kinder seat

[douglas dees]

My 69 280 SL car is an Italian car that was delvered with a kinder seat. The seat was removed in California and replaced with the the standard boards in the rear. I bought a kinder seat on e bay that looks original with a horsehair pad and had it recovered .

 When it came to the installation I noticed that there were support blocks under the seat and it would not snap into the bracket the holds the seat bottom. There also seems to be a gap between the backrest and the pillar post where the seat belt anchors are. How tight is the fit supposed to be on the these seats?
Are they supposed to be tight o the back and sides of the rear compartment?
thanks
Doug Dees

[114015]

Hello Doug,

It "should" fit...
Bob's (Cascadia) freshly restored 230 shows the scenario pretty correct. There is a pretty tight fit but ...

Are you sure the Kinder seat (Kindersitz) you got is an original one? Perhaps a (very good) reproduction or the seat cover builds up too thick for the poor fit? A pic would help.


Achim

[al_lieffring]

I went out and looked at my factory installed Kinder seat. and there is about a 3/4" gap between the seat and the trim pannel where the shoulder belt indent is.
No idea why the seat won't snap in, have you tried to snap the cussion in before the back rest?

[douglas dees]

It "should" fit... Bob's (Cascadia) freshly restored 230 shows the scenario pretty correct. There is a pretty tight fit but ...

Are you sure the Kinder seat (Kindersitz) you got is an original one? Perhaps a (very good) reproduction or the seat cover builds up too thick for the poor fit? A pic would help.

Achim

Your picture looks like mine and the gap is 3/4inches. as described. The picture in the restoration book did not show the the second hook exposed as the bottom cushion covered it. Is your backrest tight to the rear panel?
Thanks for the picture and your assistance , It is very much appreciated. The original seat has the chalk markings on the back but has wooden blocks on each side of the clamp under seat. Does yours have the same?
Thanks
Doug Dees

[114015]

Doug,

Unfortunately, I can only be of little help for you 'cause my both Kinder seats (Kindersitze) are in storage currently. I have to look for the details.
From what I remember the description of yours sound correct. Yes, there are wooden blocks underneath so that it fits (somehow correctly into the well).
Also Al's observation is fully compliant with my memories.

The only explanation I have is that your seat cushion or back rest, which have been recovered with new leather/vinyl have been recovered in a way that the covers built up too thick.
This means some retrimming is necessary here maybe. From what I remember the fit of the leather is pretty tight on the cushions.

The pic was not from me but just "borrowed" from Bob (Cascadia) presenting his freshly restored barn find pagoda.

Good luck!
Achim

[Witt]

.....The look of that seat always bothered me, I don't have one but to me it looks like an afterthought fabricated by an amateur. I would expect Mercedes to come up with something better, like a smaller version of the frontseats. Do they really look as crummy as they do in the pictures?
Just something I had to get of my chest.......
CHEERS !
WITT ! 

PS: How about child safety and seatbelts, after all it's called a "Kindersitz"

[RickM]

Unfortunately, I have to agree. I had the folding / factory seat belted rear seat for my 107 and it was leagues ahead. I personally would never have my daughter (or any other child) use the 113 Kinder seat. Additionally, using seat belts in the sideways seated position would probably do more harm than good.

The "California" rear seat is as close to refined solution as it gets.