[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index] [New Search]
I re-did the seats in my '69 Fastback about two years ago with TMI. Excellent fit and quality for the most part. But I did have three complaints: 1. They use the basket weave pattern on the back of the front seat bottoms instead of the smooth black used on the originals. 2. On the front of the rear seat bottom, there is an ugly stitched vertical seam running right down the middle. The original covers have no seam here. 3. The original rear backrest cover for the Fastback (and Notch?) has a rather sturdy cardboard piece running along the top. This cardboard piece anchors the cover to the rear shelf. The TMI cover I got had a very flimsy piece of plastic that would NOT have done the job at all. So I had to remove the cardboard strip from the original cover and stitch it into the new piece. This kind of problem may not apply to the Squareback. I ordered my covers through a shop somewhere on the Peninsula (might have even had "Peninsula" in the name of the shop). They shipped it directly to my house. But there must be someplace in the East Bay that can get them for you. I like the horeshair padding, so I scrounged up some horsehair remnants from some old VW seats I had and added it to my seats. You might find something nice at an upholstery shop. Or get in touch later, and I'll see if I have any left in the attic (I think I might have some). Find some carpet remnants to put between the springs and the horsehair padding. This makes a big difference, I think. Put the new covers in just like the old ones were installed, without using hog rings. To do this, you will need to re-use the heavy wire inserts from the old seat covers in the new (you will see what I mean when you have it all apart). My covers did not come with the wire. Be very careful bending up the steel tabs on the seat frames. Bend them up just enough to stretch the new covers onto them, and then bend back down. You will want to pick a warm day to do this job. Keep the covers out in the sun for a while to soften up. For the backs of the front seats, you will have to stretch the covers a LOT to get them to go on. You will think the darn covers don't fit, but you really have to stretch from the headrest all the way down to the bottom. Good luck! This is a very satisfying improvement if you take the time to do it right. -Mark Fuhriman ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ List info at http://www.vwtype3.org/list | mailto:gregm@vwtype3.org