sl 107 seat upgrade

[NOMONEYBUTAMERC]

I have recently bought a 1973 450 sl , and find the seats uncomfortable.The "horsehair" seems to have broken up causing the covers to go out of shape.Has anyone fitted seats from another model/make without having to make major mods ?any advice would be much appreciated.

 

[wobbly]

I have seen 107's fitted with seats from a SAAB, not sure which model.

I spoke to a guy at a MB club GTG, who had them fitted to his car, he had had an accident and had back problems, and found the Saab seats more comfortable.

He said it was a quite a straight forward upgrade, and fully reversible.

 

[Druk]

Wasn't me you spoke to Wobbly, but I started the craze. Seats from a Saab 9000 fit neatly. All that's needed is someone handy with an arc welder to make up flatbar subframes to fit to the Merc bolt pattern and the new seats fit flat onto them.

Before a recent re-upholstery job. Grey leather dyed with Gliptone.

And after...

.

 

[wobbly]

No it wasn't you Druk, the fellow was from the Brighton area.

 

[Druk]

That's Maurice. Last I heard he was taking them back out, maybe to sell the car. PM him on the Club forum. I'm still in Spain so not much help me getting involved but could if you're stuck. Moving base this morning so dont know what wifi I'll find at next stop.




.

 

[219]

I know the seat bases from R107 , W123 and W126 are the same .

W126's can still be found reasonably easily in breakers yards , usually the drivers seats have sagging or broken springs but the passenger seats are OK . If you can get good passenger seats from two donor cars , you can use the bases to repair your own - unlikely you'd get two in matching colours .

 

[jaymanek]

Ive got W126 seats...

 

[NOMONEYBUTAMERC]

Thank you

Many thanks your your help guys. Druk , those Saab seats look great.Very tempted to fit a pair of those ( hope they made them in blue leather ! ).

 

[huck280]

I know the seat bases from R107 , W123 and W126 are the same .

W126's can still be found reasonably easily in breakers yards , usually the drivers seats have sagging or broken springs but the passenger seats are OK . If you can get good passenger seats from two donor cars , you can use the bases to repair your own - unlikely you'd get two in matching colours .

That's interesting - w126s are relatively easy to find.

Will the passenger seat fit easily into the driver's side, do you know?

Great tip (for my saggy 123!)

Leif

 

[219]

The bases are the same on each side , but you have to take them off the runners as these are left and right handed - three screws each side holding runners to bases .

Bit of a fiddle as runners have to be slid fore and aft to get at the different screws , but do-able with a bit of cursing !

 

[219]

Here are a couple of pics of a seat base I bought to repair the drivers seat in my 280SE , just before I got the 420 as a donor car - still , I'll keep it as a spare . This one actually came from a W123 230E , but is identical to the 126 ones and can be fitted to the runners for either side of the car

Excuse the phone camera pictures , which I just went outside and snapped five minutes ago .

 

[Druk]

Many thanks your your help guys. Druk , those Saab seats look great.Very tempted to fit a pair of those ( hope they made them in blue leather ! ).

I've never seen Saab seats in blue. Mine were grey and dyed easily using Gliptone.

 

[NOMONEYBUTAMERC]

sl seats

I had a feeling they might not be available in blue. Missed a set from a 95s the other day (black ). Have seen some w126 seat (mercland) in grey . How do you dye them,
paint on , or soak them ? Also i have a switch on the floor of my SL , just like a dipswitch ,but doesnt seem to operate anything. Column stalk has a dip/flash stalk . Any ideas ? (the dip/main function is ok , but doesnt flash!.
best regards
Martin.
ps. your SL looks great from those 2 photos.

 

[Druk]

Thanks for the compliment. My SL is far from standard, which is my bag but not everybodys. The seats are first deep cleaned then the stuff is simply painted on and it dries in an hour or so. Very easy to use. Black would not be a good colour if you want to change. Most success is from light colours to dark.
Where is this 'dipswitch'? Is it under the throttle pedal by any chance? If so it is the kickdown. If not, then I don't know unless someone has added a flash function cos the stalk is faulty.

 

[NOMONEYBUTAMERC]

sl 107

Hi Druk.
The switch is to the left of the brake pedal ,above "footrest" , and looks like
original fitment. footrest is about 2 1/2" wedge. Afraid mine is not standard as it has the much hated bodykit , which was on the car when the previous owner bought the car 21 years ago . ( i quite like it though ! ). I thought maybe the switch was for an ejector seat , but the missus was still sat next to me when we got home on sunday , despite numerous flicks to the switch.
Maybe its for the non functioning foglights?

Martin

 

[NOMONEYBUTAMERC]

sl 107

Just found website for gliptone , looks straightforward enough . Dilemna , which seats are going to be more comfortable , w116 0r Saab 9000?. must admit,
the Saab ones do look inviting!

 

[NOMONEYBUTAMERC]

Still trawling the net looking for suitable seats ( sl 107), at a sensible price , then got to thinking about a minor , yet irritating problem with seatbelts. My wife , who has limited mobility as the result of a stroke , always manages to get her seatbelt behind the seat ! Does anyone know of a felxible bracket/ gadget to
bring the top of the belt a bit further forward , thus making it easier to reach ? ( and no , she doesnt want me to reach over and retreive it for her !).
Martin.

 

[khimani_mohiki]

where did you get the perforated leather for the seats?

 

[Druk]

where did you get the perforated leather for the seats?

Is that my seats you're asking about? The leather people send a portion of the hide back to the tanners and they do it.