Some old Bullshit...

[Maddel]

January 2015

Back in 1990 I just put some simple black cotton covers on the rear seat...





Take a seat - the stock rear seat with the original upholstery.
Although in fair condition it will be replaced since the Bug is already painted red...









Note the stock "budget anti rattle installation"...



MacGyvered some lacerated mounting holes using Swedish furniture plugs and 2K epoxy resin adhesive...

[Maddel]

January 2015 (contd...)

Front seats removed...



Playing with t-shirts to get an idea what shade of gray for the planned two-tone upholstery will best suit the new carpet (needle felt)...





Disassembly...





Made simple covers for the seat rails from a standard PVC angle profile...





Cleaned the hardware...



And added a layer of paint...

[Maddel]

February 2015

Burnt (and patched before) original cardboard voltage regulator cover.
It will be replaced by a homemade fiberglass one later...


Started to remove some carpet. A bad hunch crept over me that getting rid of the old glue incrustations will be much fun!


Removed the seat mounts...


The folding gadget of these aftermarket seat mounts is necessary only for TÜV approval of race bucket seats...


So I decided to disable it. Also deleted the latching clamps...


Reworked the mounting points too...


Fits way better now and gained some stability too...


Now for the luggage area...


Removed the speaker box, the carpet and parts of the sound insulation...


That heavy monstrosity will not go back in...


Never liked the bulky sound damping of the hot air Y-tubes under the rear seat...




So I cut some latex coated felt...


Glued it to the perforated metal tubes...


And soaked the felt with some black synthetic resin lacquer...




Seat rail covers with attached spacers, finally shaped and painted along with the rear seat support bar and attachment strip...

[Super_Randy]

the voltage regulator had a cover?

[Maddel]

the voltage regulator had a cover?

Check out this Samba topic: Flap over voltage regulator

[Super_Randy]

interesting. iv never seen or even heard of those

[Maddel]

March 2015

Ready to add some sound insulation...


Started with some felt stripes...


Then reinstalled the original insulation board and added more felt stripes...


Followed by aluminum coated bitumen sound deadening pads...


The wheel arches will be covered with butyl rubber mats later...


Obsolete speaker and amp wiring...

[Maddel]

April 2015

Removed the sun visors and the rear view mirror. The headliner yellowed quite a bit over the years...


As well as the assist straps. No cleaner I tried produced a satisfying result...


After some research I found a crucial hint on a computer collector's website: bleaching!
So I got some hydrogen peroxide (H2O2, 11.9%)...


Steeped an assistant strap in the liquid for a few hours.
Ultraviolet light is vital for the bleaching process so I placed the bowl on the sunny balcony...


The result turned out quite impressive IMHO...






But how to use that H2O2 liquid with the headliner?
After some more research I ended up with "Cream Oxide" (creamy H2O2, 12%) from the barber shop...


Sun visors and some headliner samples served as guinea pigs...


Plastic wrap prevented dry-down and an Osram Ultra Vitalux 300W UV lamp got the ball rolling...


And this charlatanism did the job quite well...


At that point I had only a dim idea how that procedure could work with the way larger area of the headliner.
That H2O2 stuff is quite aggressive so care must be taken not to mess up the Bug's interior.

[Super_Randy]

ok, now i have to do that to my straps

[schwim]

The result turned out quite impressive IMHO...

That's truly incredible! It kind of makes me want to roam around the house and find things to renew