Pagoda SL Group
W113 Pagoda SL Group => Body, interior, paint, chrome, and cosmetic items => Topic started by: Jkalplus1 on September 09, 2014, 17:57:19
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Gents,
from the technical manual and many, many posts in this forum, as best as I can tell, not a single one of the suppliers in North America has the correct (for 1964 cars) 7x7 -or close to it- squareweave carpet material. I notice that the threads are a bit dated, thus my question:
Has anyone recently purchased replacement carpet sets from one of the North American suppliers that had the correct loop per inch count?
The suppliers tell me their stuff is the right stuff for our cars, etc, but I'd like to hear from you. I requested samples from one of them, but they are not coming. If needed I will bite the bullet and import from Germany, but would like to avoid it (shipping, duties, etc) if we have a North American supplier with the right weave and good fit.
Thanks,
Jerome
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Dear Jerome,
If I remember correctly, your car has somehow a 006xxx serial number
and you have got a blue MB-Tex interior, right? ;)
I am not aware of any source so far (US or continental Europe) which can supply the correct dark blue carpet with the correct 7x7 -or close to it- squareweave carpet material. :o
The only source I know (I think I PN'ed that to you, didn't I?) is a German source and they supply a blue carpet that has less than 7x7 loops per inch.
I am afraid you have to live with this circumstance... :P
Achim
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There is a German supplier that doesthe correct 7x7 loop carpet and is the only one that I know of and that is cabrio.de known as KHM or Klaus Hermann Mayer. Dont know what colours they can do to match, check out their site. Alfred and I did a lot of research on the correct carpets and I went to their factory to have a look.
www.cabrio.de
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Yes Garry, and that is likely what I will go with in the absence of the right weave here. Achim seems to report the German suppliers (he sent me the link to KHM as well) do not have the 7X7, which contradicts what you say. I am thinking maybe they had the correct 7X7 when you purchased, and now they are using different material. On recommendation of a member I found something really nice here in Canada at 6.5x6 in what appears to be high quality coarse wool, thick enough but without big thick hard glue backing. I am awaiting a quote. They guarantee their product will satisfy and back it with shipping both ways if their product is not preferred to the competition. So that sounds like a serious company. I guess I need to ask KHM for a sample of their Dark Blue.
Basically, I am not trying to go for best bang for the buck but as close to original I can get.
On another note, I looked all over the archives trying to get an idea of how much of a pain it is to install carpet. From what I gather, it is a pretty straightforward (not difficult) job? I am reasonably handy, but I would not try to fit leather on a dash. For carpet, unless I am mistaken, it seems like a really easy job? I have the impression the seat backs, cockpit back (the wall adjacent to the soft top compartment), and door sills are the most challenging areas. But since my carpet was replaced and what is there is pretty much new (but incorrect), it should not be too bad to remove.
Unless your experience tells me not to touch that and give the job to an upholsterer for best fit?
Cheers,
Jerome
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Jerome,
Alfred (66andblue) had a really good photo of all the different weaves of carpet. I am not sure if it is in the Tech Manual and I have limited internet access and dont have the photo here with me at the moment, but suggest either look there or contact ALfred and get the photo. It is very revealing.
Garry
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Jerome,
the photos are here: http://www.sl113.org/forums/index.php?topic=4824 Reply #20
Cabrio.de still offers the fine weave Boucle but not in blue:
Also fine weave boucle like 300SL Roadster available. Colours: light red, dark red,
tan and charcoal. Please add EUR 102,-.
This company: http://www.pagodenteile.de/1.htm also sell the fine Boucle square weave:
Teppich - Teppichsatz für Mercedes 230 SL - 280 SL Pagode:
Teppichsatz Haargarn Boucle` original, hohe Materialdichte
Just send him an email and ask for samples.
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Thank you gentlemen, it is starting to make sense now: fine squareweave IS available, just not in all colours. So I will have to settle to the lower count. That's fine, Blue and Dark Blue samples are already ordered from the reputable vendors, including those you recommended.
Another question, I cannot find in the archives mention of what the edge binding should be for a 230SL. One of the suppliers says "cloth binding for the early cars", and vinyl binding for the later cars.
I looked at pictures of carpets in the archives, tried to magnify to check what the binding was made of on a car like mine (1964). I did not see anywhere "cloth" binding. The pictures I saw looked like vinyl, or possibly leather in some cases?
Maybe MB-Tex cars had vinyl binding, and leather cars had leather binding on the carpet edge?
Does anyone have the answer? I am especially curious to hear about this "cloth binding" on early cars.
Thanks,
Jerome
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HI Jerome, mine is an early 1965 US model. (1964 manufacture) I just checked to be sure and my carpet is bound with leather matching the cognac leather interior. I was reading this thread because I was debating new carpet but I think now I'll just do a thorough shampoo on mine and stay with the original. It doesn't really look bad and originality is becoming more important of late.
Gerry
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This is an important piece of the carpet puzzle, thanks. So this is it: leather cars, leather bindings on the carpet. My car was converted to leather, so I will ensure whichever supplier I pick for my carpet set will do this. Right now I am contacting custom upholstery shops to see if any of them has finer squareweave than 6x6 in dark blue. No luck so far. Maybe home carpet suppliers. It might be a greater PITA to fit but if it looks more like the real thing than the current coarse weave available it may be worth trying.
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... Maybe home carpet suppliers. ...
Do not even think about installing a home carpet! :o
The backing of home carpets is not designed for car use and they do need an underlay that you would not want in the car.
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... So this is it: leather cars, leather bindings on the carpet. ...
Not so fast guys! :)
Here is a photo of an original carpet in 1964 (April) 230SL that was delivered with black leather interior and this carpet (code 6125). The black binding is vinyl NOT leather.
The other photo shows the the carpet in a 1966 (June) that was delivered with MB-tex in "119 white grey". Clearly the binding color is different from the upholstery color because as a very experienced restorer in Germany told me the binding was selected to enhance the appearance of the carpet and was NOT necessarily matched to the color of the upholstery.
I have not seen original carpets with fabric binding, but of course they could exist.
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Thanks for your input. It seems in light of the information provided by you all with your direct experience with survivors, the more correct assertion would be: vinyl binding is correct in most cases, leather or tex, and one could not be faulted for selecting it.
Has anyone seen original carpets with something else than vinyl for the bindings?
Again, thanks for sharing this
Jerome
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Jerome,
AlexD in Cleveland has a lot of experience in the 113 carpet arena, and it is worth a PM to him. He may be able to help.
PS Alfred, I think he should go for a nice 1960's shag carpet, whadya think?
Mike