Video: VW Super Beetle Rear Seat Upholstery Installation

Video Overview:

The interior of our 1971 Super Beetle restoration is coming together and we’re ready to get the rear seat in. The rear seat takes more than just upholstery as it is also can serve as a platform if the backrest is folded down. Our tech shows how the whole assembly, upholstery, rear seat board, and backrest carpet pieces in place. We also cover in detail the rear seat release cross bar for those that took theirs apart and can’t quite figure out how it goes back together, so watch and enjoy!

Video Transcript:

Hello! Sam here with JBugs.com. Sit back, relax, and watch while we get the rear seat installed in our 1971 Super Beetle. Before we get started with the upholstery though, we'll show you how the rear seat release bar installs without the upholstery blocking the view.

The long portion of the bar, with the washer in place, installs into the seat backrest through the guide on the passenger side. The end that sticks out of the seat, will point towards the front of the car. At the drivers side of the seat, the short end of the bar with the release strap bracket, inserts through the guide with the strap portion pointing towards the bottom of the seat. The end of the bar faces towards the front.

The seat spring will slide in over the short bar with the long straight portion against the seat frame and the hooked portion will face the center of the seat. The long portion of the crossbar will insert into the shorter portion and we'll make sure the holes in each are lined up. The spring will be tensioned against the set screw which holds the two pieces together. With the spring pushed back, the screw is threaded in just through the bar and the spring is twisted in place over the screw. The screw is threaded in a bit more and that is how the rear seat crossbar is installed. We'll have to do once the upholstery is installed we just wanted to show the process clearly without the upholstery in the way. The bar is removed and we'll get to working on making a rear seat backboard.

Normally, we would install a masonite board but as they've been on backorder for quite some time, we'll just make our own. The rear seat backrest is set over a piece of thick plywood and the shape is traced out and then cut with a jigsaw. Once we're done cutting out the board, we can check the fit and we'll note the numerous holes in the seat frame that the board will screw into later. There are holes along the bottom, one at either side, and there are holes along the top that are predrilled. The holes at the top will line up with the metal crossbar that will install on top of the carpet once it's glued to the backrest.

Now, we can get to work on the upholstery. We'll note that we've already hog ringed a piece of burlap to the seat springs and we glued on our injection molded backrest pad. We set our upholstery over the seat frame to check the width and then we flip the seat over again to check that our upholstery rod is the correct length. The upholstery rod, which is just a cut to length headliner bow, is inserted into the sewn seam at the bottom of the upholstery and we can center the upholstery on the seat. We wrap the corners over the frame. We concentrate on working the upholstery at the corners to make sure the seems are even at the edges. Then, we flip the seat frame over.

We check that the seem with the upholstery rod is centered left to right. Then, we pull the seemed edge of the upholstery up and over the metal prongs. The metal prongs can be sharp so be careful and we'll note that the upholstery takes more hand strength than body strength. Gripping and pulling the material and the seems into place is definitely a workout for the hands and forearms. Once the seem at the upholstery rod is in place, we can take a loot at the front and see our upholstery is already starting to take shape. The seat is flipped over again and we follow the same process, stretching the upholstery from the center prongs making sure the seat upholstery seems are even. With the first few prongs poked through, we flip the seat over to look at the front and make sure the upholstery is aligned and pulled tightly. With everything looking good, we flip the seat over again and bend down all the metal spikes across the bottom of the seat frame and the few at the top that we've already stretched the upholstery over. We continue stretching the upholstery over the prongs at the top at the back.

Compressing the seat as needed and pulling the material so that we have even tension and an even amount of material overlapping. Looking at the front side again, we can see the upholstery is taught across the face and we make sure that the corners of the seat are even. We pull and stretch the material down to the legs of the seat.

Looking at the back side, we can now get to work on attaching the upholstery here which is a bit odd. We start by pulling the material on the back of the seat from the top then from the side and we hook the upholstery on the spike at the side of the seat frame. Then, we work our way down and we fold the upholstery around the seat mount and hook it over the spikes at the bottom of the seat frame. The extra material is cut past the edge of the seat frame, at the bottom and the side. Then, the bottom flap of the material is rolled over onto the spikes.

