Rear seat Re-do + ScatVW ProCar Interior and Seat kit

[AlmostHeavenWV_VW]

So my ultimate plan is to get a ProCar interior seat kit in the next year or so, to replace the front seats (since the mechanisms are absolutely toast)
Plus the PO ran the seats without the track slider bushings so the seats rock like a rowboat on Lake Erie during a hurricane.
All of these mechanical problems, plus it costs almost as much to properly re-upholster the seats as it does to buy the ProCar kit and it's kinda a no-brainer for me. (Don't worry, I promise I'll save the OEM seats anyways)

Now the Procar kit replaces the front seats, but there is no replacement rear seats and my rear seat was pretty shot- especially the seat back.

Holes in the cover, lack of padding, a bit of an 'old-dusty house' smell made me want to refurbish them, but since I will eventually cover the rear seat with the slip cover which comes in the ProCar kit it didn't make sense to me to spend the $$$ to recover the seat with a new cover, but something had to be done to improve the seat- at least functionally.

So I spend a few weeks sourcing cheap (but good quality) materials to patch the cover holes and re upholster the seat and restore the comfort.

Supplies & tools encompassed probably less than $100 and it's quite comfy now. I reused the seat cover (patched it with some bulk 600 denier black canvas- only needed 1 yard to patch and redo the underpinnings)
Materials:
Seat bottom foam
https://www.amazon.com/FoamTouch-Upholstery-Foam-Density-Cushion/dp/B00TSVSA7C
Seat back foam(mattress topper foam)
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Mainstays-1-25-Convoluted-Foam-Topper/10055840
Black canvas
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B018YJQ59S/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Hog rings & pliers
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01N2IJ64A/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
Burlap (3 yds) from the local craft/fabric store for ~$3 per yd
Super glue (to glue the canvas patches to the seat cover)
Scissors
Bolt Cutters
Needle and thread

Total of about 24hrs of work over several days- but this was my first go at upholstery/seat work.

First, a glimpse of what I started with:

Absolutely no padding whatsoever

So I took the bolt cutters, clipped off all the hog rings, cleaned the cover out, then began trimming the holes. Cutting a little bit off to give a good crisp edge to work with. Then patching with the canvas and glue. Needle and thread where necessary and wouldn't show. The glue recommended to tape to help hold while it set. So I did and put that thing outside. (Far warning- that vinyl glue has quite an odor to it and will make you feel all funny if you don't do your work outside- ask me how I know )

While the glue set up and dried, time to work on the frame.
Wire wheel the bad rust off

Then give it a good coat of rattle Rustoleum gloss black

Now wait for everything to dry.

The next day I brought the frame inside to make up the backing board. After choosing and drilling my new holes for the board, I mocked up a paper template of where the holes were:

Then transferred those marks to the freshly cut board and apply the screws to make sure I've got everything lined up right

Hardware I chose was Stainless steel for rust resistance and good looks

Took the backing board off and sprayed it black as well.

After that, time for the upholstery work
Burlap folded over for 2 layer thickness on the springs and hog-ring'd in place

Notice that I preferred to only hog ring where it would not rub anything(especially my cover or foam. All of the hog ring points I used were on a spring or the frame where it wouldn't be up against any of the fabric or foam.

For the seat back, I used the mattress topper foam(not a ton of pressure on the seat back as compared to the seat bottom so I saved a bit of $$ by using the mattress stuff for the back)
Be sure to leave a little extra foam at the top so that it'll 'roll over' the top of the frame to prevent a hard spot at the top of the seat back.
I also left a slight 'gap' of uncovered frame at the bottom to allow the seat back and seat bottom to fit a little easier when re-installing the seat.

Now hog-ring that freshly refurbished cover on tight, then put the backing board on with the stainless hardware. I put the seat back rail back on in case I choose to use it later down the road, plus if it's attached to the seat- I can't lose it!

The next day-spurred on by my success with the seat back, I moved onto the seat bottom.

Had more cushioning materials (jute and some type of thick upholstery or carpet?) but still wasn't exactly comfortable for very long.

I again wire wheeled the frame and painted it black with the rattle rustoleum. After drying, it was time to repeat steps.

2 layers burlap hog ring'd
Cut the 2" upholstery foam to fit and 'bevel' the borders.

You may have noticed I got the bright idea to slit a foam piece and slide it over the front of the frame to prevent it from hitting the backs of everyone's legs.
While good thought, it did not work. I put the cover on and it didn't fit right and I had a visible ridge in the front and the 'beading' on the front didn't go straight across the seat top. It looked bad. So I revised, took the foam strip off and just scooted the foam pad forward to line up with the frame edge. This actually left about a 1/2" un-padded section towards the rear of the seat, but no one will ever have their butt there since the seat back will cover that area. This also will probably make it easier to re-install the seat in the car.
Before:

After:

With the cover fitting better, I did the final pull, tug, and hog ring to finish.

