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Help with Rear Seat Luggage
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BugCaster
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 01, 2020 8:09 am    Post subject: Help with Rear Seat Luggage Reply with quote

Something ain't right here. After repairing the heater ducts and welding in the tubes for the cables on my 78 vert I am ready to replace the rear seat. I'm not sure who or when the trays that attach to the rear seat back got this way but I would appreciate some help getting them installed correctly.
I expect the thin wooden strips were added by someone other than the factory since they used a variety of dry wall screws that were too long. The larger panel is attached under the metal strip at top of seat and the rectangular one was lying loose in compartment. I know when folded forward the rectangular one uses the strap to hold it down so it should be on top I think. Also, the strap is not attached on the other end anyway.
I labeled with tape to make it easier to describe if no one has photos of theirs.
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BugCaster
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PostPosted: Wed Jan 01, 2020 2:09 pm    Post subject: Re: Help with Rear Seat Luggage Reply with quote

I've been thinking and trying different options and I think this rectangular part with strap goes here but should be attached to the body so it can fold up or forward. There is probably a strip of molding missing that holds the loose edge and is screwed down. If anybody has a photo of a molding that goes here I should be able to find or make one. I could be all wrong too.
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sb001
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 02, 2020 3:05 pm    Post subject: Re: Help with Rear Seat Luggage Reply with quote

I don't know if this thread will help you or not, it's a thread I started after recovering my rear seat backrest and was trying to figure out how to install the retaining strap to hold the backrest folded down:

https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?p=9032684&highlight=#9032684

From looking at your photos that definitely appears to be a homemade panel for the backrest, and I believe you might be missing the metal retaining bar for the upper part of the backrest as it is slightly curved on either side to match the contour of the backrest-- the shorter straight metal bar you show at the top of your seat is actually to secure the bottom of the backrest panel to the seat and to the luggage area rubber mat that originally came with the car, they all screw together using that metal bar to hold everything in place. I don't have a good photo of it but here is the seat with the panel installed (you can see the curved ends of the metal bar at the top; the shorter straight bar at the bottom is hidden by the overlap of the luggage area mat:

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Hope this helps some!
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BugCaster
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 02, 2020 7:34 pm    Post subject: Re: Help with Rear Seat Luggage Reply with quote

Thanks for the reply Steve. Yours looks nice. Apparently the standard beetle is different by only having one panel vs. two for the super. It apparently is quite confusing to a lot of folks, even the link to Sewfine page shows two different types in those photos they have.
My main problem I think is how to attach the rectangular panel with the hole in it because I think the larger panel with angled ends is attached at the correct spot at top of the seat. There is a fold or crimp in the fabric of the rectangular panel that apparently was folded up under something that held it.
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PostPosted: Thu Jan 02, 2020 8:02 pm    Post subject: Re: Help with Rear Seat Luggage Reply with quote

The lower panel with the strap through it is attached to the car at the bottom and just sort of floats against the seat back. The strap through the hole keeps the panel against the seat back. This allows the lower panel to slide under the upper panel when you lay the seat flat.

A quick search for pictures in the Samba gallery should answer all of your questions. Here is one to get started.

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BugCaster
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 03, 2020 7:04 am    Post subject: Re: Help with Rear Seat Luggage Reply with quote

Thanks Brian, that is helpful. I didn't get a clear idea from the gallery search but may have searched wrong words. Most of the photos I have found so far don't involve the later Supers.
You mention that the smaller rectangular panel with the hole attaches to the car but in your photo it appears to be attached to the bottom of the back of the seatback or just attached to that metal angle. Either would make sense since the strap is screwed to the frame of the seatback, otherwise you couldn't remove the seatback without threading the strap out. There are no holes in my seat frame tube except the one for the strap screw so I am thinking the one in that photo is only attached to the metal angle. Thanks again.
My latest guess is that the smaller rectangular panel in my car was not actually attached but the fabric was just tucked or squished between the bottom the seatback and the bottom cushion. Doesn't seem too secure but may be where it was.
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 03, 2020 7:44 am    Post subject: Re: Help with Rear Seat Luggage Reply with quote

The rectangular panel has a flap of material with out a backing. The edge of this flap gets stuffed into the metal channel on the package tray. The soft flap stretches over the gap between the seat back and the package tray when the seat back is down to keep small stuff from falling under the seat.
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PostPosted: Fri Jan 03, 2020 10:02 am    Post subject: Re: Help with Rear Seat Luggage Reply with quote

Great info. As soon as i get home I will look at that area of the tray. I think someone glued carpet over that spot on my car
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 04, 2020 11:51 am    Post subject: Re: Help with Rear Seat Luggage Reply with quote

Sure enough. When I peeled up the carpet from the luggage area I don't see evidence of any molding or holes where screws were. What do ya'll think of me gluing the flap of material on the rectangular piece underneath this layer of carpet and gluing the carpet to the top of that material?
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PostPosted: Sat Jan 04, 2020 3:45 pm    Post subject: Re: Help with Rear Seat Luggage Reply with quote

Well, the silver bubble wrap is a reflective house insulation. Is it possible the U-channel is under that silver stuff? I have not seen that "insulation" used in an automotive application. Plus, for the silver bubble stuff to have any insulating properties it needs an air space around it. I doubt it does much of anything when stuck next to a metal surface.

