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Date:         Sat, 20 Jan 2001 19:52:32 -0800
Reply-To:     Brian Cochran <rangerbrian@HOTMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Brian Cochran <rangerbrian@HOTMAIL.COM>
Subject:      instructions for padding seat backs on older vans
Content-Type: text/plain; format=flowed

Okay fellow vanagoners.... here’s a quick, easy project for restoring those tired seat backs with some real padding! It took me about an hour for one seat back and minimum toolage. Since I’m explaining the whole process, you could probably do both in an hour. I had no idea what I was doing in the start, just the thought that there might be a chance of success. Note that I have an ‘84 westy. I have no clue if this works on newer vanagon seats. Probably not, but at the same time those with newer seats probably didn’t look at this thread. My seats don’t have armrests, but do have little piles of strange green sawdust coming out of them at the hinges. It’s 17 or 18 years old.....of course it does!

You’ll need the following:

--New Padding of some sort. I bought a seat pad at an automotive store (G.I. Joe’s-issaquah, WA) for about six bucks. I think it was called “Fashion Magic” and it was unbelievably ugly. Hideous in fact, and I bought the best “style”. It was made in CA. Try to buy domestic, we send enough business overseas. --A pair of pliers, needle-nose probably best, I used a small pair of channel-locks. --A 5.6mm allen key/wrench. “hex key” is another name. I think this was the size; come prepared. --A nice flat screwdriver. When don’t you need one of these!? --A vacuum cleaner. --I used a knife to cut my padding to size. -- A hammer

Remove the seats from the beloved. If you don’t know this one already, scoot the seats as far forward as they will go, lift the spring-loaded stop-catch on the left side (driver’s side). Its triangular shaped and runs along the track. Scoot the seat some more. It’s off! C A R E F U L L Y pry the plastic of the sides of the chair at the hinge. Remember: old plastic breaks easy, and I don’t think the bus depot carries these items. (but they could?). Use your allen wrench to remove the two side hinge bolts. I didn’t have this tool, but channel locks worked great, sloppy, but great. Removing the back took me a while to figure out, but it’s easy.... lay the seat back all the way, PAST 180 degrees (with respect to the seat bottom). At about 195 degrees or so, the remaining hinge pins, which are slotted, line up and pop up and out. The seat back is free now.

I ordered special upholstery hog ring pliers (from the bus depot) for this job. After I realized what the seat bottom looked like, I realized I should not have opened the package on those babies, since I don’t need them. The seat covers are secured on the bottom by four sharp metal tabs along the bottom. Get out your pliers and carefully bend back the tabs and straighten them. The back of the seat slips off the tabs first then the cloth seat part, exposing the old padding. I got the vacuum out at this point and sucked some crude. I didn’t remove any of my old padding, but you do what you want. I didn’t want to disturb the spring infrastructure. I shoved my padding up there and made sure it fit the way I wanted it and put it all back together. Be careful hammering back those metal tabs; mine didn’t break, but yours could. Those hog ring pliers then would probably be needed. It’s good german metal though..... Voila! Much improved seat backs....cheap, quick, easy and on a vanagon!!!! I examined the seat bottoms, I was unsure how to undo the fabric, so I didn’t try. My seat bottoms are much better than the seat backs anyway.

Now if I could just get that #@!!*@# oil pressure light to quit flickering. (I SURE HOPE it is the sender!!)

Brian Cochran Carnation, WA ‘84 westy AT w/ 2.1 (may be a tiico if the light keeps at it!)

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