Front seat question ?

J

John Buchtenkirch

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I pulled the drivers seat out of my coupe when I left it at the body shop. The lower cushion is collapsed a bit so I figured it was a good time to take a peak at it and it would keep people from sitting in my car while it’s at the shop. The rubberized horsehair cushion actually looks pretty recent but the seat springs are cutting into it, hence the reason for it being partially collapsed. The lower seat covers have been recently replaced so I’m thinking whoever did it left out whatever goes between the springs & the horsehair (maybe heavy felt if I’m remembering correctly). I’m thinking I used pieces of carpet back in the day to repair V.W. seats when I was rebuilding them with the same problem but if anyone has a better idea I’m certainly all ears. Thank you in advance :). ~ John Buchtenkirch
 
Seats and rubberized horsehair padding

Just an observation--I wouldn't even look for rubberized horsehair padding when re-pad is needed.

With time and heat horsehair padding will eventually supply a generous shower of reddish-brown powder dropping beneath your seats. More modern materials for renewing your seating, for its comfort and its durability are available today.

In our typically warmer climate of Southern California with a lot of sun exposure the deterioration process can be pretty fast. I had to re-pad my Bavaria at 66,000 miles, my 2002 at about 180,000 and BLUMAX at around 320,000--obviously the Bavaria had experienced a lot of heat and sunlight from 3-4 years outside--although covered--while awaiting refurbishment.
 
blumax said:
Just an observation--I wouldn't even look for rubberized horsehair padding when re-pad is needed.

With time and heat horsehair padding will eventually supply a generous shower of reddish-brown powder dropping beneath your seats. More modern materials for renewing your seating, for its comfort and its durability are available today.

In our typically warmer climate of Southern California with a lot of sun exposure the deterioration process can be pretty fast. I had to re-pad my Bavaria at 66,000 miles, my 2002 at about 180,000 and BLUMAX at around 320,000--obviously the Bavaria had experienced a lot of heat and sunlight from 3-4 years outside--although covered--while awaiting refurbishment.
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You didn’t mention but I assume you are talking about replacing the rubberized horsehair with foam ? Even with the foam you need some type of barrier to keep the springs from cutting into the foam. Or the other alternative is to completely remove the springs and fill the whole lower cushion with sculpted foam and even that requires some type of thin plate welded into the seat frame so the foam isn’t sitting on the floor.
Finding a competent upholstery guy on Long Island is much harder than California where you seem to be blessed with an abundance of automotive repair talent.

I think for now I’m going to patch what I have into being useable for next summer and then hopefully consider a professional job or maybe Recaros for next winters project. Including the buying of my car I’ve spent a lot of coupe dollars recently and I’m sure it’s only the start. I’m not crying --- I feel darn lucky :-D:-D:-D to own a very solid California car, I’ve got a great start towards having a real nice coupe. Thank you for your input. ~ John Buchtenkirch
 
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