'83 500sl Soft top

[oliverg]

I'm hoping to smarten up my soft top. It's not so bad as to need a new one.
However, it's a sort of dark brown/grey colour. Is this a black bleached by the sun etc., or where they originally this tone, rather than deep black?
If black is the true colour, has anyone got good ideas as to how to restore it.
Any ideas would be appreciated
Oliver

 

[Thegemmesabogie]

Try these people for cleaning/re-proofing products.

http://www.woolies-trim.co.uk/

I would caution you against re-colouring though, the dye can leach through the seams and although it looks great from outside, inside it's a mess. With the tension off the hood lift the flap at the rear. The material underneath will give you a good idea of the original colour.

 

[television]

You could also feed your VIN number to here and get the original colour

http://www.mbclub.ru/mb/vin/index.html?lng=eng


Malcolm

 

[oliverg]

Roof

Thanks for the information - from my VIN No. I've discovered my softtop is in fact brown not black, and I've just recieved the "Woolies" catalogue.

Oliver

 

[ianh2]

my vin no is 14 numbers long.
the service says it should be 17.
Am I missing numbers?