Right, first off, those rows of stitches are not how they come from the factory. some previous owner must have taken it off and stitched them together like that. from the factory the flaps are glued down.
Secondly, I can tell from looking at the pics that the shamus who did the repair didn't pull enough of the flap material through each of the end metal loops before stitching it down.
I don't think mine had any name on it or anything like, so the material is not original either.
So the solution is pretty obvious. Undo the stitching, set the mechanism to its loosest setting. pull the flaps through until they are tight then restitch.
PS I can see that the replacement part has lines on it, presumably to tell the owner or person mending it where to place the flaps to, but if you cannot feel it pushing into your lower back when you tighten the mech, either the mech is beggared or the material is too loose.
As
@marjon has intimated, it might also be that the foam in front of it has got flattened over years. But using common sense and ignoring the marks, testing it and judging it with safety pins or summat, you should come to a sensible position to glue or stitch it together again.