Door Sill Ribbed Rubber Color for 280 SL 11304412012287

[Iconic]

Can anyone help me?
There are lots of posts on this forum about door sill rubber colors, but I could not find the answer to this question.
I am trying to figure out if my car came from the factory with a dark grey (black for some of you  ) or a dark blue ribbed rubber strip at the door's threshold.
If you look at the document I've attached, you will see that from VIN 113044xx000001 to 012088 would have had a dark blue ribbed rubber strip at the door threshold if the cars had interior code 245, like mine does.
When I bought my car, it had NO missing parts except for the door threshold moldings and rubber.
My car has a White hardtop headliner (not crème), light grey sunvisors (not crème), and dark blue cardboard covers below the dashboard.
But, of course, my car is not in the VIN number range for the attached document, so I really don't know what it is supposed to have.
By the way, I got the attachment from Alfred (66andBlue) or Hans (mbzse), THANK YOU !

Does anyone have the document that would cover my VIN, or know the definite answer, or have an idea of my next step to try and figure this out???
Mark

[Pawel66]

Have you asked Tom from Classic Center USA?

My car is just about 300 numbers above yours. It is also 245 upholstery car, European (that may make a difference if yours is US). I was trying to answer the same question few years ago and I failed. So I made my car as per the specs you attached, which may not be correct.

I called Classic Center in Europe, but they had no idea or did not want to help. But I did not know Tom at that time...

I would be very interested in the answer if you obtain it - replacing those rubber parts is not a big job.

[Iconic]

Thank you Pawel,
No, I did not ask Tom, but I did ask Charles at the Classic Center in Irvine.
So far, he has not come up with an answer, so I thought I would try this group of experienced Pagoda fans.
(If we come to the conclusion that I need dark blue ribbed rubber, I'm going to ask you where you got yours.)
Your car in 180 silver with blue leather must be gorgeous.
Thanks,
Mark

[Pawel66]

It would be great if you find an answer!

I bought blacks in MB (not SLS, MB) and I asked my chassis guy to paint them. Very dark blue (no idea what was the original blue color for them). I had issues finding light grey sunshades.... White header for hard top I bought in MB. Grey seatbelts I asked a seatbelt manufacturer to make.

Well, the car is nice, true - a matter of taste, but this is what I found and restored to factory specs, or close to them.

[Pawel66]

By te way: look at some of the comments in "Square weave carpet in 1970 280SL".

[Iconic]

Pawell,
I read a little about the square weave. Interesting.
Do you have a rear glass defogger and a rear fog light?
I have never seen both switches in the wood tray. Very cool.
Looks nice in "Euro trim".
Which radio did your car come with .....

Now back to the original question, please see the first post.   

[Pawel66]

Yes, sorry to divert the thinking a bit to square weave, but my point was that when something is thought to be a solid standard, it may appear that there were deviations form it and all this is not so much curved in stone as we  sometimes think.

I would still try Tom.

The rear glass de-fogger and the rear anti fog light are listed in options in datacard and on colour plate. And yes - I had the wiring and switches for both and I had the rear lamp. Unfortunately the rear glass was replaced some time with one without the heating wires ;(. So my rear glass defogger ends with a socket in driver's side B-pillar upholstery pocket. I use this switch for Day Running Lights (using the front Euro fog bulbs for it).

My car had this rare option: came with automatic antenna, but without a radio. One of the POs made the radio mounting hole much bigger than standard, so it costed me some effort to bring it back to the original size during restoration. I have a simple Europa there now.

[mbpaul]

My car, a 1966 230SL, came with blue door sill rubber.  I bought the car new in 1966 so I know that is correct for it. I do not know anything about the 280SL colors but thought somebody might like information on where to get the blue sill rubber.  I bought from SLS in a color they call "dark blue-gray" which is very close to the original color.  Of course, it is twice the cost of black.  No dimensions are given but the piece I got was 5 1/8 by 47 1/2 inches.  Plenty for one side and with careful cutting, you might be able to get both sides.

https://www.sls-hh-shop.de/main/en/mercedes-230-280sl-w113-/68-c-rockerpanel-and-trim

And then click on 53.

