Has anybody re-stuffed the upholstery on their vintage cars? As you may know, the rubberized horsehair stuffing disintegrates with time. Mine is completely failed. However, I don't see how to access the interior of the seats to install new padding. It seems like the upholstery was glued to the seat metal edges after the stuffing was installed originally.

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1975 300D

My daughters 1976 300D interior is being totally rebuilt in a couple of weeks.
The seat skins, horse hair, and pads are beyond salvage.

Note: the front seat arm rest will be eliminated at her insistence.
I will try to get her to shoot video and pictures.


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ASE Master Mechanic
asemastermechanic@juno.com

Prototype R&D/testing:
Thermal & Aerodynamic System Engineering (TASE) Senior vehicle instrumentation technician.
Noise Vibration and Harshness (NVH).
Dynamometer.
Heat exchanger durability.
HV-A/C Climate Control.
Vehicle build.
Fleet Durability
Technical Quality Auditor.
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1985 300SD
1983 300D
1984 190D
2003 Volvo V70
2002 Honda Civic

https://www.boldegoist.com/

Generally, after pulling the seat out, disassemble and you will find yourself with a seat pan and seat back. Examine the two pads and you can figure out how they were assembled. Some used 'hog rings' to hold things in place - they're like upholstery staples. It's kind of a sandwich with the springs at the center, than the horsehair pad, than the mbtex/ leather exterior.

Typically the rubberized horse hair is not the one that disintegrates its the none treated horse hair. What you do is find a 115 114 at a pick a pull and slice the skins off and remove the padding and see what it is....the 123 pads may also work. Removing the skins are simple, sometimes a little tricky....the skins are held into channels on the seat frames, with cardboard strips that are sewn onto the skins. You have to take the seat out, take the back off....flip the bottom and press the springs down and work the cardboard strips out of the channels with a regular screw driver.

Here's a link with a few photos of a w123 bottom skin removal
swapping MB-tex skin on 123 seats

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Cooljjay, I wish there were such things as vintage Mercedes at auto wreckers here, but the only Mercedes I am likely to find at a local auto wreckers is perhaps a single, lonely '95. lol. Maybe in Europe and certainly in the Middle East and other Asian countries old Mercedes are common, but here there are almost non-existent.

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1975 300D

You can find the horse hair seat pads in eBay sometimes and also in ... Let me try to find the page.

Expensive.

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1972 W108 280SE 4.5
1977 W116 450SEL
1981 E12 528i BMW

Here Seat Upholstery, Carpet Sets, Converitble Tops, Headliners, Door Panels and Rubber Seals for Mercedes Benz W108 & W109 Luxury Sedans from World Upholstery & Trim

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1972 W108 280SE 4.5
1977 W116 450SEL
1981 E12 528i BMW

Thanks AV, I have sent them an email asking of they have padding for my car.

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1975 300D

I will talk to my upholstery man about making patterns and cost of a full interior with modern materials.

I suggest you follow this thread, to see how his work comes out.
Welcome to the fleet 1976 W115.114 "300D" dark Green
He and my daughter are making final decisions next week on materials.
I know it will look good, my daughter is an amazing artist, and he has done many Concours d'Elegance vehicles


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__________________
ASE Master Mechanic
asemastermechanic@juno.com

Prototype R&D/testing:
Thermal & Aerodynamic System Engineering (TASE) Senior vehicle instrumentation technician.
Noise Vibration and Harshness (NVH).
Dynamometer.
Heat exchanger durability.
HV-A/C Climate Control.
Vehicle build.
Fleet Durability
Technical Quality Auditor.
Automotive Technical Writer

1985 300SD
1983 300D
1984 190D
2003 Volvo V70
2002 Honda Civic

https://www.boldegoist.com/

THanks Roy. Actually my upholstery is in great shape. I think. No rips. But the stuffing is totally gone. So I need to re-pad all the seats.

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1975 300D

So all you need is new form fitting foam/padding for all seats?

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__________________
ASE Master Mechanic
asemastermechanic@juno.com

Prototype R&D/testing:
Thermal & Aerodynamic System Engineering (TASE) Senior vehicle instrumentation technician.
Noise Vibration and Harshness (NVH).
Dynamometer.
Heat exchanger durability.
HV-A/C Climate Control.
Vehicle build.
Fleet Durability
Technical Quality Auditor.
Automotive Technical Writer

1985 300SD
1983 300D
1984 190D
2003 Volvo V70
2002 Honda Civic

https://www.boldegoist.com/

yes, I just need the padding. I checked the supplier AVrider recommended and they wanted $600 per seat to supply the padding! And they don't have the padding for the rear back rests in any case.

I found an upholstery guy in my city who will install new horsehair padding on all seats for $450 if I supply the horse hair which I can buy for $8/ yard. I just hope he knows what he is talking about.

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1975 300D

He has the typical decomposed Mercedes seat look going on...you know....skin over springs....though most sellers on eBay call this "normal" he just needs the seat pads.

A little fyi, your skins may look fine but once you start to remove the skins from the frames, the stitching will come apart....it is cotton and has usually bit the dust with the horse hair....my rear top seat skin is just draped over the seat frame because of this.

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cooljjay, don't say that. I can't afford to buy all new upholstery. The stuffing alone is going to be the single biggest purchase for this car. I have to hope that the upholstery guy will salvage the existing MB-Tex. Otherwise, this car will be sold as is.

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1975 300D

Its true....on mine the normal moister in the car after 30+ years just killed the untreated horse hair pads....thus the moister got trapped like sponges and rusted all the frames....then moved on the eat the cloth that connects the mb Tex to the frame and cardboard strips....the bottom of back seat and the drivers back had the green rubberized horse hair pads and nothing happened to them....but all the others I got on but some places I couldn't attach the skins to the frames.....plus the pressed backs on the front seats had became very brittle.....it was worth it to me though....I would rather sit on cushioned springs the vinyl on springs......it will be expensive to have a professional do it...

Ah here's one photo of the back of the passenger seat

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