Back in May, I decided I was done sitting in a trashed seat. You can see it was once held together with duct tape, but that never lasts. After a while you end up with an adhesive slick that sticks to your clothes. For years I used an old tee shirt to cover the ripped vinyl, but I grew tired of that, too.
These red and white seat covers are not original to the car, but except for the damaged backrest, they're fine for now. Since we don't own a sewing machine, I took the backrest to a local upholster to see if he could do the repair, but the price he quoted me was more than a new set of seat covers for the entire car. I had to pass. When the time comes, I'll install new seat covers. But I just don't have that time right now. What I needed was a quick fix, so I can sit in my car without sticking to it.
What I found was a seat cover for sale on TheSamba.com. The cover was used but in good shape. The only problem was that it was black. I bought the cover, and installed it anyway.
Every time I take something apart on this car, it's a bit like automotive archeology. There were random wads of stuffing from what could have been an old couch under the cover, and the thin board behind the backrest was rotten. Using the tattered board as a template, I cut a new one from a large panel of a cardboard box. Three of the four metal clips that hold the spring frame to the seat frame were broken. Instead of paying someone to weld the clips back on, I used some heavy plastic zip ties to secure the springs to the frame. Maybe the folks on the VW restoration forums would consider that cheating, but I don't really know those people.
I was tempted to run the black seat cover as is. The black color sticks out, but I don't stick to it. And that's a big improvement. But here's the trouble when I improve something. Once I've made the improvement, I forget what it used to look like, and I scrutinize what I now have. Okay that's looks pretty good... I think this could be better. Two of the above pictures are pretty washed out, but the middle shot shows how black the seat really was.
I say, "was" because I decided to take this fix one step further. I have read about vinyl upholstery dye. You can get it in a spray can, and I was curious how red dye would adhere to a black surface.
When I found a bike against a dumpster couple of years ago, it came with a seat with its black vinyl torn loose. Since I also intend to do a headliner install sometime, I thought I'd use the black bike seat as a way to experiment with contact cement and the vinyl dye.
To start, I secured the cemented, loose flap of vinyl with some clips from OfficeMax. Strangely, black clips cost five times more than red clips.
The cement holds really well, and those indentations caused by the clips were much less noticeable a day later.
So, it was time to try the dye. I checked the store shelves for "Butt Worn, Faded Out Red" to get a perfect match for my car seat, but all they sell is "Red".
I used about half of the can, and I think it looks pretty smooth. You'd never suspect this saddle used to be black. See, you can't really see the clip indentations.
To check if the dye would rub off onto my clothes, I mounted the seat to my bike and pedaled around the neighborhood. After several trips around the block, the only thing that was red was the bike seat. Score.
Time to spray the Bug's seat cover... or so I thought. I needed a dry day (one) at home (two) with temperatures between to 70 and 90 degrees (three). I had to wait twenty two days for those three requirements to align.
Finally, on the morning of June 28, it was time to spray the Bug's seat cover. Instead of getting over spray all over the garage, I hung the seat from a solid tree branch in our back yard.
I went through a can and a half of the spray coating, and the color covered very well. After an hour under the tree, I let the seat hang in our garage for a few days to make sure the dye had time to cure. After that, I returned the backrest to the car.
Even a colorblind guy like me can tell that the colors don't match. But the seat's no longer ripped, sticky, or black. I bet after some time the new color will fade some, too.
Honesty, I don't think most people will notice my mistakes or my missteps on this car unless I point them out. They'll just see the overall effect. The people who are actually looking for my mistakes aren't worth my time or my worry.
Now that I think about it, I should apply that philosophy to other aspects of my life.
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