Horse Hair = Bad (I think I am loosing my noodles!) With pics!

[Blue 72 250]

I am undertaking the very fun task of removal and repair of the seat pads in the old girl. I am excited for the new and clean install of foam to replace the nasty old horse hair. I thought that I would post some pictures of the progress. The first seat to be repaired was the front pass. That way if I scred it up I would be able to still have the english taxi look.

I gave the seat a good wipedown with warm soapy water after removal from the car. I found about $1.50 in some old (Late 50's) change. The tracks and various plastic parts came off easy; the arm rest was a little bit of a pain because I do not have the correct tool. Finally I was able to remove the vynal seat cover. The corners where the sun beats down on the shoulder of the back were brittle and I got a few small tears that were unavoidable.

First I removed the horse hair and liner on the springs for the seat. I then began stuffing pool noodles in the verticle between the seat springs to stiffin' up the seat. Next came a moving blanket layer, followed by a layer of foam. Finally I used a double layer of polyester batting. All of the foam and supplies were available at the local fabric store, the pool noodles were available at Shop-Ko for 1.99ea.

Same sort of deal went on for the back of the seat.Except there was not a need to support the springs because they were still strong. I used the noodles to develop sides and top, layer of foam, and batting. Then back together.

I cleaned up the tracks and all of the falling hair from the back seat area and installed the seat. There is a significant difference in the feel of the seat and the hight that I sit at in the car. I like the increaced ride height in the car.

My overall goal was to remove the horse hair and improve the seat "ride". I would say that is 100% accomplished. It would have been nice to get the same result and not torn the tex, but I don't think that is possible with the age of the vynal. I guess that I can cover the seats with a sheepskin and that would feel better in the summer.

Now I just have the drivers to do next and the back seat someday.

[bgkast]

Have any pictures of the seat back. I'm fixing to replace some bad horse hair in my passenger seat back.

For the seat back you went springs->noodles on sides->foam->batting->MB tex cover Correct?

Thanks!

[Blue 72 250]

I also used a piece of batting from a moving blanket between springs and first layer of foam.

[meltedpanda]

interesting, do the pool noodles "give at all" or do they eliminate the spring feel? My 220 seats are fine, but my 300SD drivers side needs work. The PO was 6'2" and heavy and always must have leaned to the left.

[JMURiz]

Looks great, great idea, since it's hard to come by replacement parts for our old cars (older that W123).

Does anyone have a resource for new seat covers (leather preferred)? My seats need a rebuild and leather upgrade would be nice!

[Blue 72 250]

Originally Posted by meltedpanda

interesting, do the pool noodles "give at all" or do they eliminate the spring feel? My 220 seats are fine, but my 300SD drivers side needs work. The PO was 6'2" and heavy and always must have leaned to the left.

They do give and have a nice feel. There is no more "springey" in the seat though. As you can see I stuffed alot of them in there. My goal was a firm seat and I would say that I have that. You can always use less noodles if you want more give.

Now the seat is like "new german" (firm) leather seats, like a sports car. The old setup was like a fat girl in bed, kinda "rolled" with everything.

[cth350]

US dimes, quarters and half dollars were silver until 1964. Some nickles during WW II were silver too. I hope you didn't spend that change. -CTH

[Blue 72 250]

Originally Posted by cth350

US dimes, quarters and half dollars were silver until 1964. Some nickles during WW II were silver too. I hope you didn't spend that change. -CTH

Funny that you should say that, I thought that I would post the information in the hope that you guys would be a wealth of trivia beyond the scope of the Benz. As always you have not let me down.

So what should I do with the change? Polish it up and sell it on ebay to cover costs? Melt it down and make a ring? Any coin collectors out there?

Blue

[Tomguy]

Do NOT polish them. Polishing will scour the surface and lessen their quality! Instead, take them to a coin-head as-is and let him/her evaluate them.

[aircap]

Hey, nice-looking car!

My seats are really nice, but the passenger side has a couple tears in the vinyl. Fortunately, only the surface layer of vinyl is torn; the material beneath is still solid.

I've been thinking of getting one of those vinyl repair kits that requires the use of a clothing iron...anybody use one of those before?

[softconsult]

I'm sure it is cheaper, but I seriously doubt the seat(s) will be as good as the original design. Seems like it would be much simpler just to buy the replacement seat box and a new horse hair (actually plastic) seat pad. That's what I did on one of my 300E's and the results were essentially back to new. I don't remember precisely, but I'm thinking less than $250.

Steve

[Blue 72 250]

Originally Posted by softconsult

I'm sure it is cheaper, but I seriously doubt the seat(s) will be as good as the original design. Seems like it would be much simpler just to buy the replacement seat box and a new horse hair (actually plastic) seat pad. That's what I did on one of my 300E's and the results were essentially back to new. I don't remember precisely, but I'm thinking less than $250.

Steve

I don't know for sure what the seats were like when new, but I am going to go out on a limb and say that they were a little soft for my taste. I like the feel of a firm seat, one that grabs the driver. I think that I have that now.

[Cephallus]

Funny, I have modified the 2.3-16v seats in my w201 to be very stiff, so it's nice to have some soft, springy ride in the other cars. Ha.

I had some w123 seat pads laying around the garage when I was gutting the 280, and figured out that the seat pads from a 1983 w123 (like brand new!) fit the '72's seats perfectly. I took the foam off of the horsehair on the bottoms, but they feel great.

I'm getting my seat covers from a guy here in LA, John Oganesyan. I bought a carpet kit from him and was very happy with the quality...mb tex for the w114 is $850 for the full set, and $1450 for leather. PM me if you want contact info for him.

[MBeige]

I've said this before about the pool noodles: They will kill your back in the long run. The key to MB seats is to have a firm cushion with which to sit on and this makes it easier for the passenger because it allows for slight changes in posture during the drive, which eliminates stress. And then come the springs, which effectively dampen any undulations you might encounter. Using pool noodles to stiffen the seats will only make you absorb them instead, not the seats, hence a bad back.

This info is even on the factory brochures. Not exactly in that detail since they didn't hear of pool noodle fixes back then.

Believe me, I've tried it, and I hated the pool noodle fix. The best fix is to get a good used foam pad from another MB (the orange ones) and stuff another 1/2 inch layer of soft foam between the pad and the spring frame, and then reinstall everything back. Nothing feels as great as properly formed seats that align to your body contours (hence being called anatomically correct seats).

I myself got two nice foam pads from 1980's w123s and I'm sure they should fit in w115 seats since they look very similar. They're very cheap too. I realized I spent more on the pool noodle fix than on the OE foam pad repair!

[JMURiz]

Originally Posted by Cephallus

I'm getting my seat covers from a guy here in LA, John Oganesyan. I bought a carpet kit from him and was very happy with the quality...mb tex for the w114 is $850 for the full set, and $1450 for leather. PM me if you want contact info for him.

I'd love the info for this, $1500 for leather covers, sounds good...thanks.