[davidpett]

Hi
I bought a seat cushion from Victor Parts that is supposed to be for my S3 but it is different from the old one. It seems to have more foam at the back making it longer (note where the interior frame is) and also does not have the two foldable metal lugs for the slots in the base pan.
Hoping I can still somehow make it work as it seems other replacement cushions online look similar (though they never have a picture of the bottom side)
Attaching the two photos.
Anyone else encountered this?
Thanks
David

 

[pantera928]

I have never seen a reproduction seat bottom like that with the metal tabs for securing it to the seat pan. I have always had to improvise.
Not really sure what you mean about it being longer. Your old one may just be compressed after all those years of use.

 

[davidpett]

Not really sure what you mean about it being longer. Your old one may just be compressed after all those years of use.

Yeah, I expect the old one has shrunk. If you look at the horizontal metal frame piece at the top of both, on the old one it is very close to the end of the foam. On the new one the foam extends past that frame more than an inch. This is where the hog rings were attaching the seat upholstery to the cushion frame. So I need some extreme compression there to make the cover fit the cushion in such a way that the hog ring can connect these two.
I am considering cutting away some of that foam to reduce the amount protruding past that frame. Just don't want to do anything that radical yet!
Thanks,
David

 

[sepehr]

On the seat foams I got from classic alfa, the tabs were buried in the foam. I just had to dig them out. They are welded to the listing wire. You have to bend them down 90°.

 

[sepehr]

I find fingerless mechanic's gloves are pretty "handy".

 

[davidpett]

I went ahead and stuffed it in as best as I could. Seems ok. I also did find the tabs buried in the foam. Only issue is they don’t line up with the cutouts in the base pan. So that’s the next thing to figure out.

 

[sepehr]

To get it looking better, you need to stuff the seams into the channels in the foam, and connect the cover to the buried listing wire from underneath using hog rings. There should be listing wires that run through the foam, directly under the inside edge of the side-bolsters. It involves a bit of wrestling and your hands will be sore after, but it's do-able. There should also be a couple of springs that connect the cover to the cross-wire under the inside edge of the knee bolster. See mark-up below.

It will help if you add some foam under the seat cover - it looks like the foam sewn to the inside of your cover has deteriorated and compressed.

I just did my seats, admittedly with new covers, which made things easier. You can try feeding some stainless or galvanized plastic-sheathed wire rope through the listing channels in the seat cover if the material has gotten too fragile and is ripping.

 

[sepehr]

See your old cushion:

 

[0die]

Looks like a late S3. My 84 S3 has a very different base.

 

[pantera928]

Looks like a late S3. My 84 S3 has a very different base.

That seat cushion started in 1986 on the Veloce and quads.

 

[davidpett]

To get it looking better, you need to stuff the seams into the channels in the foam, and connect the cover to the buried listing wire from underneath using hog rings. There should be listing wires that run through the foam, directly under the inside edge of the side-bolsters. It involves a bit of wrestling and your hands will be sore after, but it's do-able. There should also be a couple of springs that connect the cover to the cross-wire under the inside edge of the knee bolster. See mark-up below.

It will help if you add some foam under the seat cover - it looks like the foam sewn to the inside of your cover has deteriorated and compressed.

I just did my seats, admittedly with new covers, which made things easier. You can try feeding some stainless or galvanized plastic-sheathed wire rope through the listing channels in the seat cover if the material has gotten too fragile and is ripping.

View attachment 1719775

Thank you very much for this detail. I had seen those springs and wondered. I will have another go this weekend. Will also try to glue some extra foam to the cover as you mentioned.

 

[davidpett]

Some seat updates. I removed the hog rings I put on, used a shoe lace to “repair” the torn piece under the cover, used bicycle spokes and zip ties to pull down the sides into cushion. I attached springs at front. Could not figure a way to pull those cross channels down. I added some foam to mimic the worn out foam in the cover.
overall it seems like a decent improvement.
Now having to make holes in new base for the tabs. Almost ready to back in. Hopefully tomorrow I will have a spider that can be driven again.