Early 230sl soft top

[Merc_Girl]

Hi everyone

Seeking folks advice

I have an early 230sl which has the ‘wooden bow’ as part of the soft top frame.

In the wooden bow, there is a small groove that runs along the top edge.

My understanding is that there is a small ‘beading’ that runs inside the fabric of the soft top that then sits in this groove. This is then ‘pinned’ in place by the chrome strip on the outside of the roof/fabric

Is this correct?

Many thanks as always

[waltklatt]

To answer your question, I have the 63 soft top on my 230SL.
There is no special consideration for this groove you mention.
The fabric top comes with a large piece of fabric that is glued/wrapped around the wood.
On the topside(outside) there is a chrome accent strip that is then nailed to the wood bow, securing the fabric in place.
Hope this helps.
Walter

[Merc_Girl]

Great, thank you

So the only difference is having a larger piece of cloth that to go around the piece of wood

Thank you!

[114015]

Hmmmmmm ......
Not quite ....

[georgem]

Hmmm 114015 perhaps you could favour us as to why you offered that comment - we all might learn something

[Merc_Girl]

Hmmm 114015 perhaps you could favour us as to why you offered that comment - we all might learn something

I’m intrigued as well 🧐

[114015]

Oh...., must I ... ?

Well,
In general, or better said initially, the factory planned to fix this softtop  in such a way that the pre-sewn top cover was actually open in the area above the wooden corner bow and then carefully fastened into the groove of the wooden bow from both sides (from the front and back) with little nails. After that the groove was/is sealed with some synthetic polyurethane material (with Sikka-Flex or similar) and the chrome strip with its fastened nails is to be hammered in over this seal into the wooden bow. The whole thing is then (or should be) actually invisible.

At that time, Mercedes already replaced this original convertible top A113 770 0182, which was open in the corner bow, with the closed A113 770 0282. Because this can be easily positioned over the wooden corner bow and then knocked through with the chrome nail bar and thus also attached to the bow, the nails are long enough for this.

I still have an old blue hood lying around, which was removed from a 230 and still clearly shows the traces / holes of the little nails with which it was nailed into the groove of the wooden corner bow.
I don't know if there is still "Wopavin" stamped on the rear window, I have to look ...

Keep smiling,
Achim