Fixing Headliner - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

Baxterdown · #1 08-20-2014, 10:31 AM

Now that the car starts, I can move on to other stuff

The headliner in my w108 is in really good shape and fully attached (including the sunroof) with the exception of the rear right side corner (see pics below). Can it be fixed? If so, any recommendations?

Thanks

Jose

68_280SE · #2 08-20-2014, 01:22 PM

The headliner fabric is glued to the metal lip that the windshield seal fits over. So to properly fix your headliner, the rear windshield should come out so the fabric can be re-glued to the metal lip. It might also be advantageous to check with an automotive upholstery and trim shop to see if they have any other suggestions on fixing the headliner without removing the back windshield.

I just installed a new factory headliner in my 1970 300SEL with a sunroof and it was well worth the time and effort it took to install. There is a great set of instructions and pictures on installing a new headliner in w108/w109 cars on the m100 board. I'm not sure I would have been very successful in installing the new headliner myself without the instructions from this link.

M-100 Message Board - Interior Work

John

JMela · #3 08-20-2014, 02:50 PM

And word on this board is the cheap ebay 108 headliners being sold from Turkey are not worth the time or trouble.

Baxterdown · #4 08-20-2014, 05:37 PM

I'm not ready to remove the windshield. 68 280SE I'm gonna use your suggestion and take the car to an upholstery shop and see what they say. JMela, thanks for the heads up!

cooljjay · #5 08-20-2014, 06:45 PM

There may even be an issue of water seeping around the rear windscreen do to a bad seal. So you may also have rust hiding, disintegrated horse hair pads, and the head liner may have shrunk.

meltedpanda · #6 08-21-2014, 10:31 AM

on my 220 I was able to stretch it back to its approximate location and reattach, I also used hot glue to help hold it. I removed the back seat and found on each side "left over" headliner that was tucked in behind the vinyl . I removed some of this and used it as patches, again using hot glue. I then purchased white headliner paint and sprayed it ( covered everything inside , and it came out very acceptable . Cost time + $8.00

Baxterdown · #7 08-25-2014, 08:45 PM

I got back in there to test the stretching qualities of the headliner and realized that it would reach, no problem. Also, I noticed that there was double sided foam tape around the edge of the frame (I'm not sure if this is OEM or the PO did it) and the foam padding was in surprisingly good shape and virtually intact.

I found Scotch Permanent Outdoor double-sided tape at Office Depot of all places ($26 -- not cheap but well worth it!). The packaging says it will hold up signs and letters outdoors. WOW! This thing is STICKY and THICK! Definitely not your average double sided foam tape.

I cleaned the area very well (I used a soft brush to remove lose padding) and removed the old foam tape. I taped the entire perimeter of the metal frame with the outdoor tape and glued the headliner back on.

IT CAME OUT GREAT!!! You'll notice the pic below shows the C pillar a little wrinkled. I fixed that after I took the photo. All and all, it looks fantastic. I'm really happy :-)

meltedpanda · #8 08-25-2014, 08:56 PM

looks good to me !

Idle · #9 08-25-2014, 09:06 PM

That looks nice!

And take care of those rear reading lights. They are a rather rare option on the 108 although I think they were standard on the 109.

Nice looking dash, too.

ScooterABC · #10 08-26-2014, 11:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Idle

And take care of those rear reading lights. They are a rather rare option on the 108 although I think they were standard on the 109.

From my extensive junkyarding, the rear seat reading lights are standard on all 108/109 US LWB cars and not found on the SWB cars. I think in the rest of the world they were optional on all cars.

I have sets of them ranging from poor condition to show quality condition. I'm really into them but people seldom buy them. If I were replacing a headliner in a car that didn't have them I would install them.

FYI
Scott

Baxterdown · #11 08-26-2014, 07:10 PM

My 108 is US SWB and came with reading lights from the factory. Option code 877 :-)

ScooterABC · #12 08-26-2014, 07:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Baxterdown

My 108 is US SWB and came with reading lights from the factory. Option code 877 :-)

I have never seen that on a US-spec 108, but there is no reason it shouldn't be something that could have been ordered. It just seems that all of the SELs I find have them and nothing else does. Does your car have any other unusual options, like pillow headrests or anything different?

68_280SE · #13 08-26-2014, 09:08 PM

My 1970 300SEL doesn't have the rear reading lights and it was a US spec delivered car. However it does have an unusual option that i don't see very often on 108/109 cars. It has the dual city/highway horns, sometimes called "Fanfare Horns". There is a large knob on the dash that you use to switch between the city and highway horns.

John

ScooterABC · #14 08-26-2014, 09:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 68_280SE

My 1970 300SEL doesn't have the rear reading lights and it was a US spec delivered car. However it does have an unusual option that i don't see very often on 108/109 cars. It has the dual city/highway horns, sometimes called "Fanfare Horns". There is a large knob on the dash that you use to switch between the city and highway horns.

I find that highly unusual also. That's something I only see on Euro cars. Can you post a picture of back (tail) of your car? Where is the license plate illumination on the 300SEL? Below on the bumper or on the left and right sides?

68_280SE · #15 08-27-2014, 10:28 AM

My W109 was definitely a US delivered car. The license plate lamps are to the left and right of the license plate. If you look at the Auftrags-Nr. on the data card for my car it is 97055024. The Auftrags-Nr. takes on the format of ABBBCCCC, where A is the last digit of the year the order was placed, BBB is the dealer code, and CCCC is a running number for this dealer. So my car was ordered in 1969 (9), in the USA (705) and was the 5024th order for that year.

Just for giggles here are the rest of the codes from the data card. I think it is really interesting how much info you can find out about your car just from the data card.

180 - Silver gray metallic paint
245 - Blue leather upholstery, blue carpet, grey headliner (thanks to Tom Hanson for that info!)
306 - Air Conditioning
401 - Single seats
410 - Electric Sunroof
452 - Two Tone Horn
461 - English version gauges
491 - US Version
503 - Outside rear view mirror / Left
513 - Becker Europa Stereo / USA
524 - Paint coat preservation
531 - Automatic Antenna
540 - Front arm rests
598 - Heat Absorbing glass
641 - White wall tires
669 - Spare tire? (Not sure about this one)