280SL 107 seats refurbish??

[lardbucket5]

Hi - I am gradually getting my 1981 280 SL in an acceptible shape and have got to the seats. They are dark blue check cloth with some tears on drivers side seat which has also sagged badly - New seats would be out of the budget so what are my options to refurbish the old ones?

Many Thanks

Ian

 

[television]

Myros should be able to help, he has some links to a german web site

 

[SilverSaloon]

well you can either recover the seats using genuine trim from a MB dealer

or

you can purchase full new aftermarket covers like this below (also available in various trim i believe):

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/merc...ptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

or

buy some good 2nd hand complete seats:

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/BREAKING-MERC...14&_trkparms=72:1683|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1318

or take the car to a interior trimmer to get them to retrim the seats using their materials.

http://www.furnitureclinic.co.uk/ is good for leather trims - but i am sure there are local guys near to you aswell who do it


if budget allows i'd opt for the 1st link..... otherwise the specialist trimmer. might work out cheaper if you only need just parts of the seats repaired and the rest is in good condition where you can get a match.

i'm going to have to do the same with my drivers seat in my SL at the end of the restoration.... i will probably end up repairing what i have by a specialist trimmer

 

[Multi-Tech]

try these guys www.dclass.co.uk

 

[lardbucket5]

Many Thanks Television and SilverSaloon

Many Thanks for the advice - I have e-mailed the aftermarket seat cover contact as the first step and will see what he comes back with - I thought about purchasing a full interior but would need to see it in the flesh to ensure I was not just replacing the same level of wear - 28 years is a long time for any car seat!
I am not sure about the specialist trimmer as the cloth print seems very specific - I will contact MB themselves for a quote on the cost of seat covers as I need a good laugh at the moment!

 

[television]

Ever thought about have them re done in leather, or do you want to keep it exactly as it was

 

[lardbucket5]

Hi Malcolm - Leather is certainly a possibility, but i would need to do the door cards and the rear seat area which may prove a challenge to the budget. The link that Procey has just provided seems to do cloth (Many Thanks) so am chasing that one as well. Would welcome your thoughts on a full leather refurb

 

[Myros]

here you go

http://www.sls-hh-shop.de/index.php/cat/c174_91-Seat--mech--parts.html

they seem to have pretty much everything, at a price. As you know, SL ownership can be a trial of the wallet..
The chap who owned mine before me had the seats redone in leather from MBTex. Not that bad a job alltold, but he used a trimmer rather than MB original covers. The Mb looks as though it belongs there. Mine looks fine, but you can tell its recovered rather than the original pattern.

 

[lardbucket5]

Thanks Myros - this will be useful when I get the seat into bits - good thoughts on leather vs cloth as well - Thanks Ian

 

[popuptoaster]

i think i'd look for a good condition leather interior from another car and then sell yours on to recover some of the cost, maybe even buy a whole car to break for parts, its usually the cheapest way to manage a rebuild if you have the space and i did actually finish a project in profit once simply by buying cars that had the parts i needed on them, selling off the rest and scrapping the shells, not usual to make a profit though.

 

[rpe2]

Not too sure where you are based, but have used these before with excellent results..

http://www.trimmania.co.uk/

 

[lardbucket5]

Thanks for the lead - I will check them out
Kind regards
Ian