small mattress makers have oodles of different thicknesses, densities, quality, price, etc... Keep with the small guy. You can save yourself some money by just buying the foam and then sewing simple covers for them. The most important thing is to make sure that seat, back and rear are all the same height when flat. I made it easy, I gave all 3 pieces to the mattress fella and told him what I needed. We decided to go with 3 or 4" not hard foam.

Don't get closed cell, its exhorbantly expensive and not needed for float cusions for a land vehicle !

It's not called sewing when it is done for a vanagon I put that in just for you guys
_________________
'09 2.5L Jetta 5 cylinder, 5 spd, super turbo, see thread in H2O Cooled Jetta, etc...
83.5 Vanagon L Riviera Model with 98 1.9L TD AAZ 4 speed Daily Driver 3 out of 4 seasons (sold)
84 Vanagon GL Wolfsburg Westy WBX 4 speed (sold)

[mamayogibear]

wow, sewfineproducts look soo fine but a bit out of my budget. redoing the entire interior would cost more than my vans purchase price...
thank you for the advice on prioritizing ra, i realize now the engine and body are the main focus and a pretty looking interior can come down the road.
i like the idea of going to a local taylor or mattress shop when i can afford to but untill then ij'll just get some seat covers and a rug...

[pioneer1]

New foam can be purchased in any number of places -check your yellow pages for a place near you. It comes in different densities so ask the shop keeper what would be best for your needs. Either wash and re-use the original covers or go custom like Daizee
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"Always waiting for tomorrow ruined everything"

'85 Porsche 911 Targa

'76 Westfalia project

[DAIZEE]

When I got Scooby it had old seat and back mattress were the originals, dehydrated and flaky, rough material, and with a squirrel nest in the mist of the back of the seat.

I took all three pieces to a small cottage type mattress maker. Several months ago I ordered a plain foam mattress. I explained what I needed and wanted. I could have just gotten the foam pieces but the devil got me. He had leopard print material and so I had him cover the three pieces of foam!. I've sat on the seat but have yet to sleep on the extended bed but I'm sure its going to be cozy.

I could have covered it but I decided it was just better to pay someone else.

Now I have all new upholestry in the rear and 2 new to me front seats. No I didn't cover the front seats with leopard print!!!
_________________
'09 2.5L Jetta 5 cylinder, 5 spd, super turbo, see thread in H2O Cooled Jetta, etc...
83.5 Vanagon L Riviera Model with 98 1.9L TD AAZ 4 speed Daily Driver 3 out of 4 seasons (sold)
84 Vanagon GL Wolfsburg Westy WBX 4 speed (sold)

[reluctantartist]

Try here http://www.sewfineproducts.com/catalogs.html And there is always the regular sites like GoWesty Van-Again, BusDepot, Air-head parts, and SerialKombi. Don't be overwhelmed just break it down into smaller projects and prioritize them by what is absolutely necessary (like fuel lines and brakes) to "would be nice". It will take a while but sometimes that is good since you may come up with a better solution while you are waiting to do a certain project. Oh and we love our air-cooled 82. They are a different breed but still fun.
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1982 Westy, 1974 412 Variant... Yes, Aircooled's are great! Oh and I do have modern computer controlled vehicles too, but I just don't care about them.

[mamayogibear]

i ran a few searches but all i've been able to find out is that a truck bench seat cover should fit the rear seat in a westy but i would like to replace or cover the far back mattress
this seemss to have a non stock yet serverly stained mattress on it. i can not find a place to order this back mattress from. would a foam pad work or are there futons that would be the right size, what are the dimensions on it anyways.
i thought i was prepared to handle a westy but now that i have one i am indimidated by the project before me and surprised by my lack of knowledge...