I had a bad hole in my bolster. Kind of like this one, but this is not an image of my car. I forgot to take a before photo.

I stripped the cover off the driver's seat. The seat didn't even need to come out of the car. Just unscrew the back panel with the two little screws at the bottom. Take out a bunch of clips and remove the armrest. Release the cardboard edge things that hold the seat on and peel back the cover. I saw some good Youtube vids about doing a 560SL that really helped.

Once I got the stuff off I cut the panels apart with a razor blade. Learned from another Youtube vid I saw about converting an interior from cloth to leather. I took the panel and cut another piece of vinyl out. I was going to buy MB Tex, but GAH wanted $75 a yard including shipping. Too much. I got some camel tan stuff on ebay for $6 a yard. Yeah, it isn't Tex and yeah yeah it won't wear like iron. But I figured the other panels would go out in the near future and then I'd just buy entirely new seat covers.

For now I just wanted a patch or a replacement panel. So I sewed in a single bolster on my driver's side. You can see the slight difference in color. It isn't a perfect match and there is a pebble grain on the faux leather. I HALT tested the leather with a hammer, some tools and rubbing it hundreds of times across the edge of my work bench and it seemed to hold up. It was "Champion" Brand for whatever that's worth. It's all over the net at various fabric supplies.

So here are the photos. Honestly the toughest part was getting the covers on and off. I have a tiny walking foot sewing machine (Sailrite straight stitch) that made the stitching a no hassle deal. I could see saddle stitching the panel using two needles (aka double needle cobbler's stitch) by hand because it was a pretty small panel. Just use the existing holes through the piping. The new vinyl was easy to poke through.

Any how, enjoy the photos. Given the price of new Tex covers ($550 at Peach) I'm not sure if this was such a good idea. It took several hours and my fingers ache now. But it was fun and I'm kind of bored recently.

An example of what my seat kind of looked like. Not my car. Bad bolster.



Here it is after my panel is installed.



A little wrinkly. Hope this sorts itself out in the sun. I'll burnish it with my butt a few weeks. This is my first attempt at auto trimming. I learned a lot about the construction of these seats.

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79 300TD “Old Smokey” AKA “The Mistake” (SOLD)
82 240D stick shift 335k miles (SOLD)
82 300SD 300k miles
85 300D Turbodiesel 170k miles

Not Too Shabby

If the color still bothers you ... SEM out of Rock Hill SC will have a can
of spray palomino vinyl color.

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'84 300SD sold
124.128