Then I replaced my rubberized liner material which covers my seat springs to help prevent arcing of the battery terminals.

That combined with this is my fire prevention strategy in the back seat

Then I reattached my 'seat installation assist strap' to the rear seat frame
A 'mending brace' and some self-drilling outdoor lathe screws from the hardware store and a pull strap from an old backpack

Helps me to maneuver the seat bottom back into place, then the strap can be tucked down out of sight once the seat is installed.

I'll also mention here that it's worth checking the "tab" on the rear of the seat frame. You can see it here, bottom right of the seat frame:

That tab engages into a metal slot on the body and mine was bent out of line (which wasn't allowing the seat to 'seat' properly). It's easiest to determine if yours is bent out of line by removing the seat back, then put the seat bottom back in and look down between the seat and the body pan to see. It's also much easier to adjust the tab back into line this way too.

While the seat isn't "easy" to put back in- it's certainly better than it was before. Even with the additional padding on the seat now.

And, of course, the finished product (mocked up in the spare room)

All in all, about 24hrs of work over a couple days and about $80 in tools and materials and it looks pretty good.

Best of all it's quite comfy to sit on now
_________________
1973 Standard Beetle
1600DP AK case
Solex 34PICT3 Carb
Bosch DVDA 205AJ Distributor

[VW_Jimbo]

Nice job! Looks good and is now able to be used! That makes it perfect!
_________________
Jimbo

There is never enough time to do it right the first time, but all the time necessary the second time!

[Disaster06]

Nice work! Looks great. I did something very similar with some memory foam I got from amazon. About a year old and still holding up.

[Raceace24]

Very cool ideas!
I'm doing something somewhat similar with my rear seat.
Fortunately I only had one small hole in the covers (which I filled with urethane sealant) and I left the horsehair and covers in place. I bound the horsehair padding with a combination of Loctite contact adhesive and Flex Seal. I used burlap to cover the very bottom of the seat bottom.
I am currently soaking the dried up vinyl covers with leather conditioner, so that hopefully they won't crack when being sat upon.
I am completely re-covering the tops and bottoms and re-padding the bottoms my front seats.
Gonna post some pics on that portion of my project after I've completed it.
_________________
~ No matter where you go......there you are ~

Michael E ~ Raceace24

[flat4olsen]

Who (og what) ate your padding?
I redid my interior not to long ago, and this is what the underside of the back seat looked like. The sticker from 1968 from the upholstery in Kitzingen/Main in Germany still intact
Good job by the way

_________________
Type 1 1968, Lotosweiss. 2109 oxyboxer engine
Early Bay 1970, Montana Red. Under construction

[Cusser]

[TX-73]

Great thought and execution on the repairs, you've gained a lot of service from that seat. You were right to remove the foam from the front seat base, typically your legs are away from that area.
One thing I've found - for me at least - is that an electric carving knife makes for smooth and accurate foam shaping. I'm building up some seats and it's been a big help.
Great job and thanks for the tip on the seat tab, I kept fighting that one.
_________________
My 1973 Standard Beetle Build SOLD
Click to view image

[AlmostHeavenWV_VW]

Thanks for the compliments guys!

Flat4-
I have no idea where all that padding went either It appeared to be "jute" material, rather than the horsehair padding which was standard, so somebody had re-done the seats previously. I guess the PO just threw it away as it deteriorated and fell off? I don't know, but now it's fixed!

TX-73- Agreed. #1 tip for cutting & shaping the foam is to use an electric knife
I had an electric knife to use but it chose to die right as I was working around to the front side of the foam pad.

It was much easier and gave much smoother results for the few minutes it was working . I ended up using a filet knife to finish beveling the foam
(on the front edge- of course! Couldn't have been the backside of the padding that ended up a little rough edged ).

If it hadn't been the last edge to cut on the last piece of foam, I'd have gone and gotten a new electric knife, it really does make it so much easier to shape the foam. Didn't want to run all the way to Wally-World just for that, plus I'll probably never use a new electric knife ever again anyways, so I guess it's okay that my $5, 30 year old electric knife died on me, right when I needed it the most.
_________________
1973 Standard Beetle
1600DP AK case
Solex 34PICT3 Carb
Bosch DVDA 205AJ Distributor

[AlmostHeavenWV_VW]

Update on my seat work. Got the ProCar interior/seat kit in last week. Put the front seats together and began working on getting the rear seat cover fitted to my liking.

I got my kit from CNC MotorSports: (cheapest price and those guys @ CNC are top notch in customer service.)
https://www.cnc-motorsports.com/80-1302-51-procar-pro-90-series-1300-black-vinyl-sedan-kits.html

The kit is of high quality,IMO. Front seats are very comfortable and use a normal slider mechanism for seat forward/backward movement. The sliders bolt directly to the seats, then you bolt the bracket to the sliders. Depending on your application, they provide a hardware kit to utilize your OEM seat mounting points. (No modification to the Stock pan necessary).