The spikes are tapped down to hold the upholstery in place and we're finished with this side of the seat. We flip the seat over and across the top of the seem, we use hog rings to pull the seat upholstery down and hold it to the seat spring. Hog rings can be used in places where the seat spikes have broken. We use them in conjunction with the seat spikes to even out the tension on the upholstery and padding. The seat upholstery at the opposite side mount, is pulled around the seat frame side spike down to the bottom spikes and then trimmed at the side of the frame and tucked under. The bottom flap is rolled over and stuck to the spikes. The spikes are tapped down. With that, out backrest upholstery is finished.

Now, we can install the rear seat crossbar that we showed earlier. First, we install new seat release crossbar stops into either end of the bar. Then, we poke a small hole in the side of the upholstery and slide the bar through. At the opposite side, we do the same thing to the end bar Once the crossbar and spring are attached like we showed earlier, making sure that the bar ends point forward, we install the seat release strap. It slides through the first hole in the bracket, then the open look is slid over the back post of the bracket, and finally the strap is pulled forward to secure it. Once the seat is installed, pulling the strap will release the backrest from the brackets on the quarter panels and the backrest can fold down.

Now we can mount the wood that we cut out earlier, to the back of the seat. We use a Phillips screwdriver to mark and drill out the upholstery for the screws that we'll install. The most important screw holes are the ones at either side that will hold the wood in place to start. Once the holes are marked on the wood, we can screw it in place to the back of the seat.

Then, we can spray glue the backrest carpet piece and the wood and once the glue is tacked up, we can set it in place with the help of an assistant. Once the carpet is lined up, it's pressed down into place and the metal crossbar at the top can be installed. Self-tapping screws work best to drill through the wood and into the seat frame. Use caution when drilling through loop carpet as a snag could pull an entire row of the carpet. Now we can get to work at the bottom of the seat and here, we'll install the last piece of the rear seat carpet kit. It lays upside down and is lined up with the bottom of the carpet. A metal crossbar is screwed through both pieces of carpet, and the wood, into the seat frame with self-tapping screws. Then, the carpet is flipped back and we can install this onto the car.

Before we do though, we'll get the seat bottom upholstered. We have the bottom seat frame wrapped in burlap and our injection molded seat bottom foam is glued to it. We spray the seat foam with silicone spray especially at the corners and edges. This will help the upholstery slide over easily and is helpful when stretching and positioning the material. The upholstery is laid on top of the seat foam and we make sure that the front corners are squared up with the foam. Then, we roll the back corners over the foam and work our way towards the front.

The upholstery is evened out, the seat is flipped over, the material is pulled over the bottom of the steep frame, and the drawstring is tightened and looped over the center crossbar to hold it tightly. We tie it off temporarily and then we work from the center at the front of the seat, out to either side. Hog rings are used to hold the upholstery bottom, pulling it taught and securing it. We work our way all the way around to the back pulling the upholstery tight. Once we're done, we can flip the seat over and take a look at the end result.

The seat is installed in the car, backrest first by setting it into place and then bolting it into either side of the body, below the quarter panel, with the original spacers and bolts. The space installs with the larger edge towards the seat. Once both sides are tight, the carpet flap can be pulled up and over the lip at the luggage shelf. We slide a cut to length headliner bow into the sewn lip on the carpet in lieu of the original metal crossbar. Then, a mallet and trim tool are used to tap the edge of the carpet into the lip on the body. Once we're done, we pull back the edged of the carpet at bit and thread in self-tapping screws at either side to hold the carpet in place and the backrest install is complete. The rear speaker box is set in place, the backrest is folded up to check the fit, then the seat belts are pulled up and out of the way so we can set the rear bottom seat in place.

The rear seat bottom gets set in place behind the B-pillars, into the crossbar at the front edge, and then is pushed down at the back edge to tuck it in below the backrest. The upholstery is evened out across the back edge, the seat belts are straightened out and with that, we can get onto installing our new front seats.

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