Author Topic: New carpet installed 1970 280 sl  (Read 11728 times)

Pinder

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New carpet installed 1970 280 sl
« on: September 14, 2022, 00:03:14 »
Hi everyone I’ve spent several days installing my new carpet kit. It’s coming out really nice. It seems like a simple task but it’s a little more involved but well within hobbiest hands.  I did install some great sound deadening with butyl and silver foil on top.
1970 280 SL Light Ivory DB 670. 4 Speed manual shift no AC Limited Slip Diff.

austinado16

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Re: New carpet installed 1970 280 sl
« Reply #1 on: September 14, 2022, 03:58:02 »
Beautiful installation!!  That kit looks well made. 
« Last Edit: September 18, 2022, 23:21:01 by Todd »

Jordan

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Re: New carpet installed 1970 280 sl
« Reply #2 on: September 14, 2022, 10:43:12 »
Hi everyone I’ve spent several days installing my new carpet kit. It’s coming out really nice. It seems like a simple task but it’s a little more involved but well within hobbiest hands.  I did install some great sound deadening with butyl and silver foil on top.

Looks great.  I'll be doing mine this winter.  Any tips or trouble spots that we should know about?  What glue did you use for the back and parcel shelf?  Did you have to trim any pieces or did everything fit?
Marcus
66 230SL  Euro 4 speed

Jonny B

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Re: New carpet installed 1970 280 sl
« Reply #3 on: September 14, 2022, 15:51:06 »
Take a look at the articles in PW 29 and PW 30, to give some idea of what is involved and the contact cement that was used. I think the carpet set Pinder used looks better than what we had. We had to do LOTS of trimming to make it fit. The hardest part was the carpet that covers the sills.
Jonny B
1967 250 SL Auto, DB 568
1970 280 SL Auto, DB 904
1966 Morris Mini Minor

TJMart

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Re: New carpet installed 1970 280 sl
« Reply #4 on: September 14, 2022, 18:25:48 »
Hi everyone I’ve spent several days installing my new carpet kit. It’s coming out really nice. It seems like a simple task but it’s a little more involved but well within hobbiest hands.  I did install some great sound deadening with butyl and silver foil on top.

What sound deadening material did you use and where did you buy it?

Tony
Tony
1970 280SL, 4 Speed

Jordan

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Re: New carpet installed 1970 280 sl
« Reply #5 on: September 14, 2022, 18:51:02 »
Take a look at the articles in PW 29 and PW 30, to give some idea of what is involved and the contact cement that was used. I think the carpet set Pinder used looks better than what we had. We had to do LOTS of trimming to make it fit. The hardest part was the carpet that covers the sills.

Thanks Jon.  I had forgotten about them.  Just dug them up.  Put them on top of the carpet set so I won't forget again.
Marcus
66 230SL  Euro 4 speed

zak

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Re: New carpet installed 1970 280 sl
« Reply #6 on: September 14, 2022, 19:08:31 »
Nicely done. What did you do to flatten the top of the trans tunnel , may I ask ?
And where did you buy the carpet kit ? Does it have the rubber toe kick on drivers side ?

jz
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Pinder

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Re: New carpet installed 1970 280 sl
« Reply #7 on: September 14, 2022, 20:51:31 »
I got the carpet from German Auto tops. I have also ordered a new soft top which is my next project.

The carpet fit very well with only two areas needing to be trimmed. small trimming on carpet glued to the sills and a little on the back wall on either side. they cut it a little extra there but it is easily trimed and tucked into the lip ontop by the soft top cover.  I used contact adhesive. Some Landu top adhesive (i had left over from doing the dash) but after that finished I  used the Weldwood contact cement that is the non drip gel formula but the regular one will also work.  it is water resistant and high temp. I applied it with a cheap brush you can get from lowes or home depot. the cheap throw away ones. One tip is to keep the brushes after you are done or tired of working the carpet in a tin can sealed (like a paint can) so you don't have to throw them out and can use later. 

Some tips I found useful.