But, now you have me thinking, I don't think my 1969 convertible had the luggage cover, nor did it have the steel U-channel for attaching a rear seat panel. I didn't think the luggage cover would work on a convertible because the rear window retracts partly into the space behind the back seat when the top goes down. Maybe the Super convertible top is different. I never worked on one. I remember when I built a sub box for the convertible, it had to be made a little lower than the seat back so the window wouldn't hit the box.

My 1970 hardtop does have the cover and the U-channel.
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 05, 2020 8:17 am    Post subject: Re: Help with Rear Seat Luggage Reply with quote

Well this is an unconventional way to get this area fixed but seems to work. I didn't remove the bubble wrap but couldn't feel any channel under it. But the fabric flap on the rectangular panel was too short to get under the fabric glued to the tray anyway. So I sewed the two fabrics together with a heavy black waxed cord. The larger front cover that is attached to the top of the seat back does work to lie horizontally and hide the luggage area even on my convertible.

Only other issue which I don't think there is an answer for is that when the seatback is folded down it won't lie all the way horizontally like the pictures in the owner's manual. The strap can't quite reach the seat frame to hook on so I will add a loop to the metal clip on the seat frame to hook onto. I don't really need it to lie completely flat anyway. Thanks
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 05, 2020 9:42 am    Post subject: Re: Help with Rear Seat Luggage Reply with quote

Let's see more of that FJ! Shocked
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 05, 2020 12:55 pm    Post subject: Re: Help with Rear Seat Luggage Reply with quote

BugCaster wrote:
Only other issue which I don't think there is an answer for is that when the seatback is folded down it won't lie all the way horizontally like the pictures in the owner's manual. The strap can't quite reach the seat frame to hook on so I will add a loop to the metal clip on the seat frame to hook onto. I don't really need it to lie completely flat anyway.


The only way to get them flat is to remove the lower squab.
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PostPosted: Sun Jan 05, 2020 2:05 pm    Post subject: Re: Help with Rear Seat Luggage Reply with quote

Thanks Dal, that's what I figured but I'm happy with it like this.

SJ: from what I read we shouldn't upload non-VW photos to the gallery but maybe I can post from a link. The FJ belongs to my son. We have it in the shop to check it out because he has decided to sell it. It is a 71 with a 79 engine I believe.
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 06, 2020 8:00 am    Post subject: Re: Help with Rear Seat Luggage Reply with quote

I am pretty sure the reason that cover does not fit is because it is for a standard beetle, not a convertible. It is wider than the seat back. Yes, convertible seats are narrower than hard top beetles.

Call Chuck's convertibles and he can tell you what is supposed to be there. My guess it it never had a cover.
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 06, 2020 9:58 am    Post subject: Re: Help with Rear Seat Luggage Reply with quote

Very interesting Brian. Are you referring to the rectangular one that is to the rear with the strap hole? If so do you mean the width from one side of the car to the other or the shorter front to rear measurement?
The angled panel attached at the top of the seat appears to fit fine as the photo with it in the horizontal hiding mode.
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 06, 2020 10:56 am    Post subject: Re: Help with Rear Seat Luggage Reply with quote

OK. I retract my earlier statement. Your flip-up panel looks to be wider than the seat, which doesn't make sense to me. But, nothing has to make sense to be correct ... so ... I have no freakin idea what VW did on later convertibles. And mine has been apart so long I don't remember wihout digging through boxes of parts. I found this in the gallery of a supposed original 1979. So, yours is possibly correct, just slightly mangled by 40 years of previous owner meddling.
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PostPosted: Mon Jan 06, 2020 11:42 am    Post subject: Re: Help with Rear Seat Luggage Reply with quote

Thanks for those photos, makes me feel better. Of interest is the second photo shows the retaining straps on each side of the seat back. I saw an old post here where a member made new ones for his. My top panel still has the rivets from those but I don't think I will bother to make new ones. I just won't let it flop too far in the other direction.
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PostPosted: Thu Apr 09, 2020 10:33 am    Post subject: Re: Help with Rear Seat Luggage Reply with quote

Does anyone have the measurements of the hardboard for the back that flips up? I'm looking for a sedan, not a vert. The hardboard in mine is long gone, but I do still have the hardboard for the smaller flap with the tie-down passthrough.
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