500 SEC upholstery - amaretta - AND LEAKY BOOT

[shayes]

In my old 500SEC I believe it has upholstery made of something called "Amaretta" - a sort of chamois leather type fabric made in Germany. Has anyone ever tried to clean this stuff - already bleached white in colour the rear seats still look great. The front seats have stains on them (don't ask me how!) and of course the old compulsory worn out patch where the driver gets in and scuffs the side of the back.
I have quite successfully replaced the worn area with chamois leather glued on with PVA but I would like to clean the pasengers seat area and get marks off, here and there. Drivers seat area has got no pile to it and probably is beyond any restoration. Any advice? Any old SEC lovers out there?
ps. Leaky boot - various theories - does anyone know where the surplus water running down the rear quarterlights goes - is it into a pool and then down a tube? Footwell on passenger side gets ingress of water - stopped most in other parts of boot.

 

[talbir]

Hi Stuart,

I have 2 SEC's and they are the best MB Coupes ever !

Firstly, on your leaky boot - two potential causes that are cheap to fix. It could be the boot lid seal, the rubber usually wears or tears and doesn't then form a water-tight seal when the boot-lid shuts. Also checkthe alignment of the boot - lid - is the panel spacing equal on both sides ? Sometimes, adjustments are made and not done correctly, hence not shutting correectly against the boot-seal, causing a leak. It's easy to adjust if it's mis-aligned.

Or, it could be the rear lamp seals are perished. Water does get thru' here as well.

Both the rear lamp seals on both sides and the bootlid seal will not cost much and easy to replace yourself. You will need a 7/32 socket wrench to open the 6 nuts holding each light lense to the body, on the inside of the boot. Remove the 6 nuts, pull out lense from outside and replace the rubbers. Do on both sides.

Best way to find out where the water is coming from is to get inside the boot, armed with a torch and have someone else shut the bootlid and then spray water on the car, starting from the rear windscreen first.

The 3rd potential place for water to get into the boot is if the rear windscreen seal is perished - this will be a more expensive job and not really DIY. IF the rear windscreen seal has been perished a while, then the rear bulkhead will have probably rusted a little (the metal plate under the rear parcel shelf).

On your interior, sounds like you have the rare option fitted. I would strongly suggest you avoid any of the market creams/solutions available which claim to remove the stains. Problem is they usually also remove the oils from the leather. I would reccomend you get in touch with Simon Cains - he was featured in the Mercedes Enthusiast magazine in April and he is absolutely brilliant. He will refurbish you leather for you no matter how bad you think it is - he has done plenty of Merc leather restorations, including on my 500SEC. He will give you the best advice. His number is 07763 115815. He is based in Pinner and has very reasonable rates - above all he is trustworthy and does a top job. BTW, I have no affiliation with anyone - I am only reccomending someone who has done an excellent job from me in the past. Thing with leather is that it needs to be replenished with hide food at least once every 12 months, to keep it's softness and smell....too many people neglect this.

If your drivers seat turns out to be too bad, then let me know - I have a set of leather covers, from an SEC, in very good condition. They can easily be re-colonised to match your leather colour - and as for changing the leather covers, I have done it a few times for other SEC owners. It is NOT an easy job, very tedious and you need to know how to take the seat apart and put it back together. So, if Simon Cains suggests your drivers seat leather is beyond restoration, then drop me a line and I can help.

Hope the above is of some help,

 

[shayes]

LEATHER AND LEAKS

Thank you very much for the information about the possible cause of the boot leak. I suspect that the Boot lid is not the original as it is on the "light" side - possibly a cheap repalcement in aluminium? This is probably where the leak occurs though I will definately check out the rear lights. Still curious about the quarter light drainage?

As much as I like my old SEC I am a little hesitant in spending a fortune on it as it is has not had a pefect past and living on the Seafront subjects it to quite a lot of corrosion. The parcel shelf has corroded away significantly but I appear to have stoped the rot by scraping out the old deteriorated rubber and injecting black silicone between glass and rubber. I did wonder if the rear window had been replaced, badly, as it appears to be proud at the lower level, but this seems to be the way they fit.
I found a website in Germany and e-mailed them as regards the seating - www.amcon-luxled.com and asked for a price for cushion or cover replacements - will let you know if they come back to me. Will bear in mind the person you have recommended. Thanks for all the info.

 

[talbir]

Hi Stuart,

The rear bootlids on SEC's are all aluminium, thus very light.

Bonnet is also aluminium.

Good luck with the seats.


cheers