Old Library

You ask some good questions, read on for the answers.


On Tue, 20 Oct 1998, Eric Liew wrote:

> I read your hand winch mod and was wondering if there were any long term
> impressions on what you did. I have a 98 GTI VR6 with leather and the seats
> are much too wide.

The impression is UNBELIEVABLE.  You're gonna love it.  As a matter of
fact, the person that told me about this mod HAD the leather seats that's
why he 'had' to do it.

> Is what you did for the bolsters on the top half of the seat, or does it
> also work for the bolsters on the lower half.

What I did is used the winch on the lower part of the seat backing and
then I just used my hands to push the thigh part together.  I don't think
you want to use the winch on the bottom half since the little items trays
on the sides of the seats will get in the way and will break under load.

> By bending the metal in the seats, do you "soften" the metal, making it
> easier to bend back out again?

I really don't know the answer to this one since I've only done this to my
seats about 3 weeks ago but everything is holding up fine.  I would think
that the metal should hold since these metal bars inside the seats are
quite stiff.  It was tough to bend them that's why I had to get the winch.
You are going to have to do it a few times to get it just right...each
time narrower.

> Do you know if the leather seats work the same way?

I'm sure there are no differences...the guy who told me about it didn't
give me any precautions for leather...other than put some telephone
type books on the outside of the bolsters so that they don't rip.

I hope this answers all the questions that everyone might have.  I really
don't see any bad side effects to doing this simple mod.

This mod should easily out-do the Whipple mount as being #1 on the best
performance for the buck!!!

later all,
joey
95 F red
www.venommotorsports.com

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I don't know who's more crazy, the guy who thought of this or ME.  I did
it.  I squeezed my seats.  Went from about 19.750" to 18.5", measured
around the lift lever.  It definitely feels more snug.  I just couldn't
believe I was doing it!  How would I tell people how I broke the seat in my
car(if it did)?

I used a pipe clamp and some plywood "splints" and an old dish towel for
padding.  Just attach and squeeze in about 2 places for top part of seat
and one place for bottom part of seat.  Took about 1/2 hour.  Didn't want
to go too fast.

Cost $0.   A good mod.   Worth doing.
TomV
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Well, over the last two weekends I've done a bit more research
on the seat mods for the VR6.

Jim Chu's 95 had a different seat than my 98, but the same mod
works:  the fabric for the seat bottom cushion is held down at
the front by a thin bar running parallel the width of the seat.  Pulling

up on this bar as hard as you can along the width of the seat
releases tension.  The result is much more support underneath the
knees.

The ratchet mod on the seat bolsters works for both the seat
back and seat bottom.  I recommend the 1500 lb. rated ratchet,
12' as the forces you'll use are pretty high for what the ratchets
are used for (holding down luggage, for example).

I did the seat bottom this past Saturday, and decided I didn't
like it that much, so with some shoving, did manage to bend
them back into their original position.  I doubt you can do that
to the seat back, as the metal is much heavier there.

My guess is that with some oomph, you can avoid using the
ratchet completely on the seat bottom bolsters.  Just pull up
really hard, or grab a friend and the both of you pull.

The little plastic tray that attaches to the side of the seat has
one of its mounting points at the front of the seat.  A single screw
goes into a metal tab attached to the thin bar you'll be moving.
In effect, you'll lose your mounting point when bending the thin
bar.  With a pair of pliers you can probably bend the metal
tab back into an accessible position.

The end result of these three things can be a seat that is MUCH
more comfortable than stock and it will force you to seriously
reconsider buying those Recaros...

Jud.

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