[Iconic]

Pawel,
Nice options !! Cool car.

mbpaul,
If the dark blue door sill rubber is supposed to be on my car, that was going to be my next question, so THANK YOU for answering it in advance.

Now the question on the table is should my car have dark blue?
I'm hoping someone will have the same document as in the first post, except for the next VIN number range !!!!

[Iconic]

OK, here is the question for the guys that have seen hundreds of Pagodas, have you EVER seen dark blue door sill ribbed rubber on any Pagoda and, if so, have you ever seen it on the 280 SLs? (mbpaul, I know your answer).

[Pawel66]

I wrote to Tom. He most likely cannot help. I am sure if he could, he would.

[hkollan]

Hello,

My early 280 SL VIN #440 has blue door sill rubber.
Looks to be original ones.

Hans

[Iconic]

Ahhhh, the plot thickens (this is getting interesting).
Thank you Hans ! Can you tell me the interior color code for that car?
Mark

[Iconic]

BUMP since I still need help. Thank you mbpaul and Han's for your input.
Hans' car is in the VIN number range listed on the document I attached to the first post.
113044xx000001 to 113044xx012088.
And, mbpaul's car is much earlier than Hans' (in fact it is a 230 SL).
So, those examples are more evidence that there were dark blue door sill rubber thresholds of some Pagodas, but I still hope to figure out if my car should have them or not.

Can anyone help me figure out where that attached document comes from?
Can anyone help me find the same type of document, except for later VINs?
Does anyone know of a 280 SL with a VIN later than 113044xx012088, with blue leather (245) interior?
If so, can you tell me what color the door thresholds were when the car was new from the factory???
Thank you for any clues you can give.

[hkollan]

Mark,

The interior code for #440 is 145, parchment leather with blue carpets.
I had a later car with blue leather and blue carpeting, but don't remeber if the
Rubber was blue or black. Could check with the current owner. Vin was close to 20000
as i remeber it. Come to think of i also had an even later car >23000 with code 245.
Will check with current owners and get back to you.

Hans

[Iconic]

Thank you Hans.
That all will be helpful.
Mark

[hkollan]

Mark,

The later cars with interior code 245 that I was able to check had black sill rubbers.
So I assume that's what your car had as well.

Hans

[Iconic]

Hans,
How confident are you that those cars have originl rubber on the door sills?
Did you have access to more than one car?
Thanks,
Mark

[Pawel66]

Mark,

The later cars with interior code 245 that I was able to check had black sill rubbers.
So I assume that's what your car had as well.

Hans

I think this may be a major step forward on understanding of the trim details.

As per the modern science rules (invented also by the Germans!) it would be great to confirm this info from another source. Particularly with regard to European cars.

[hkollan]

I only had one late car checked out so far, will personally see one more next week.

Hans

[Pawel66]

Hans, thank you for your kind attention! I am also interested in an answer...
The one you checked - was it a US or Euro?

[hkollan]

The one I checked was US, the other two late ones I'll check is one Swiss and another late US. All unrestored excellent original cars, so the sill rubbers are most probably original. I don't see any reason why there would be a difference between US and non-US cars when it comes to this.

Hans

[Pawel66]

Hans, thank you - this will give a great picture and a reliable source of knowledge, I think.

US/Europe difference - there may not be. If there is, it is cost  - there is a number of differences in cosmetic itmes.

[Iconic]

The one I checked was US, the other two late ones I'll check is one Swiss and another late US. All unrestored excellent original cars, so the sill rubbers are most probably original. I don't see any reason why there would be a difference between US and non-US cars when it comes to this.
Hans

Hans, Have you had a chance to check out the other one or two origianal cars with respect to the door threshold rubber (dark blue vs. dark grey/black)?
Thank you !!
Mark

[mbzse]

.../... check out the other one or two origianal cars with respect to the door threshold rubber (dark blue vs. dark grey/black).../...

