Loons Chair repair thread

[Golf Loon]

OK so heaps of people have been asking me recently about repairing seats.

No not the loveable Ibizas and Cordobas we know and love, but the drivers seat that we sit and drive in. Hence the thread title for easy searching.

VWs have recaro designed seats, at least on the GTI models, these have a long life if you use the "park your but and turn in sitting method", but shorter ones if you use the "slide and collapse" method of entry.

The side bolsters take a beating and so good condition drivers seats are thus, hard to find.

However, all is not lost.

You can canibalize other seats to make yours great again.

The prime score is a passenger seat the same as your drivers in the same pattern.

You can easily unbolt the two halves of the seat and unclip the fabric and padding and swop to your hearts content.

Some pics of some GTI and Cabrio seats I am doing at the moment.

Typical damaged GTI seat



Detach the two parts of the seat



Base of seat with foam and skin removed



Different seats have hoops or not. GTI and VR6 have hoops in the side bolsters, CL and GLs and SEATs and Mk2 non GTIs have no hoops. Mk3 Cabrio has GTI style bolsters, but with hard foam and no hoops! This base is from a Mk1 GTI.

To get the foam off the base is not very hard, turn it over and it has two loops of wire around the rear legs, loosten them and undo em with pliers and the skin will slacken. Then there are 2 hooks toward the middle of the seat, these need to be bent out with a flat screwdrivrs so the fabric can unhook. at the front there maybe clips or screws or a cover, depending on model, remove these. The back is tucked in, the fabric has a big cardboard seam, pull this out of the metal frame and the foam bolster and fabric will be free.

Seat squab with fabric attached. This pic also shows how clean the fabric is on the other side if you remove the foam etc.



You can unhook the fabric from the bolster by turning it over and taking the fabric off inside out. There are wire rods with hooks and twisted loops of wite to overcome, all of which can be done with pliers, cutters or a screwdriver.

Hooks on the bars if the seat has pleats or tucks.



Unhook and remove wire hoops where needed.

You are then left with this



Now is the perfect time to swop it for one from your donor seat if yours is trashed.

[Golf Loon]

Mk1 GTI Seats are a little different to other VW seats. The bolsters bolt to the frame and the seat squab is separate.



Easier to dismantle this bit though and this pic shows how much the fabric has faded in 30 years.



The top halves are a little crazy too



If you stick yor hand down the seam of a Mk1 GTI GTI seat, you can feel the springs and seat frame.

Cabrios still have this setup for the top half of the seat but have a one piece lower part like a Mk2 or 3.

Here is a cabrio seat that I just made from a passengers seat and padding, drivers frame and rear vinyl piece from a drivers seat, so that the handle is on the correct side and there is no hole on the passenger side.



It was absolutely tattered before and its not that hard.

Also worth mentioning that all VW seat bases are basically the same and so lots of fabric and bolster swops are possible between Mk1, 2 and 3 with no welding. Mk3 fabric on Mk1 bases for example is an easy one. Mk4s are differently made, but the same rules apply.

I'll take some more pics when I finish these seats and fill in the gaps better.

Feel free to add any relevant information, pics or links to this thread.

[DubSteve]

Good stuff mate, top notch work as always

[Jarred]

Very useful Information!

Thanks for sharing!

[Golf Loon]

Filling in a few gaps

Drivers skin (fabric) removed from the bolster. Showing hole and fading, thus reason for changing.



The pieces I changed for this particualr GTI seat. Old bit are on the top row.
Basically rear was split on the donor seat, so original vinyl needed to be used for the back section. Donor bolster fabric from a 5 door seat and the original fabric for the main insert of the seat flipped over and restitched.



The finished skin stitched back together.



And the old nonsense.



With regards to flipping the skins. Here is a cabrio piece of fabric that I`m sure most of you would chuck out.



However, if you remove the material and flip it over, rip off the backing and peel away the foam. this one has got wet and so the foam has disintegrated, scrape that away and the same pattern, but unfaded and not dameged is revealed

[Golf Loon]

I used a quick unpick from my wifes sewing box to unpick the threads and separate the fabric. A couple of bucks from a sewing shop.



Having removed the cushion, you need to remove the panel of fabric so it can be turned over. Starting to unpick.



Undone.



Now we should inspect the bolsters and replace as necessary. I had 4 bases from two sets of seats so used the inner bolster on the outside of each seat to give it a new not collapsed feel.

Undoing the metal clips that hold the fabric in place.



If the metal clips break, you can use wire to make new ones.

The damage on the original bolster



Out with the old, in with the new bolster.



Now reassemble the seat with all the best bits.

The old and the new

[Golf Loon]

Close of play tonight, still ahve to put on the plastic side covers and retighten a few bits.

And of course do the other seat.

[Golf Loon]

Both Mk1 GTI Seats Completed





Dunno what I'm gonna do with them, might have to uild a car to put em in

[cab93]

Great idea. I have the same seat pattern as in the above photo. Mine is a sand colour - VW code "JQ" or Sahara beige. If you come across a good passenger seat I would like try this as my drivers seat is starting split in the usual spots

Michael