Front Seat Swap (Town & Country 2nd Row)

[ragnarhairybreeks]

Quick test fit on my van for friend Simons seats. On passagenger side the seat was attached to a pair of stock vanagon slider rails. So you have fore and aft movement with both the stock slider ps and the f&c slider. Did this because I had spare seat rails and Simon wanted the extra movement to help the seat clear his centre console when rotating the seat.

the black leather looks good doesnt it?
Blog post here https://shufti.wordpress.com/2016/04/07/vanagon-20...row-seats/

Thanks again to freshdub for blazing this way.

Alistair
_________________
'86 7 passenger syncro, converted to westy pop top, project still in progress
'82 westy, diesel converted to gas in '94, now gone...
https://shufti.blog/
Old address still works...
http://shufti.wordpress.com

[calfredson]

Hello Alistair,

I'd love to take a look at these seats in person in your (or your friend's) van. I'm in Nanaimo and make frequent trips down island.

Craig

[ragnarhairybreeks]

Hey Craig,

Hoping I'll get the drivers side seat installed in Simons van in the next couple of days. So gimme a shout when in the neighbourhood, I'm sure Simon will show the seats off.

Alistair
_________________
'86 7 passenger syncro, converted to westy pop top, project still in progress
'82 westy, diesel converted to gas in '94, now gone...
https://shufti.blog/
Old address still works...
http://shufti.wordpress.com

[Freshdub]

Dang love the idea of having both sliders, wish the black leather would fit the scheme of my van. Really nice work there

Took the westy out for about a 3hour drive to camp this week. Ive had back surgery and the old seats after 3 hours I would definitely be a little rusty when moving around the campsite. Felt great this time and the ride was much more enjoyable with the armrests. The table over the drivers seat once camped added the right amount of useable space in the right spot. couldnt be happier.
The real test will be the 12hr drive to Sasquatch from calgary, but after driving around town a bunch and this first trip out, ive got a a feeling itll be the best sasqtrip yet

[syncrodoka]

How does the seat base height compare to stock?
I like the look of these seats, I would want them in grey though.

[ragnarhairybreeks]

Hey, so we got the drivers side seat in Simons can today.

Syncrodoka - I'm 6-2 and I have a finger width or maybe two of clearance between head and ceiling. It's certainly is no worse Thant the stock seats.

But there is something else going on with the seats, seat back positioning. I can get a comfortable driving position and also able to see the turn signal and high beam lights, and a lot more of the top of the speedo and tach than I can in my 86 ( no swivel in drivers seat) .

That alone makes the seat swap really tempting.

Pic of both seats in Simons van.

Alistair
_________________
'86 7 passenger syncro, converted to westy pop top, project still in progress
'82 westy, diesel converted to gas in '94, now gone...
https://shufti.blog/
Old address still works...
http://shufti.wordpress.com

[ragnarhairybreeks]

[syncrodoka]

Looks great.

Freshdub- how comfortable are they compared to stock since you have had them installed for some time?

[jerryherb]

Why would you not use the original westy rails on the driver side as well? assuming you had the spares, would it not work? i think older vanagon rails are separate from back support, are they not?

[ragnarhairybreeks]

[calfredson]

So I am seriously considering pulling the trigger on a set of these seats, and I just want to confirm which style of seats I should be looking for. There seems to be a guy in Arizona with a bunch for sale. From the pictures, there are two styles, one like this:

and another like this:

The price difference (mostly) is because one is leather and the other cloth, but he seems to have many different colour/fabric choices for each. Should I be looking for the type with that extra bar in the photo (as per the leather) or without (as per the cloth)?

[ragnarhairybreeks]

Hi,

I believe that the bar you see ( and some of the other stuff underneath) is part of the stow and go gubbins. You don't need all that stuff for the van install.

I really regret not taking more pics of the seat. But in essence you just need the bare seat. The sliding rails in the seat are not removable so the bottom view is just the rails/slider, the bar to adjust them, and a pig tail for the seat heater.

The ones I worked on had the stow and go stuff removed. There were a couple of cables cut and the short ends tucked up under the seat.

Does this help?

Go for the leather.

Alistair
_________________
'86 7 passenger syncro, converted to westy pop top, project still in progress
'82 westy, diesel converted to gas in '94, now gone...
https://shufti.blog/
Old address still works...
http://shufti.wordpress.com

[Zeitgeist 13]

I really like the look and function of these seats, but would need to sit in them for a while to see how they feel. American cars don't have a very good reputation for building comfortable seats in anything but large mega-landyacht luxo-barges. Nice work pioneering this work, guys
_________________
Casey--

'89 Bluestar ALH w/12mm Waldo pump, PP764 and GT2052
'01 Weekender --> full camper
y u rune klassik?

[simonslp]

Thought I should chime in and add a few pics.

Calfredson, the Arizona-based eBay seller you found is the one I used. I think he strips Town & Countries for handicap van conversions or somesuch. My seats were $300 US plus $125 shipping to Port Angeles Wa. I think the variance in price that you mentioned is partly due to the inclusion (or not) of the metal gubbins at the bottom of the seats, which are part of the stow&go system and not needed for the vanagon install. The seats are heated, leather and so far seem quite comfortable for me (still haven't done any marathon drives, which really caused me discomfort with the stock seats). Will post again when longer drives are done.

To give credit where it's due, much props to Freshdub for the idea and inspiration, and to Alistair for both engineering and realizing the installation. Thanks guys!

There are a bunch of things I really like about these seats... The leather looks and feels good and appears to be good quality, they are slim and firm but yet supportive, they are heated (not yet working, but seemingly possible), and they stow&go (fold up) to create more front space when needed. Oh, and the seats are slimmer with armrests up, allowing the seat to sit straight, not turned, when reversed with the door closed (could never do that with the stock Westy seats...).

Simon
_________________
91 syncro westy w/ 08 suby ej25
& Get-Away hightop

[syncrodoka]

I went down to the dealer today and checked them out. The armrests are on come kind of cam system and they pivot out from the body when they are turned down into position, so like simonslp mentioned they are slimmer when the armrests are up.
The armrests are narrow and not height adjustable. I don't know if that is a deal breaker or not but it is something that I noticed.
The leather isn't like crappy ford leather and the leather in a 50K mile '14 model were still in really good shape even though it was a obvious kid hauler. The seats are comfortable. I checked out the cloth and leather versions and they are both decent options.
I am glad that I went and looked at them but I am undecided if these seats are for me given the lack of long distance mile reviews, I am interested in hearing some though.

I did find a guy selling the seats in the Ventura area on craigslist with the search of bucket seat. He listed both in cloth and leather in black or tan. Same pix as the guy in AZ.

[danfromsyr]

those black leather look great and they have good prices on the black cloth ones
http://www.ebay.com/itm/set-2-BUCKET-SEATS-BLACK-CLOTH-new-unused-/130978643530

I have used greyhound to ship large packages (vw seats) before and works quite well if you have a depot near enough to you. GH has been 'shipping' since the 50's. who knew.
_________________

[alaskadan]

One question ive been wondering about , does the headrest just fold down and tuck in( looks like it but just want to make sure) no removing it right? And to the OP do you have power steering ? The wheel is smaller you might be able to lay the seat down all the way. I have one in my van right now and havent added the power steering yet, its not really noticeably difficult to steer. Nice write up thanks.

[benandmj]

Just got me a pair of tan leather. Will report back when they arrive!
_________________
85 Westfalia Weekender
91 Syncro Westy

[syncrodoka]

When you pull the lever for the seats to fold up the head rest folds flat against the backrest while collapsing. It is a spring assisted action so it happens quickly.

[alaskadan]