I saw one of the 280 SL's the past weekend...  grey/black for sure

[MikeSimon]

My Euro-spec 280 SL, serial 22774 with "246" parchment leather and grey carpet has black sill rubber.
It is original.

[Iconic]

MikeSimon, Thank you for that, but it does not help for this specific question. 246 is not on the document that we are talking about.

Hans,
So, on August 6th you told us about one that had the grey/black rubber.
And now another one, I believe.
I just want to confirm these are both late 280 SLs and you are talking about two different cars, not one. They both are interior code 245 (Blue Leather)?
You already said they were unrestored excellent original cars.
I appreciate your time. This is important to me ... as well as others.

I will ask one more time in a differnt way to everyone else who is reading this. There is a table at the bottom of the Upholstery Color section in the Technical Manual. Here is the link: https://www.sl113.org/wiki/DataCard/UpholsteryCodes
Does anyone know where that table comes from? It has a VIN range on it and I would really like to see the same document for the next VIN range.

I guess I'm getting close to making a decision.

[Iconic]

Well, this topic is old, but I wanted to show something that was given to me by Aaron h (Das Auto Shoppe). The three attachments are the documents I had been hunting for. They show the interior color combinations for the 280 SL starting with VIN 113044--012089 until the end of production.
This includes my VIN, so that is why I was searching.
I have talked with several experts who all tell me the door sill rubber was always dark grey (or black) on the 280 SLs. But, this document states something different.
And, it is interesting that all of the other unique parts of the 245 blue interior are on the document correctly. Those being the unique sun visor color (light grey instead of creme), the unique underpad color (blue instead of grey), and hardtop headliner (white instead of creme). Given this document, and the fact that I like the look better, I have gone with BLUE (oh my) door sill rubber for my car.
Enjoy the ride !!
Mark

[rwmastel]

That's awesome!  I believe that is the same document, or same type of document, that I saw on microfiche at JA17's place years ago.  I see Sicherheitsgurt is included, which is Seat Belts.  Needing belts, that was my focus at the time.

What's the name/title of this document?  I see it is in a plastic spiral binder?  Probably a reprint?

Are copies for earlier Pagodas available from Aaron?

[Pawel66]

This is great, I think we were missing this piece - final VIN numbers.

I also have 245 blue upholstery and based on the document for previous VIN numbers I installed both blue silk rubbers and grey sunvisors! Now proven to be correct!

I had a seatbelt dilemma, but it turned out that all of the are dunkelgrau, which we see as black…

[Iconic]

What's the name/title of this document?  I see it is in a plastic spiral binder?  Probably a reprint?

Are copies for earlier Pagodas available from Aaron?

Rod,
I'm sorry, I don't know the name of the document. At the beginning of this string, I posted the document for all 280 SLs earlier than 012089 for some of the interior colors.
Are you looking for an earlier 280, or 230/250? I have all the colors for the 280 SL.

Pawell,
We've got matching rubber door sill covers now !!
Take care,
Mark

[BobH]

That's awesome!  I believe that is the same document, or same type of document, that I saw on microfiche at JA17's place years ago.  I see Sicherheitsgurt is included, which is Seat Belts.  Needing belts, that was my focus at the time.

What's the name/title of this document?  I see it is in a plastic spiral binder?  Probably a reprint?

Are copies for earlier Pagodas available from Aaron?

i think the book is called Ausstattungshandbuch 1974 Typ 113 (reprinted in 74)  there's a link to it in the tech manual in the upholstery codes section, i think you need to register on the VDH forum to be able to view it

[lreppond]

Late model (11/70) with 251 interior…original sill mats in beige (“hellbeige”)… really a light taupe color.

[Iconic]

Len,
Fantastic ! So cool, right?
Now that sounds like proof to me.
A family owned since new, '71 Pagoda with NON-Grey door sill rubber.
Thank you so much for showing us this !!!
 
Take care,
Mark