Date:         Sat, 20 Apr 2013 08:11:13 -0400
Reply-To:     Harold Teer <teer.vanagon@GMAIL.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Harold Teer <teer.vanagon@GMAIL.COM>
Subject:      Fwd: Steel rod sticking out of side of rear seat
In-Reply-To:  <5B2225FC-034E-41F6-9CF1-8D396DB6C762@gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1

Below is a message from Bill on how he fixed the steel rod problem in the
rear seats.  While he sent the original message only to me, after emailing
him, he meant to send it to the list and said I could share it with
everyone.  You can see from his "fix" for his current Westy that he was
serious about fixing this issue.

I am not certain exactly how I will proceed but after looking at all
suggestions I will come up with something to try.  If it works, I will post
what I did.

Harold


Harold Teer
1991 Westy -- VANGAUX
Harrisonburg, VA



---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Bill Monk <billmonk@gmail.com>
Date: Fri, Apr 19, 2013 at 1:11 PM
Subject: Re: Steel rod sticking out of side of rear seat
To: Harold Teer <teer.vanagon@gmail.com>


Harold
I first put tape around the hole to protect the fabric. Made sure I could
pull the rod out and push it back in with no issues. Then I ran glue
up the couple inches of the rod as I was only brave enough to pull it
out a little. Slid it back in and the. Pushed a couple pieces of small
foam with glue on them to seal the hole up. This was on a Westy
I no longer have but it worked for at least two years.
On my current Westy I pulled the seat apart and drilled a couple holes
in the rod to put a piece of "safety" string through it and then sewed it to
the foam. I also reinforced where it was just getting ready to poke
through with a layer of vinyl between the seat foam and cloth.

Bill M
87 Westy
Zetec turbo


On Apr 19, 2013, at 12:28 PM, Harold Teer <teer.vanagon@GMAIL.COM> wrote:

> For a Friday question, I thought I should ask one I don't remember being
> raised on this list since I have been reading it in 1995 or 1996.
>
> On our "91 Westy, two steel rods periodically work their way out of the
> rear seat toward the side cabinet.   One rod is toward the front of the
> seat and one toward the rear. When this occurs, I use something to push
> them back in several inches but on our recent 2 month trip, I had to push
> both rods in twice and the problem is getting worse. If I don't catch it
in
> time, the rod scratches the cabinet or trim when I raise the rear seat.
>
> To see a picture, click here:  "
> http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=551387&highlight=harold"
>
> Mark Drillock helped me understand the purpose of the rods when he wrote
"The
> rods are used in Westy seats that have the indented contours built in. The
> fabric seams that run across the cushions are attached to those rods. That
> is what holds the fabric depressions in their depressed state. Otherwise
> the fabric would be floppy."
>
> I don't want to disassemble the seat since I know I would never get it
back
> together where it would look right.  I have thought about sliding a tube
> over the steel rods and then injecting some glue through the tube and then
> slowly withdrawing the tube hoping the glue would adhere to the fabric
> seams and the rod and hold it in place.  But, since I have never
> disassembled a seat to actually see what the interior looks like, I don't
> know if that is a good solution or not
>
> So, before I go any further in my thinking, put your thinking caps on and
> some of you creative minds give me some suggestions.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Harold
>
> Harold Teer
> 1991 Westy (Vangaux)
> Harrisonburg, VA