1. the hard part of this is to remove the old carpet where it is glued down. wear gloves else you will get carpet burn as you pull it off.  it came off easily on the back wall but the shelfs took some days to remove.  I used some pliers to pull at the stubborn sports. the carpet will in some places unravel. break the task up over a few days if you like. Remove all of it before installing any new carpet as it will generate dust and you don't want to make your new carpet dusty.

2. take pictures of how your existing carpet joins at the joins so you can re create it to look close to how it was done. But for this carpet there were slight differences like the way on the cross member behand the seats goes. there is a middle join with two vinyl edging parts the butt join. on my original one carpet over lapped the other. Its a minor detail but i think the butt join looks nice.

3. Any holes such as seat belt mounts etc make sure you take measurements so you can find them. its hard to find after you glue the carpet in.

4. I did not glue down the carpet over the transmission housing so I can always remove it later. I did put extra sound deadening around it  and padded it fatter so the carpet lays down relatively flat over the tunnel. I want to be able to remove if the access panels for the gear box need to be accessed for future servicing.

5. I used Siless 80 mil (2mm) sound deadening ordered from amazon / insulation https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BLSP8JV?psc=1&ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_product_details

. it worked great and self sticks and forms around curves. I used it on the floor pan areas and tunnel. Use it wherever you see fit.  there are other more expensive brands like dyna matt which I think will work fine but i loved this stuff.  wear gloves so you don't cut yourself on the foil. you can do multiple layers if you want. I did one layer and in a few places if I wanted to pad out a bit I did two. I did this on the tunnel so the tunnel carpet would lay down better.

6. Do not glue down the floor matts front or rear. I see no need to do so and if you ever need to replace you can order and replace easily.

7. after installing the sound deadening. You can then mock up the pieces so you know where they will all fit. pay attention to the areas that will butt join such as the parcel shelf and where the side sills meet at the back of the cross members. get these joins fit nice first then work away from that. you want these to look perfect as possible.

8.  I started with installing the cross members strips first make sure the join in the middle is centered and the ends will light up with the join on rocker carpet pieces you should be able to adjust a bit  here and there such that they all line up at the butt joints where the piping / vinyl is on the carpet. on the rockers just glue those small sections first and then the cross members. glue top part of the carpet on the cross sections first then the bottom section. and slowly press down .  Apply glue in smaller sections at a time. Don't try and glue a complete panel in one go. it will be a pain. do it halves or quarters.  (remember to apply the contact cement to both carpet and body) Let it flash off so it is tacky.

9. for the back wall use some clamps to hold the carpet in the middle in place and have it tucked into the lip of the soft top compartment top edge. then glue the bottom middle about half way  and foot each side. this will basically set the carpet where it needs to be so you don't need to trim the top. back section. any slack will be on the bottom end where it will be hidden below the shelf panels.

10. For the parcel shelfs install it with the shelfs installed in the car. Glue the top section down first and make sure the piping butt together nicely even if it over hangs the wood shelves a bit. this carpet set seemed to be that the shelf panels were slightly to big but they will fit very nice and the trick is to get the middle right and the back and sides will slightly go up the wall and when press it around it will look nice.

Hope that helps.

Ill add a few more pics for some details.


« Last Edit: September 15, 2022, 00:08:49 by Pinder »
1970 280 SL Light Ivory DB 670. 4 Speed manual shift no AC Limited Slip Diff.

Pinder

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Re: New carpet installed 1970 280 sl
« Reply #8 on: September 14, 2022, 21:01:05 »
forgot to add that for the parcel shelf panels do the tops while in the car and take them out and finish the fronts out of the car so you can wrap the carpet under the front lip.  Also I did add the sound deading on the top of the parcel shelfs too as I had so much of it.

Additionally as the foil is slippery, to stop the front mats from slipping around i glued black felt over the sound deading on the front floor pans ( driver and passenger side).
1970 280 SL Light Ivory DB 670. 4 Speed manual shift no AC Limited Slip Diff.

