Sun Visor Repair

[KUMARB]

The two sun visors in my 280SL appear to be in fair shape. The metallic rod is slightly rusted, the vinyl is still supple. However, the stuffing inside the visor has turned into a mush. The visor does not seem to have any rigidity. Are they repairable?  Or, should I buy new ones?  By the way, the new visors are not cheap.

Thanks.

[rmmchl]

until they come down in price-don't buy them-I bought a new original one 5 years ago for $225.00, and it has done the same thing as the old one-----------the foam collapses and gets puffy-and the thin as coat hanger wire inside them breaks at the joint. These things are cheaply designed,and made,  and one would have to have more money than common sense to buy them...Even the remanufactured ones they are selling are $200.00 each and up----------My advice-leave your old ones on, or take them off--------------------let the next guy replace them. someone should redesign them and sell them for about $50.00 to $65.00 each!

[J. Huber]

I need to disagree with rmmchl on this one too (yes, I like cocomats!)... Agreed that new visors are very expensive -- and that somebody somewhere could possibly recreate them for less. However, I think the visors are a critical part of the interior's overall appearance. A saggy or nonexistant visor sticks out like a sore thumb. Mine fell apart years ago -- and I sprung for replacements from Miller's. That was 1997 and they look and work as good today. Only draw back is mine have no passenger's side mirror.

[rmmchl]

i respect huber's opinion-but there is no sunvisor worth $475.00----------------how about putting that money in a childs college fund--------------i have owned my car since 1987 and it is about a 3 and a half out of 5-------------its a sharp car and 99 and a half % orginal-numbers matching everything except carpet, radio and steering wheel. the point I'm making is that these cars are not shelby cobras ---------they have stayed in the 15,000 to 30,000 range on the most part for the last 20 years. I know I have at least 25,000 in mine ------------we have to stop somewhere and be practicle-----I'm not saying put something on thats not original, I'm making a point that if we would all be practical and not spend these highly inflated prices , the suppliers might get reasonable on the parts.

[hkollan]

How often did you see the price for a part coming down due to lack of interest?  What of course will happen is that they will stop producing the original part when the demand is reduced and you'll be left with aftermarket parts(if at all available) or used ones.
I agree that prices for sun visors seem inflated, but they're at least available at all.
As for inflation, in my Mitchell foreign car collision guide from 1973 a pagoda sun visor are priced at around $15 depending on version.
Complete grill assembly is listed at $187.24

[graphic66]

I rebuilt my whole interior.I held out on the $700.00+ sun visors...for a while. They are the first thing you see if they are bad and the rest is good.I ponied up and I am glad I did.They really finish it off. How about over $700.00 for a windscreen, I fell for that too. That is the best upgrade ever. The best price for an upgrade, I think is H4 headlamps, only $75.00. Cruising in the 230SL, priceless.

[KUMARB]

I appreciate your comments here.  RMMCHL raises valid points regarding the high cost of parts.

I do not have unlimited supply of money. I bought the car a year ago because I liked its looks. Since then, I have been restoring it myself, trying to keep it as original as possible, making it reliable, having all nuts and bolts in place, ensuring all parts working as they should, and having a car I should be proud to own and drive.Turning it into a show room piece is not my  intent. I have a lot of restoration yet to do and replacement parts to buy. I tend to limit buying new parts if existing parts can be reused or reliably repaired. Right now, I need an ashtray. Miller's lists it for $350. I may have to buy this, and I do not even smoke! Go figure!

I have immensely benefited from the advices given here in this Forum. Thanks again.

[waqas]

Have you checked with Khurram Darugar in this thread? http://sl113.org/forums/index.php?topic=4655.0

He was kind enough to create reproductions for less. Unfortunately, he recently phased them out. Might be worth it to find out if he still has some stock left over.

[KUMARB]

Thanks for responding to my question.

I checked the price of a new visor, it varied from $275 to $400 each.  Local MB dealer was selling it for $390 each.

I decided to repair the old visors. I cut open the vinyl covering, removed the steel frame and the old crumbling foam padding from inside, put back inside frame with new foam padding, sealed the vinyl covering with a vinyl repair kit and painted the visors with vinyl dye.

It cost me approximately $50 in repairing the two visors, with a lot of materials still left over. I would rate the final repaired product to be a 5 or 6, original condition of the visors being 1 or 2 and a new visor 10. Perhaps, someone with experience in vinyl repair could have done a better job.