Original 280sl seats or replace

[Bagspacked]

Hi,
I have a very original 280sl, looking to replace the carpets as the sun has altered some of the brown to a almost green. Seats are original and I’m told could be more comfortable. My gut says it’s best to keep original seats and try and restful/foam them as opposed to replace them. Could it be a bigger job doing that and is it worth it if I can get new seats in a similar mbtex just won’t be original? Brand new seats would great I imagine but I’ve always heard that originality is best kept. I am bare metal repainting the car and with new carpets it’s a good time to decide. Any advice appreciated. The exterior of the seats don’t look worn, really the interior, but that’s not to say brand new seats in a similar material wouldn’t be better

[Pawel66]

Difficult to judge the condition of the seats just by brief description. If you restore the car completely and leave the seat covers original while they are worn - it would look terrible and will ruin the total effect IMHO. I would do new foams and new covers. You can keep the original covers.
Again, just my view.

[Leester]

I agree with Pawell and am going that route although the condition of my seats leaves me no choice.  Mine were/are MB Tex Cognac and has a very heavy grain, which I like.  I don't know if the heavy grain appearance of my seats is related to its year (1970) or not.  I am not having very good success finding a heavy grain in either leather or tex.

If your seat covers are in really good shape or can be refreshed with some of the spray products available (try a search) its possible that you could remove the covers, rebuild the seats with new horsehair or foam product and replace your original covers. If you're just trying to retain the originality of the seats for the sake of originality, I think you might end up being disappointed with the overall look and appearance of the car but you would have to be the judge.  Lee 

[114015]

Do not agree with the previous opinions .
If your seat covers are still intact and decent (you may want to clean them thoroughly - the vinyl) - then keep them.
Replace the rubber horse hair cushions and also the Nosag springs within your seat cushions - this will make a BIG improvement.
in most cases you are done then and will experience a significant improvement or "new seats". The seat covers do not do much improvement to the seat comfort per se. Only the under-padding does.

If you then turn out to dislike your old seat covers you can still replace them later.
But first stay with your old seat covers and change what is underneath.

Just my 2 cents ....

Achim
(Been there, done that)

[Bonnyboy]

I have an old weathered leather interior and the game plan when I got the car was to redo the uncomfortable seats and weathered carpeting as soon as possible (as finances allowed).  5 years ago my drivers seat was so uncomfortable I could barely drive for 30 minutes at a time without having to get out and stretch.   So I got new cushions and new covers and new carpeting and leather bits etc.. but I never installed them.

Then last year after total knee surgery my sciatic problems went away and my seat magically became comfortable - then when I fixed the adjuster on the inside side of the seat which I didn't know was not correctly aligned until the cover popped off when I was vacuuming the horsehair bits from the seat, the comfort level went way up.   

My seats are now so comfortable I am afraid I will lose some of the character of my car if I change anything just yet.   I don't know how much more comfortable my seat can get -  its like an old baseball glove - it just feels so good when I am sitting in it.  I sit lower than I probably should, but it is so comfortable now.     

My buddy came over for a shot of Christmas cheer in the garage and when he sat in my driver's seat he just looked at me and smiled.  He said his new Volvo Electric car doesn't make him smile like my car did......just saying....

[Cees Klumper]

Just today my son and I replaced the seat foam cushions as well as the covers (new leather to replace old and torn vinyl, and new foam inserts) in his '73 Datsun 240Z. The funny thing was, after we finished, we found we had to take out the 1 inch spacers underneath the seat runners, because our head was touching the roof lining now whereas before there were at least two inches free room! So the new foam cushions added about 3 inches to the 'sitting height' and the comfort difference is really night and day. Agree with Achim that renewing the foam/springs will make the difference in seating comfort.

When I bought my Pagoda, the seat covers were the original ones. The strange thing was, after a few years, the cover of the passenger seat started spontaneously tearing, even though that seat was used much less than the driver's seat. After a few years the tears were so bad I had to replace the covers (and Shvegel very kindly sent me his used ones in good condition, same color).