Pinder

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Re: New carpet installed 1970 280 sl
« Reply #9 on: September 14, 2022, 22:27:41 »
close up of join on back shelf and cross members
1970 280 SL Light Ivory DB 670. 4 Speed manual shift no AC Limited Slip Diff.

Pinder

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Re: New carpet installed 1970 280 sl
« Reply #10 on: September 14, 2022, 22:28:34 »
join by sill / rocker and cross member.
1970 280 SL Light Ivory DB 670. 4 Speed manual shift no AC Limited Slip Diff.

Pinder

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Re: New carpet installed 1970 280 sl
« Reply #11 on: September 14, 2022, 22:29:53 »
more details of tunnel
1970 280 SL Light Ivory DB 670. 4 Speed manual shift no AC Limited Slip Diff.

Pinder

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Re: New carpet installed 1970 280 sl
« Reply #12 on: September 14, 2022, 22:31:56 »
While I had the sill trim off I was able to remove almost all dings and scratches (there were many). they came out pretty good. I polished them on a buffing wheel and got them as straight as I could. I think they look so much better.
1970 280 SL Light Ivory DB 670. 4 Speed manual shift no AC Limited Slip Diff.

Pinder

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Re: New carpet installed 1970 280 sl
« Reply #13 on: September 14, 2022, 22:35:55 »
the carpet kit is is the following and price is shown below.

Mercedes Benz W113 1963-1971 230SL, 250SL, 280SL Interior Carpet Kit , RHD or LHD
Carpet Material:
Loop Carpet (1968-71)

Does the car have rear jump seat:
No

Is the car LHD or RHD:
Left hand drive

Year:
1970

Model:
280SL

Color:
Brown Loop 909

Manual or Automatic Gearbox?:
Manual

1   $739.00
1970 280 SL Light Ivory DB 670. 4 Speed manual shift no AC Limited Slip Diff.

Pinder

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Re: New carpet installed 1970 280 sl
« Reply #14 on: September 14, 2022, 22:57:34 »
Another tip I just remembered when you do the carpet on the sills. glue the sides first. When dry, then form it over the top curve and trim it so that it fits the aluminum channel. you should be able to install it and it will actually look fine without further gluing of the top. but I did glue the top as well but stopped a bit away from the aluminum trim. this is so that if needed the trim can be removed for replacement without damage to the carpet.. these trims dent easily and you want to be able to remove them to replace of fix the dents.

This was an enjoyable project that finally got rid of all the 50 years of dirt and dust in the carpet. feels so much cleaner and fresh.
1970 280 SL Light Ivory DB 670. 4 Speed manual shift no AC Limited Slip Diff.

Rahul

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Re: New carpet installed 1970 280 sl
« Reply #15 on: September 14, 2022, 23:14:35 »
Wow this looks great!

Would you mind explaining how exactly you got the dings out of the door sills? I have the same issue with mine, too many doorslams with the seatbuckle dangling over them I'm sure.

Thanks!
1971 280SL auto #571 over parchment

kampala

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Re: New carpet installed 1970 280 sl
« Reply #16 on: September 14, 2022, 23:22:39 »
Pinder

Really great install.  Looks easier than it is — recently did this work. 

Amazing skills with the metal trims — looks fantastic.
250sl - later - manual
280sl - 1971 - Auto - LSD

Pinder

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Re: New carpet installed 1970 280 sl
« Reply #17 on: September 14, 2022, 23:42:58 »
to remove the dings on the metal trims on all four pieces is the same process. All the trims are made from Aluminum. I think the original finish is actually anodized so in the process you will lose that finish but you will get a highly polished very smooth Aluminum finish and it looks great.

 The process is dent repair at a tiny level. Ill post a video of the process I found on you tube.  But in a nutshell this is how I do it.

