Video: VW Super Beetle Front Seat Installation

Video Overview:

We are now finishing up our VW Interior restoration. We’ve got the rear seat of our 1971 Super Beetle back in place, now we just need to get some front seats in. The stock front seats were reusable but we wanted something a little more modern so we special ordered up a set of TMI Pro Series seats to match our rear upholstery. Getting the seats in isn’t exactly a bolt in affair, but we do manage to get them in with some additional hardware and tweaking, literally. As the seats are so expensive, and aren’t quite “bolt in”, we don’t feel comfortable offering them, but TMI does sell them directly if you have to have a set for your car. We finish up by installing an EMPI Billet Plus Shifter to coordinate with some of our other EMPI interior accessories, fortunately, it’s a much simpler install.

Video Transcript:

Hi! Sam here with JBugs.com. We just got done installing a set of TMI Pro-Series seats. Come see how we did it.

Now that we've got our rear seat installed, we can get to work on installing the front seats and it will take some work. We're going to be installing some TMI Pro-Series seats and despite this being their second version, they still aren't quite right, at least not for vintage VW's We start by setting the 1971-72 seat base frame frame in place, on our floor pan which isn't all that difficult. The rear two legs are tight and we'd expect that seeing as they need to hold tightly to the floor pan. The frame will bolt to the front cross brace of the seat rails but bolts aren't included. Additionally, our new floor pans aren't drilled.

So, after setting a guard below the drill bit so we don't damage the carpet, we can drill through the brace and bolt the front of the seat bracket in place. Original floor pans are usually drilled so we can't complain about having to drill but we had to source our own hardware so we'll note that as a small issue. Now, we can get to work on mounting the back legs of the seat frame. The included brackets clamp the outside edge of the seat rail and are bolted in place to the seat frame.

The brackets are threaded and we're guessing the bolts would thread from the inside of the frame, into the bracket, which bolts into the outside edge. That would be okay if hardware was included but it wasn't, and the threads in the bracket aren't metric so none of our hardware fit. Even if bolts were included, in our opinion, a bolt from the inside to the outside leaving the threads of the bolts sticking out would look rather unfinished. We drilled out the threads of the bracket and used some of our own hardware to bolt through the bracket and the seat frame.

Then, we used nuts on the inside edges to secure the seat frame to the floor plan. With bolts installed on both sides, the seat frame is pulled up and all the nuts and bolts are tightened down. We'll note the seat bracket clamps as another issue. Now, we can get to work mounting the slider brackets and the seat sliders to our new seat.

Fortunately, all the hardware is included here and we start by mounting the seat brackets to the sliders. Note that we hand tighten all of the hardware until all the hardware is installed then we go back and tighten everything up. The brackets mount to the threaded post on the seat rails with the legs for the bracket pointing away from the adjuster mechanism. Then, the seat sliders can be bolted into the bottom of the seat with the short allen head bolts. It can be difficult to slide the brackets on the adjusters if their not bolted in. So, we start with the left side slider, which has the handle, and we install the back bolt. Then we can twist the handle and slide the bracket back so we can install the front bolt.

Next, we'll install the cross spring that attaches from the adjuster lever on the left side bracket to the right side. At either end, it attaches with a simple hook end that installs in the lever and a round clip holds the spring in place at either side. With the spring attached, to both sliders, we can now install the back bolt for the right side slider to the seat. Now, we can use the handle on the left slider to release the mechanism on the right slider so we can slide it back and install the front bolt. All the hardware is tightened and now we can address the biggest issue we had with the seats, or more specifically, the seat brackets.

The bent ends on the brackets are bent too narrow to allow the seat to mount over the seat frame. One way of fixing this would be to cut back the ends of the seat base frame so it sits in between the sides of the slider brackets but we run the risk of damaging the threads in the frame. We opt to re-bend the ends of the brackets so the seat base will fit properly. We use a couple of crescent wrenches to open up the brackets bending the tabs back and the legs down. After a few tries, the seat base frame now fits. Now, we can install the back rest adjustment cover and the lever handle.

Get the two screws for the cover started before you tighten them both down. Now, we can finally install the drivers side seat in the car. There is a left and right side seat, the adjuster will go to the outside edge of the car. The seat slider brackets have upper and lower holes at the front and the back so you can adjust the seat base height. We bolt the seat in, with the included allen head hardware, at the lower holes all the way around. Again, we get all four bolts started before we tighten them down. We finish the drivers seat installation by sliding the headrest into place before repeating the whole process on the opposite side.

We'll finish up by installing an EMPI Billet Plus shifter. The installation is straightforward. The included reverse lockout plate is set into the recess on the bottom of the shifter base. Note that just like the stock shifter, the long side of the shifter gate is set on the right side. On the floor, we cut back the shifter grommet so we can see the threads for the screws. The ball of the shifter is coated with grease and the shifter is set in place on the tunnel. The included washers and screws are installed and tightened down and with that, we can finish with something that didn't take so much modification. We love the TMI Pro Series seats, they look great and are super comfortable. But at the end of the day, we have a hard time spending so much on a set of seats that require so much extra work and don't come with the necessary hardware.

Thanks for watching! Let us know if you have any questions in the comments below. Click the like button and the subscribe button if you haven't already. When you need seat upholstery or any other parts for your vintage VW, head over to JBugs.com.