[MBZ] Seat Repair Revisited

[R A Bennell]

I asked for some advice a week or two back on repair of the seats in my 76 300D - and then didn't really follow the
advice given. We shall see how my version holds up.

I pulled the driver's seat out and removed the cover on the seat part. The horsehair pad was, as expected, pretty
much consumed. I had one small spot where a spring had worn through the seat fabric before I got the car so I have
known all along that I had to tackle this job. I didn't want to make it a whole lot worse and ruin the seat cover
or the seat of my pants etc.

I had planned to put a piece of carpet on the spring base prior to covering it with some new padding, to protect
the padding from the springs. I initially cut a piece of carpet the right size and then got to looking more closely
at the original horsehair pad. It wrapped around on the front and side edges so I cut a bigger piece of carpet and
did a similar thing in turning the carpet over the edge and an inch or more inside the spring box. I thought about
trying to sew it together with an awl type doodad I picked up one time and have not used. I also thought about
wrapping the whole works in a light weight canvas type material but ultimately decided I did not need to do that. I
ended up pushing holes through the carpet with an awl/icepick type tool and then threading nylon pull ties through
the holes to tie the carpet to the springbox. I have the webbing side of the carpet up and the normal upside of the
carpet down against the springbox. It is left over carpet scraps from when we had the bedrooms in the house done a
year or so ago.  Seemed to work well. Once I had the carpet secured to the springbox, I put a piece of "nu-foam"
fibrous stuff from Wal-Mart on top as the padding. Tried to put the cover back on and decided it was a bit too
tight and puffed up looking so I took the cover back off and tore a 3/4 inch piece of the nu-foam stuff off of the
pad, then put the cover back on and it fit better.

Back in the car and I have driven it a few times. Seems ok - certainly better than it was before hand. No longer
worried about ruining the rest of the seat cover etc. I maybe could have left a bit more of the nu-foam stuff on
the edges and just thinned the center part some. The side bolsters are not as full as they might be. The natural
curve of the springbox sort of keeps me in the middle anyway. I would say it is a successful repair if it holds
together for the long term.

I didn't put any pool noodle material in the springbox. I was afraid I might make it too hard or too high. No tilt
wheel so I wanted to ensure I could get in and out of the car without any interference from the wheel.

Planning to do the passenger side right away so they match and get the horsehair out before it falls totally apart
too.

Randy B in Winnipeg