1. remove the trim. straighten by hand any large curves that are out of alignment.
2. sand the entire piece with a paint stick wrapped with sandpaper at 120 grit. In this process  you will remove some blemishes small dings etc. make sure to use the small paint stick and not your thumbs alone so that you flatten the surface and in the process get rid of some of the wavy imperfects.
3. At this stage there will be some deeper dents and dings. the sanding process will highlight these low spots.
4. Very patiently focus on each small dent. from the back of the piece you will push the dent out enough to either be completely flush with the surrounding metal or a little higher. Its very hard to get it exactly right most of the time when you push the dent out it will be a bit high. That's not a problem as you will then sand it back down with your paint stick wrapped in 120 grit . This will then eliminate that dent.  Repeat this process for all dents in the trim.  This is a slow process. it will take time.y
5. How you push the dent out from the back can be done in many ways but for these small soft trim I find a phillips head screw driver works with a small hammer to do a gentle tap. Position the head of the screw driver where you think the dent is. Its a bit hit or miss. but you need to get it close enough. go slow. turn the trim over and check if you see a dot. Sand that down. eventually it will blend in.

6. after removing all these dents. Sand with 400 grit paper.
7. Sand with 1000 grit wet or dry paper.
8. sand with 1500 to 2000 grit wet or dry.
9. polish on buffing wheel with rouge.



1970 280 SL Light Ivory DB 670. 4 Speed manual shift no AC Limited Slip Diff.

Shvegel

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Re: New carpet installed 1970 280 sl
« Reply #18 on: September 14, 2022, 23:48:03 »
For removing the carpet from the package shelf behind the seats I find it helps to take it outside and pour Acetone all over them a couple times which solvents the glue making the carpet much easier to remove.

Pinder

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Re: New carpet installed 1970 280 sl
« Reply #19 on: September 14, 2022, 23:54:19 »
Thats a great idea. I didn't think of that.
1970 280 SL Light Ivory DB 670. 4 Speed manual shift no AC Limited Slip Diff.

Pinder

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Re: New carpet installed 1970 280 sl
« Reply #20 on: September 14, 2022, 23:57:02 »
This video explains a bit on how dents can be removed from stainless steel but it works even easier on Aluminum. 

 This guy made  a special anvil to handle his complex trim. for the trim on w113 you dont really need that. a screwdriver can be used as a dot punc to push them out.

the grits I used work well on the soft metal for our needs.  Remember basically you push out the low spots then sand and polish.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z3Ews7EdW6Y
1970 280 SL Light Ivory DB 670. 4 Speed manual shift no AC Limited Slip Diff.

Pinder

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Re: New carpet installed 1970 280 sl
« Reply #21 on: September 15, 2022, 00:01:23 »
Zak I got the kit from German Auto Tops.  the Carpet fit around the tunnel pretty well. if I glued it I think would fit fine. But I just added extra insulation the the tunnel.  there are different types with foil backing. the one with Butyl is firm and ideal for the floor pans. on the tunnel you can use the thicker foam backed stuff.
1970 280 SL Light Ivory DB 670. 4 Speed manual shift no AC Limited Slip Diff.

Pinder

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Re: New carpet installed 1970 280 sl
« Reply #22 on: September 15, 2022, 00:02:44 »
Zak no it does not have the rubber toe kick. My original carpet also did not have it. Maybe only some years have that.
1970 280 SL Light Ivory DB 670. 4 Speed manual shift no AC Limited Slip Diff.

zak

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Re: New carpet installed 1970 280 sl
« Reply #23 on: September 15, 2022, 20:14:16 »
Nice neat job. Nice work. Looks great.
The new carpet set really cleans up and improves the interior looks.

jz
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Leester

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Re: New carpet installed 1970 280 sl
« Reply #24 on: September 15, 2022, 20:26:52 »
Thank you Pinder and the others who added tips. Carpeting my car is in my future and your tips plus Bob Hyatt's write up in PW 21 will be front and center as I undertake the job.  Many thanks to all for sharing your details and tips with the community!  Lee
Lee Backus
1963 220SE Cabriolet
1970 280SL (reassembling - hopefully soon)
1978 450SL (disassembled for paint)
1985 500SEC