Voxwagen

Rear Headrests

The booster seat was getting too small. More likely my child was getting too tall. It was time to ditch the car seat. But the tall backed child safety seat was to provide head and neck support, getting rid of it and going to the bare stock rear seat looked like a step backwards in the child safety department. The car dates from a time when rear seat headrests were rare. If the car was to stay in the family, as the family car, it was time for an update.

The starting point for the update was a pair of donor seats.

Already partly skinned before the photo.
The headrest was removed before the stripping of the seat, it was replaced to take a misleading photo.
The headrest may be held in place by a pair metal retaining clips in the grooves of the black plastic tube/trim pieces.
Once the clips are out, the headrest pulls up and and comes out.

Not much of the donors is going to be used in the project.
Really just a part of the seat frame top, the tube/trim bits, and the headrests.

Here in black on black, are the tubes, which are quite a challenge to get out of the seat frame, and the top part of the seat frame.
Using this part of the frame will make it easy keep the proper geometry of headrest assembly.
That's it from the donor seats.

Next, the rear seat came out. The wagon seat can be unbolted at this hinge.
Matching one on the other side.

After undoing about 8 screws that hold the carpet down, plus the ones that hold the metal trim strip to the top of the seat back, the seat foam and upholstery can be separated from the back.
The upholstery is tucked into this slot in the seat back and it just pulls out.

Here the back is separated from the foam and fabric.
The part number for the seat pad is embossed in the foam, should you want to get a new one!
I'm sure you can get a price from the dealer... but it is most likely NLA.

Find the centre of the sitting area and mark it on the seat back.

Match that centre with the middle of the donor seat part.
Mark the ends. This will be the cut line for removing part of the seat reinforcement.

Dill out the spot welds and cut along the lines.

Here part of the rear seat structure has been removed.

And here is the part of the donor seat resting in place.

Part of the top of the seat back has been cut out so that the headrest can clear and make it into the donor piece.

Some nifty brackets were formed out of the piece of the back seat that had been cut out, then riveted in place.
There is also a bolt passing through the center. The seat back is pretty much as sturdy as it was before the cutting.

Some of the foam back needs to be cut out to make room for the headrest bracket.

Utility knife time.

Seat back sitting in place.

Then the upholstery is reattached by slipping it back in the slot.

Feel for the holes thought the upholstery. Make a small knick with a knife. Insert the plastic trim tubes into the seat frame.
Then slide in the headrest.
The headrest retaining clips were not used. This allows the headrest to be removed easily so the seat can fold down as before.

Seat back in and looking pretty much like they were put there by the factory.

I cannot thank my friend enough for his input on this project. Having already done this in his wagon, he knew what to do. He did the lion's share of the work by far. I was more of the photographer. And the whole thing was done in his garage. Much nicer than working in the carport in the winter.

Thanks John!


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