Seat Covers (re-upholster) - Page 2 - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

ykobayashi · #16 03-28-2017, 12:06 AM

Don't forget to show us how they look on the seats. I'm eagerly awaiting the results. That price is unbelievable. I wonder how the leather will last.

BirthdayBenz · #17 04-09-2017, 08:29 AM

@maxbumpo
I'm just north of Greenville in Travelers Rest.

BirthdayBenz · #18 04-09-2017, 09:08 AM

I've finally gotten around to doing some more work on the seats.

I started with the passenger side. Unfortunately the passenger side was horse hair and disintegrated when I removed the bottom cover. Note: wife was not home when I did this in the house making a total mess.

I went to the local upholstery store and bought some foam and an electric carving knife from target thinking I was going to make a new cushion. Long story short, don't waste your time trying to cut foam just find a used seat. I still have to find a bottom cushion but moved onto the driver side which luckily was foam and not horse hair.

The new seat covers against the old passenger seat. My passenger side cover was in decent shape other than the slight pinkamino.

Driver seat disassembled:

There are apparently different designs in how the covers attach to the seat on the W123. I believe my driver seat was replaced with a later model wile the passenger seat remained original.

In a previous post, on the back of the new seat covers you can see sewn into the seam a piece of plastic which looks like it should attach somewhere and hold the cover fitted against the seat back. There is nowhere for this to go on my seats. My old seat covers were fitted against the seat back through elastic stitched to the cover at the top of the seat back. This is missing from the new covers. I was able to modify the plastic on the driver side seat back cover to work with existing holes in the seat back allowing the cover to be pulled tight against the seat back. The passenger side, being different is a bit loose.

See the holes in the upper seat back through which elastic is supposed to pass and hold the cover against the seat back:

In the above picture I lined up the seam of the seat base cover with the existing indentation in the foam then used hog rings to secure it to the cushon and wire seat frame

Base and back mostly complete:

The seat back cover did not have holes for the head rest grommets that are seen in the above picture. It sure was fun estimating the locations and taking a razor blade to my new leather covers.

Completed drivers side seat:

From what I've read, once the seats sit in the sun in a hot car for a week or so the leather will shrink and adjust better to the seat. Steam can also be used to eliminate the wrinkles immediately but I don't have a steam machine.

Junkman · #19 04-09-2017, 03:02 PM

I called them and left a message. They may be a small shop with a web page. It may also be possible to have current covers copied locally. Much of the labor is removing, repairing the seat itself then installing the new cover.

Years ago, I had a Ford bench seat recovered at a place in the country that is no longer in business. The guy removed the cover, used a seam ripper to separate the panels then sewed them together.

I have a rear seat sitting on top of the parts car and the OE method of connecting springs is to use clips that are readily available. This could also be used to repair broken seat springs and would be preferable to the rig methods discussed in various posts. Shops routinely cut foam and "should" be able to give guidance on what to replace the horsehair with. There isn't much point in putting a new cover on old, worn, soon to break down supporting structure.

ykobayashi · #20 04-10-2017, 01:00 AM

Looks great. I bet the wrinkles will come out on their own shortly.

Thanks for sharing your progress.

BirthdayBenz · #21 04-21-2017, 12:55 PM

I've finally got both seats back in the car and now wish I'd choose a lighter vinyl for the rear seat. Didn't matter much when I had the sheep skin covers on the front seats but now looks a little odd.

The center armrest cover from Lseat did not fit. It did not widen in the back like the armrest on the w123 does and would not slip over. I cut the stitching out and reused the side pieces combining them with some scrap I had left over from making the back seat to make my own armrest cover. It's not that great but matches the back which is kinda cool.

The wrinkles are starting to come out just after sitting the sun for one day. I'm happy with the results for the price I paid.

Dmitry at Pelican Parts · #22 05-02-2017, 03:59 PM

If anyone is looking for seat covers, please take a look at the link below. They offer covers in various materials and have an option to customize. Please let us know if you have any questions!

Coverking Seat Covers

crazy4diesel · #23 05-03-2017, 12:20 PM

Coverking didn't come up with anything for the W123 at all.

Junkman · #24 05-04-2017, 09:40 PM

No 126 covers from CoverKing. I have a friend that just bought a sewing machine because he makes things from fiberglass ie boat molds. He "may" make some car covers. There is a pool of talent because a local factory makes car seat covers for the Nissan which is ~20 mi away.