Interior Trim - Grommet Color?

[bpossel]

Hi All!

What is the opinion of this group on correct color of the plastic grommets for our seats?

There are 2 oval grommets at the top of each seat where the head rests are inserted.

There are also 2 round grommets on each side of the head rests.  (note: I have noticed that the "Ed Cave" car and some others on the Motoring Investment site do not have the head rest side grommets).  Did some 113's come without these side air holes in the head rests?

Should these grommets be black, or should they be the color of the seat material?

Thanks!
Bob  

bpossel  (Memphis, TN.)
'71 280SL  /  '97 E320

[waqas]

I've seen pagoda headrests with and without side grommets. At first I thought one was correct and the other was probably incorrectly installed from a sedan. Then I saw a few sedans with AND without the side grommets.

So the question should be: does the presence/absence of side grommets indicate sedan vs. pagoda? or does it indicate early vs. later headrests?

Regarding colour, I've only seen the top grommets in black. Then again, take that with a grain of salt, as I haven't gone around removing headrests just to look at the grommet colour  :twisted:

If the grommets were to be in the same colour as the seat, wouldn't MB have to stock all possible interior coloured grommets?

I'll bet Douglas knows the answer!


Waqas in Austin, Texas

[Nate]

I asked my restorer about them and he said they can crack and break over time, and more importantly are NLA.  I personally like the look of the grommets but do not see them much in interiors that have been redone.  I opted out on my restoration.  They should be as close to the interior color as possible.  If you're opting for red interior the grommets should be black.

1971 280SL
Arabian Gray

[bpossel]

Thank you Nate and Waqas!
Bob  

bpossel  (Memphis, TN.)
'71 280SL  /  '97 E320

[68_white]

Just to complicate things. My 1970 SL has no grommets on the headrests, but my 1970 SE parts car DOES have them.  They are light grey just like the MB tex covers. I have reason to believe that the headrests in both cars are original.

HARRY

68_WHITE
70_RED

[doitwright]

I am doing some interior work myself.  Changing from dark brown to cognac.  My seats and headrests had the grommets.  After carefully removing them, I lightly went over mine with some steel wool, primed with Rustoleum plastic primer.  Then painted them to come close to the cognac.  They came out good.

I think the absence of grommets is an indicator of an interior that has been redone.  The old grommets either did not match in color, were lost, or broke.  On the headrest, they provide an access point to get a tool inside the headrest to adjust the amount of effort it takes to adjust the tilt of the headrest.



Frank Koronkiewicz
Willowbrook, Illinois

1970 280SL Light Ivory

[zoegrlh]

I have just personally completed reupholstery of my interior in leather from GAHH.  This was a replacement of original MB leathers.  First of all, the original plastic oval gromments for the headrest posts are medium/dark gray (not black), and the original headrest did not have grommets on each side of them.  Please keep in mind that my 1970 280SL is European specs.

Also, I seem the disagree with Frank, I had my headrest stripped of padding, before replacement of new leather, and there is no way to adjust the amount of effort it takes to adjust the tilt of the headrest.  There is a flat steel spring that is putting pressure on the headrest posts.  The posts are "U" shaped w/90 degree corners and are attached to the headrest frame by this flat spring and some weld points and can not be adjusted.  I even put some oil/grease around the post at the spring with no luck to make the tilting easier.  Springs are tight.  

So the bottomline is that the round grommets must have been for venting air pressure not for adjustments.  Could it be that leather did not need these vents, because leather can breathe and MB-Tex can not???
Bob

Robert Hyatt
Williamsburg, VA.

1970 280SL, Red on Silver,4-speed, Euro spec; 1999 C230 Kompresser Sport, Black on Black; 1990 Miata, Black on Red, 5 Speed

[bpossel]

Thanks Bob, Frank, Harry,

It is amazing what we learn from each other and how different our cars are.  I never really noticed that some cars have the grommets in the headrests and some do not.  Very odd.  Maybe it is like the brass vs plastic over flow tanks?  They used whatever was available at the time?
Bob

bpossel  (Memphis, TN.)
'71 280SL  /  '97 E320

[hkollan]

Hi,

In my opinion all factory installed Headrests in Pagodas had the grommets on the sides.
I believe that in many cases Headrests where added later, especially on European cars where headrests where optional for all model years, unlike the US versions where HR became std equipment from VIN #04052 some time around 1969. Two late US-cars I own both have original HR with side holes installed.
BTW The plastic tank replacing the brass version, was a change only installed on very late cars. The change is not documented in the parts catalog, at least  as far as I've been able to find out.
Only installed in a few thousand cars or maybe even fewer. My car #20241 has the brass tank, but a car I previously owned #23241 had the plastic expansion tank.

Hans Kollandsrud

Cuenca, Spain

1968 280 SL 387 Blue met. w/parchment leather - Aut.
1971 280 SL 050 White w/blue leather - Man.
1971 280 SL 462 Beige met. w/brown leather Aut.  Under restoration
1968 280 SL 180 Silver w/Red Leather - Manual

[hauser]

Bob, there was quite a bit of discussion on the overflow tank with Ed Cave's former car.

1969 Euro 280sl 5 spd
Gainesville, Fl.

[tuultyme]

My original MBtex cognac interior had the grommets very close to the color of the interior.  When I replaced the interior with cognac leather I opted not to put the grommets back into the head rest; they are still in the old head rests in the basement.  I did reuse the grommets where the head brackets went into the seat back; they still match pretty good.

Bruce; 268Blaugrun(green) 1970 280SL; IL

[john.mancini]

Hi Bob,
My 69 280SL has dark blue Tex. The interior is completely original with very low miles. The oval plastic grommets at the top of the seats where the headrests insert into are black. The round grommets on the sides of the headrests are blue. I noticed that the round headrest vent grommets seem to always match the upholstery.
Hope this helps,
John