I am finding it hard to do just one item and enjoy the process. I should take my time and stretch it as far as possible. Buy my enthusiasm is making this impossible.
I managed to get the seats mounted. I had big plans using the original beetle rails as the base. Turns out, thanks to the 30cm shorter chassis, they are way too far forward to be of any use as seats mounts. I have kept them for the moment, as they may still be useful as mounts for the anti-submarine strap ot maybe a fire extinguisher. Time will tell. The seats themselves mount on square tubing (acting as spacers and assists in getting the height perfect) which in turn mount on universal sliders which in turn are bolted directly to the floor. The arrangement makes for a pretty low seat position, which I like for this car.
While busy getting in and out of the car, the door hinges suffered a few maximum deflections. This surely can’t be a good thing. I decided that the door limiting straps needed to be done asap. I used the old beeltle fuel tank brackets as the strap ends and the red leather stitched over carpet off-cuts as the straps. Although they seemed unstretchable before being mounted, once on they almost act like bungies. They work fine but won’t last. I’ll rethink a more permanent solution.
I decided the engine bay needed some finishing before we start getting serious on the mechanical side. I had some fire retardant fibreglass cloth left ovet from a previous project and decided to repeat the same pattern as with the doors. The fabric is stitched over heat shielding foam I found at a rubber store. It is done with the same high strength cotton thread as used in the interior. Hopefully it will last a while. It should at least last longer than the leather clad engine bays as used on some restomods, while still providing some texture and detail.
