280sl interior

[travellerdogs]

Hi forum members,  I am in need of a few pics of the interior of my 280sl as I am installing all new carpeting and door panels. I bought a 280 a year ago with the upholstery removed so I need something to reference by. Am installing rubber sound deadening on the bare metal floor and then foil backed jute on top  of that then I lay down the carpet pieces  which I assume I have to tack them down with some spray adhesive. I need to know which pieces go down first and which pieces overlap which pieces of the numerous carpet pieces. Am slowly trying to sort it out but I don't want to glue something down than have to take it back up again. Any help would be appreciated. Thanks, Carey

[Garry]

Hi Carey,

Here are some photos of the interior of my 280 after fitting new leather interior but before sun-visors added.  I used a special sound deadening mat recommended by a local motor body builder that I heat shaped to the floors and anywhere else that it did not show. Then used a thick felt mat on top of that then the carpets on top of that. and just to be sure, put coco mats in the foot wells. The sound deadening is fantastic with hard top on.  

 No glues used in the front or floors other that the tacky backing of the sound deadening.  The entry step lip metal holds down the carpet and the rest should snugly fit over the transmission hump, under the seats and into the foot wells. My transmission rubber gear boot was sewn into the carpet but I am not sure that that is the correct way? In the rear I used some contact adhesive for the timber well covers and the walls of the rear well. I still used the sound deadening in there as well.

I don't tend to drive it in the wet so do not have the risk of moisture but if caught would do a check of the wells just in case

[treedoc]

Carey,
I would strongly advise against using any impervious sound deadening material on floor such as rubber or foil backed material as any water or condensate that gets under it is trapped there and can cause rust or rot of your carpet.
Recently we had our air con recharged after 10 + years of non use, we did not notice that the rubber drain hose had become
 disconnected, the rubber backed ancillary carpet trapped water underneath which ruined a perfectly good original carpet
Geoff

[KevinC]

Some interesting interior pics here...

http://www.sl113.org/wiki/DataCard/UpholsteryCodes

[thelews]

Here's a 280 SL interior just completed by Black Forest on an Arabian Grey 280 SL that I saw at a car show this weekend.  This wasn't even a top of the line job, more middle to upper middle of the road.

[Garry]

Interesting join in the material in corners on the soft top hatch, do others have that, mine is one piece of leather.

Garry

[thelews]

Interesting join in the material in corners on the soft top hatch, do others have that, mine is one piece of leather.

Garry

It is one piece of leather, those are small wrinkles that appear as a seam at the corners in the picture.  They are not happy with the leather on the boot, the boot has some issues that the customer did not want to deal with to make it right.  I believe Bob Possel had seams in his boot corners though, that were a bit unconventional.

[travellerdogs]

I just logged in and I have to thank all you people for responding. I haven't looked at the pics yet in detail but I am sure thankful for all the help. I bought this car out of an estate a year ago from the widow of the deceased owner. The guy bought the car in 1989 and took till 2009 restoring it. I got all the paperwork and spread sheets that the guy kept records of all work done and receipts. So far the totals are $33K spent on it. This car was never driven in that time. I bought new door panels and back boards from World Upholstery to add to the new interior that came with the car in boxes. I have installed foil backed jute sound deadening material all over the floor as well as a rubber sticky back sound deadner on the bare metal floor. I am going to spot spray adhesive here and there on the jute to get it to stay in place and I just got some industrial Velcro that I am going to use to keep the carpeting in place on the floor. Hope this works and I can take the carpeting out if I have to. I don't intend to drive the car in the rain so am not worried about water. It does rain here on the west coast of Canada as it is known  as the Wet Coast. I finally got the new top to latch as it was very tight  and I don't think it was ever latched since it was installed. The only thing I could see that was not replaced was the rear soft top seal and I am looking to buy a new one  as the original has taken a set shape and doesn't seal tight on one side. Pasenger side window needs to be adjusted also as it does not seal properly against the rubbers on the soft top. I do have a service manual so I would imagine there would be a procedure for adjusting the glass fore and aft. As I go along I wqill be back here looking for tips on one thing or another. I still haven't fired the engine up yet but one thing at a time. I have a lift in my shop so I want to go over the undercarrige and may have to overhaul the fule pump as I have read that they can dry out over long periods of non use. The widow said that her husband did fire it up periodically but am not sure when he ran  it the last time. I read also that the injection pump can gum up with varnish. When I bought it I added some fresh gas last fall and also some fuel stabiliser but never turned the engine over.But for now, thanks again to Gary ,thelews, Kevin C  and treedocs. PS: Didn't mean to get so long winded but I am so enthused that I finally got a 113 type

[RickM]

Here's a 280 SL interior just completed by Black Forest on an Arabian Grey 280 SL that I saw at a car show this weekend.  This wasn't even a top of the line job, more middle to upper middle of the road.

Beautiful work!

[114015]

Interesting join in the material in corners on the soft top hatch, do others have that, mine is one piece of leather.

Garry

Good eye, Garry,
Yes that Arabian grey 280 has seams on the leather lining of the softtop compartment lid, and that's of course incorrect. Yours is correct.
However there is one very small thing to be updated on your very nice interior...
the shift lever is directed the wrong way; it should be mounted bent forwards, not backwards.
That's incorrect in so many restored cars ....
... and the door panel grab handle should be on the passenger's instead on the driver's side...

Achim
(staight shift lever - early 230)

[Garry]

Hi Achim,

I have never noticed that I had installed the lever the wrong way around, I must change that on my return from the Euro tour that I am heading out to in a couple of hours. Look forward to meeting.  I put the door handle on the drivers side as it was the most used door and I kept pulling the old arm rest off trying to close the door. An alteration to practicality.

[114015]

I put the door handle on the drivers side as it was the most used door and I kept pulling the old arm rest off trying to close the door. An alteration to practicality.

Good point, Garry...,

If you like to have the grab handle on the driver's door as well...
... why not using the same assembly as on an early 230 up to VIN 000915?

This means you place the large & wide grab handle from your right door back to the passenger door to where it belongs (the screw holes are still in the door frame, don't worry) and put an additional hardtop handle on your driver's door panel. 
That one is smaller/flatter and you have a better clearance (= more space) for the steering wheel-turning-hand without touching the handle. The large (and incorrect) one is too close to the steering wheel and even worse ... missing on the correct (passenger side) door.

See attached picture (car of Chris & Norbert Becker, Germany)

 
Looking forward to meeting you soon in Alsace!
Achim

[Garry]

Recently Alfred sent me a top handle for just that job but I have not got around to fitting it yet but will do as suggested and move the old handle back to the passenger door and use the smaller handle on the drivers side.  Always wondered why they did not fit a decent grab handle to the drivers side.