Door Skins - Restretchable? What Material?

[Strife]

My door skins are in good shape as far as tears, etc are concerned, but they are a little wrinkly and baggy and loose from the board. I think I have fairly good instructions on removing them, but has anyone actually reskinned them? I'm fairy sure the boards underneath are OK - it just seems like the glue holding the material to the boards is loose. Or should I buy new ones?

BTW - stock 86 560sl - leather or vinyl? Thanks!

[croftynsteph]

I've reupholstered my w124's front doors so far since they had those obscene screw in cupholders that mount to the door. You should be able to find a high quality leather or vinyl with a fair amount of backing to it for a good price. Two yards was more than enough fabric to do the front and back doors (w/some to spare). The job isn't terribly difficult. My "skins" were held on with staples and I used 1/4" staples all the way around with a wrap over the edge of the new fabric (like it came stock). Took maybe an hour total to remove the doors and redo them (and I had not yet taken the door panels off a 124).

click to see my thread about it

[GermanMarque]

Originally Posted by Strife

My door skins are in good shape as far as tears, etc are concerned, but they are a little wrinkly and baggy and loose from the board. I think I have fairly good instructions on removing them, but has anyone actually reskinned them? I'm fairy sure the boards underneath are OK - it just seems like the glue holding the material to the boards is loose. Or should I buy new ones?

BTW - stock 86 560sl - leather or vinyl? Thanks!

I thought for a moment you were describing me! Bit wrikly and baggy and loose! The main problem with a non genuine re-skin is you loose the heat embossed lines in the trim and even with leather it tends to display a flat slab look due to the missing embossed lines. Besides then forever looking non genuine. The last time I checked replacement door trims - vinyl only! were US$417.00 and $750.00 for leather and you have to fit to your boards!

Perhaps some inquires with a larger automotive trim shop may locate someone with a heat embossed pattern similar, who would be prepared to emboss your material be it vinly or leather. You also have the problem matching your material with the factory material of the rest of your interior. The problem with removal is if it tears due to fatigue what do you do? It's always the last piece that lets go and once stretched and worn, it seldom glues back flush. Sort of like a facelift, looks good, but you can always tell it's just not right! Shame door trims are not like breasts, they all look better than new, after a re-work. Sorry not much help.
Brian.

[Strife]

Hmmm...so, the ones sold for a 107 that you buy from Perf Products, convertibletopsonline, Adsit, etc don't have the correct embossing? This is very surprising - I can't beleive that anyone would pay $100 for a sheet of flat vinyl...the Adsit site claims that they are "heat sealed as original", for example.

[GermanMarque]

Originally Posted by Strife

Hmmm...so, the ones sold for a 107 that you buy from Perf Products, convertibletopsonline, Adsit, etc don't have the correct embossing? This is very surprising - I can't beleive that anyone would pay $100 for a sheet of flat vinyl...the Adsit site claims that they are "heat sealed as original", for example.

Grasshopper,
You misunderstand me, after-market from the places you suggest would no doubt have the embossed patterns. I was referring to the second post about " Two yards was more than enough fabric to do the front and back doors (w/some to spare) and doing it yourself."

Brian.

[halman2228]

Strife -

I have "repadded"/rebuilt the door "skins" on the 280SEL & 280SE. If the MBTex material is in good shape you just need to restuff with some new foam sheeting or similar. I used a recycled denim/cotton furniture & appliance blanket that's like a thick felt I purchased at the U-Haul store (not the thick rental blankets). I found that the original stuffing had dried out to a crispy powder and caused the unsightly wrinkling.

It all comes apart easily, I would think especially so for you. The MBTex is pretty tough and you shouldn't worry about tearing it when you restretch it. Factory assembly used glue to attach the skin, but that also peels apart easily.

You need to be prepared to reglue some of the wood pieces (you'll see what I mean when you disassemble it - the factory glue is pretty much toast also). I used Gorilla glue as needed. Be careful with the thin strip of "chrome" on the top edge - the attachment tabs break very easy just bumping the strips

You'll need a staple gun, 7MM socket or wrench for removing trim pieces and not much else.

This will give you an opportunity to really clean those door panels too...

Keep us posted - if I can remember anything else of importance, I'll jump back in here.

Kevin

[croftynsteph]

There are some other options in regards to keeping a near stock appearance. In going to a true fabric store (one with loads of 40 y/o soccer moms) you can easily find fabric that will match the interior. A few fabric stores near me in NJ are able to heat emboss patterns similar to those on MB doors for a nominal cost. You can also strategically bunch flat vinyl/leather or put folds in it...though both of those appear very Japanese...it would still prevent it from looking like a slab...of course its all a matter of preference...I don't really mind the slab look, I think it complements the Germaness of my car. And anything looks better than those horrendous holes and cheap plastic. At the moment, I'm more concerned with keeping the car looking nice and spending my money elsewhere (such as mechanicals)..those cupholder holes just had to be taken care of. So, I can live with it not being totally genuine for sometime. As with anything, it depends how much time and money you want to spend. You can get nice results no matter what route you go financially. At some point I plan on redoing the leather inside (right now it isn't anywhere near needing it) and with many of the kits I've investigated (around $1300 for all leather) they come with embossed leather door trim so that'll solve the slab look.

BTW: I've noticed later model SLs have a bunch/fold appearance to the panels which is very easy to replicate...here's an example

best of luck...you have more options than you realize with this...

[Jeff & Jo]

The skins you are looking for can be bought for $255/pair (embossed vinyl) and I believe they sell leather ones also...check out PerformanceProducts4Benz.com. This is the catalog price...the online store is often cheaper. I suggest getting the catalog for your car as it has many diagrams for every system of your SL, and just about every part you can imagine or need! Good luck!
Jeff