"Modification without Alteration"

Very nice.

How it mounts to the seat pedestal (appears you can use the stock 'adjustment pin' or an appropriately sized and strength bolt)

How it mounts to the floorpan slider tracks: (the small steel plate is threaded and you slide it into the track, then get the front pedestal mounted up, then just tighten up the 2 bolts with the rear feet to 'clamp' against each other in the seat tracks) Clever, simple solution.

A few pics of the slider mechanisms (total of 4 bolts to the seat) and bracket mounted up to the sliders (4 more bolts- 2 front, 2 rear)

Onto the rear seat cover:

First of all, I am thoroughly impressed at the quality of the materials. Vinyl is a good, thick, heavy fabric and there is a bit of foam 'underpinnnings' to the cover. Well made, appears it will be very durable and it even added a bit of padding to the seat surfaces.
Well done, ProCar.

So since it's just a 'slip cover' and not really a full seat cover it doesn't quite cover around to the back to 'hogring' it to the frame as you would normally. Now, the have several 'laces' that you can tie to the frame or the other ties to keep the cover on, but I was looking for a bit more durable and professional result, so I improvised.

nothing complicated, but ended up being very effective:

You may recall from earlier that I had bought some good black canvas to patch up the original seat cover. I had some left overs from the patching job, so I took that and made some strips. Took those strips and sewed them to the seams of the slip cover in strategic places so as to pull the cover taunt and smooth. These canvas pieces allowed me to then pull the cover tightly and use the hogrings to fasten it to the seat frame- as one would normally in an re-upholstery job.

The front and side edges had enough that I could simply clip off an existing hogring and re-fasten both the original cover and the new slip cover together on the rear seat bottom. Here's a pic of where I added the canvas and hog rings on the front and sides directly to the slip cover.

The seat back was a little bit more difficult. Once I got it situated as best I could, I took the material and stretched it tightly and used self-tapping lathe screws to secure the top edge to the 4 vertical seat back 'ribs'
These ribs:

I then took the canvas and sewed some pieces to the bottom of the seat back in intervals so I could make it nice and taunt.

The rest of the seat cover was mostly held in place by my fabricated seat back panel seen here:

And here's the pics

After refresh:

ProCar "slip cover"

Rear seat and matching kit front seats

All in all, I'm very impressed and pleased with the ProCar kit. It will make the roadtrips Ms. AlmostHeaven and I go on much more comfortable.

Oh and the kit comes with new replacement front door 'cards' and the black interior panels which are next to the rear seat. So it will give a nice freshening up to the interior as well.
_________________
1973 Standard Beetle
1600DP AK case
Solex 34PICT3 Carb
Bosch DVDA 205AJ Distributor

[AlmostHeavenWV_VW]

Just updating:

Got the front seats installed from this kit. Bracket 'legs' required some adjustment to get lined up and get inside the floor pan slider tracks, but otherwise a fairly straightforward install.

Would advise having a helper when doing this. Much easier with a set of helping hands. Trying to line up the bolt holes while holding the seat would prove difficult by yourself.

And man, are these seats nice to sit on. Probably the best money (regarding improvements in 'creature comforts') I've spent thus far on the bug.

Before

After

_________________
1973 Standard Beetle
1600DP AK case
Solex 34PICT3 Carb
Bosch DVDA 205AJ Distributor

[Zundfolge1432]

Very nice work, I’ve always liked the how to threads here, appreciate the effort it takes to document the work. You will help others

[docdanracy]

Very nice
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Doc
1970 Sunroof Bug Yukon Yellow (L19K)
Custom 6.5x15” 914 Sport Wheels wrapped in 185x65x15 Contis
Empi shifter, full compliment of gauges, 1679 with mild cam, stock induction

SOLD: 1974 Marina Blue Standard Beetle undergoing restoration/preservation
1679 with Kadrons and header/QP
914 sport wheels 5.5" ET40 wrapped in 195x65x15 Kumhos

[TX-73]

What a world of difference, that looks great!
_________________
My 1973 Standard Beetle Build SOLD
Click to view image

[AlmostHeavenWV_VW]

[Xevin]

Looky there. Those seats look fantastic. Well done
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Keep on Busin'

[AlmostHeavenWV_VW]

Update for this ProCar interior kit:

-Rear seat cover material has held up very well
-The replacement front seats & brackets are well made and have been holding up well.
-The front seats are very comfortable (IMO and Ms. AlmostHeaven's) even on long drives (3+ hours).


Overall, I still feel this was the best $$$ I've spent for comfort driven work on the bug
_________________
1973 Standard Beetle
1600DP AK case
Solex 34PICT3 Carb
Bosch DVDA 205AJ Distributor

[Tim Donahoe]

The seats are beauties, and they look well made. It makes no difference if they’re not stock. Few of us would turn them down for eating crackers.

Tim
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Let's do the Time Warp again!

Richard O'Brien