Adding Rear Headrests To A 1965 W111 220S Fintail

[Squiggle Dog]

My roommate and I successfully added rear headrests to his 1965 W111 220S. We installed front and rear seats from a W108. The front seats were reupholstered in MB-Tex vinyl at some point, but the upholsterer decided to use pinpoint material across the entire front of the seats and headrest covers. At least the material of the front seats matches the original MB-Tex on the rear seats.

1965 and earlier seat tracks are a different design, so we had to bolt the original seat tracks onto the W108 seat pans. Alternatively, we could have put the W108 skins on the original pans. The W108 upper rear seat frame was too wide, so we transferred the skin onto the original frame and tucked in the upper corners so it fit well.

I like that the W108 seats have front headrests. Unfortunately, the padding consisted of crunchy coconut fiber and the legs were loose, so we removed the solid-leg headrests from a W123 (same as late W116) that had nice foam padding, and put the black covers on them. I think W115 seats would have also fit, and the rear seat would have been the same dimensions as the W111. We could have purchased rear headrests with mounting hardware from a W109, but the high cost was not within the budget.

We took the headrest mounting brackets from the front seats of a W116 (same as W108, W115, and W123) by chiseling off the aluminum rivets at the bottom and pulling them out. We did a lot of measuring and ended up having to use a cutting wheel to cut off some of the material on the sides of the mounting brackets in order to clear the springs.

We ran a horizontal brace to connect the brackets to the seat frame and made sure that they were positioned properly so the headrest legs could slide down. We made sure that the shiny grey oval headrest grommets (which came from the rear seat of an early W126) were positioned so that they would be aesthetically pleasing and would allow the headrest legs to drop down into the brackets. Once the seat was installed, the mounting brackets were sturdy.

[Squiggle Dog]

The bent rear headrest legs that kick forward came from the rear seat of a W126. The core and foam didn't match the fronts, so we took some front headrests from a W123 and put the legs from the rear W126 headrests onto the W123 cores and foam. Since the middle section of the front headrests were done in pinpoint, instead of plain MB-Tex, we had GAHH make a matching set of covers for the rear headrests.

We are happy with the results, and short of the $122 spent on the headrest covers and shipping, it was a low-cost modification.

[Mark DiSilvestro]

Now that you've updated to safer seats, you might consider adding shoulder-belts. I did this to the front seats of a '60 Fintail, and it was quite an operation as I had to cut holes in the pillar to custom-fabricate & install reinforced belt-anchors. I used new, non-retracting lap & shoulder belt kits, with vintage-style chrome buckles, from J.C.Whitney.
But it should be pretty easy on a '65, as by then Mercedes provided factory front shoulder-belt anchors behind the pillar trim.
Not sure about the rears though, but shoulder-anchors might be mounted relatively easily in the rear shelf.
The lower & lap-belt anchors would be installed where the existing lap-belts are attached now.

Happy Motoring, Mark

[Squiggle Dog]

Originally Posted by Mark DiSilvestro

Now that you've updated to safer seats, you might consider adding shoulder-belts. I did this to the front seats of a '60 Fintail, and it was quite an operation as I had to cut holes in the pillar to custom-fabricate & install reinforced belt-anchors. I used new, non-retracting lap & shoulder belt kits, with vintage-style chrome buckles, from J.C.Whitney.
But it should be pretty easy on a '65, as by then Mercedes provided factory front shoulder-belt anchors behind the pillar trim.
Not sure about the rears though, but shoulder-anchors might be mounted relatively easily in the rear shelf.
The lower & lap-belt anchors would be installed where the existing lap-belts are attached now.

Happy Motoring, Mark

We plan on installing the retractable rear shoulder seatbelts from a W115 as they will bolt up to the threaded holes in the parcel shelf. We've been trying to figure out how to add retractable shoulder belts to the front seat (it already has shoulder belts in front, but they aren't retractable).

[Mark DiSilvestro]

Originally Posted by Squiggle Dog

We plan on installing the retractable rear shoulder seatbelts from a W115 as they will bolt up to the threaded holes in the parcel shelf. We've been trying to figure out how to add retractable shoulder belts to the front seat (it already has shoulder belts in front, but they aren't retractable).

I acquired my '60 Fintail from the original owner.
In the 40 years she owned it, the car never had any seatbelts. So I felt kind-of naked, first time out on the freeway, dodging the tractor trailers!
It was complicated enough fitting the belts, without adding retractors.
For the floor-anchors, I copied the locations the factory chose for my '72 W115 250 sedan - the sides of the tunnel and the inner-sill, as the floors in that car weren't in great shape, and the rusty outer-rockers had already provided convenient access for the inner-sill anchors.
(Ironically, If I'd wanted retractors, the inner-sills are where Mercedes put them in my 250)

Rust and age finally caught up with the car, so I never got round to upgrading seats, adding rear belts, or most of the other improvements I'd planned, and I don't think I ever had any passengers in the back seat anyway. But at least I got to enjoy the car for five years.

Happy Motoring, Mark