PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum - View Single Post

junqueyardjim · #7 07-15-2007, 09:15 PM

Removed and "redid" the seat and seat cover on my 85 300D. The outer cover is held on by "fastener strips" which are all around the cover where it meets the seat frame. So, with the back removed by taking out the two 10mm bolts on each side where the bottom and back meet, you can seperate them. The "tongue" from the cushion slips behind the plate the two bolts are slipped through. Takes a little pressure and a little squeezing to get them apart. Same thing, but reverse going back together. Now I did not take the cover off the back rest, only the cushion. So, here is what I found. That fastener strip is a piece of cover folded over and a piece of hard cardboard sewed inside. Remember that, because as you abuse the strip getting it off, you soften that strip and it makes it difficult to re-install. Don't mess with it more then you have to! Now I take the seat cushion and put it on a heavy little table I have. The runners are all attached and it sits very stable. I then took a piece of 2x4 by about a foot and laid it across the rear part of the seat and pushed down hard. In so doing you will release the strip from the folded over piece of heavy sheet metal that holds it.(It released it, but I still needed a screwdriver to get it all out) Once I had the back strip out, with my hand I just kept on pressing down on the seat and worked all the way around . Push the seat together hard, (I hope you are a big guy) because it does take quite a bit of weight and effort. I think if you were a small person, you might need two people. One to compress the seat, the other with a medium small long screw driver to keep popping the stiffened edge out. To reinstall, after a number of tries which failed, you really have to jam the under padding into the cover as far as you can. It also has to go in straight, and the cover has to sit on the seat perfect or the rear section again will not line up and make it very difficult to secure. So, I did that and then went all around the seat, pushing down hard and inserting the fastener strip. I am big, at 269 pounds today, and I put a lot of pressure on it, but it went in. But I could not get the back strip in and really didn't do that strip any good in all my tries. Eventually I used to nylon tie strips and compressed the rear springs tight and then I finally got it done. Are you going to put those felt strips back in. Mine were slipping out- they come out easy, but are hard to get back in. To replace them, I used a wire clothes hanger, cut off the hook and bent it straight. Then I made a hook at one end to put through the felt to pull them through. The felt is very tough stuff. Used the probe of my electrical tester to poke a hole through it. Had to do it from both sides to get the clothes hanger wire through - after I had put a sharp end on the clothes hanger wire. After that, I could pull them through pretty good, but it is a hard pull. I then put a spot of contact cement on the felt to hold it in place. I hope this works for you.