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Garage => Interiors & Exteriors => Topic started by: orientrot on 17 December 2018, 07:41 PM

Title: Found my white whale: perfect rear seat frames
Post by: orientrot on 17 December 2018, 07:41 PM
While I was studying for my finals, my friend called me and told me that a 450SEL had just been put down at a local Pull-A-Part yard.

(https://imgur.com/qiVWO5e.jpg)

With 194,XXX miles, the car was in pretty good exterior condition minus a door dent from a minor collision which probably was what got the car sent to the yard. It had been repainted very well at some point in its life in a very nice pearl white. It had a leather parchment interior but unfortunately, the leather was in very poor shape.

(https://imgur.com/9QSckCg.jpg)

He went ahead and pulled the passenger side mirror and the rear view mirror for me and we planned to go back to get some more parts.

Fast forward a week and a half and I'm done with finals and head down there with my brother because my friend ended up getting sick. We decided to pull the rear windshield because it only had a few small delamination bubbles near the seal and because they are only $30. The seal was in very good shape but we didn't have the time or the tools to pull the windshield and it out together so we just cut the seal and popped the glass out. I have another one in a little better shape but this one will give me a spare. I might try heating and clamping near the delamination to see if I can get it better. We were also going to grab the front which was an original West German Sigla with only very minor pitting, but my brother got too hasty and cracked it (They're really not very hard to get out intact but he was being an idiot about it).

The big win of the day was the rear seat. Despite the poor condition of the cover, the seat felt very firm and not mushy when I was working in the back to get the rear glass out. I decided to pull it out and have a look at the frame. I had been looking for good frames for the 4 years that I have owned the car but every single one of the ~10 I've encountered over the years have been rusty and mushy and would bottom out with much weight because of the common issue of water intrusion into the rear that rusts the frames and destroys the horse hair pads. When I pulled out the bottom, I could feel that the pads weren't crunchy at all. I undid the bolts for the top and pulled it out and was greeted by this sight:

(https://imgur.com/LPPBfmT.jpg)

The frame was in basically mint condition, with only surface rust on the springs because they were unfinished steel from the factory. I poked a hole in the insulation to get a look into the bottom springs and they were in similar condition. The set came out to $26. I had been thinking about having an upholstery shop try to rebuild a set of my frames because I had had no luck finding a good set, so this set probably saved me several hundred dollars plus more if I decide to sell my other set of good pads. I'm planning to pull the covers off and paint the springs to prevent any rust formation in the future.

(https://imgur.com/01LGEl2.jpg)

This was the scene below the sound deadening. Basically factory fresh minus some dirt/dust from the horse hair pads. With how great the body was minus the door damage, it's really a shame this one ended up in the yard.
Title: Re: Found my white whale: perfect rear seat frames
Post by: daantjie on 17 December 2018, 08:52 PM
Nice!
Yup pick n pulls can be very hit n miss but sometimes you hit gold. My best score was a full set of mint suspension blocks and the tie downs still in the trunk of an old 6.9. Man I felt like Christmas came early ;D
Title: Re: Found my white whale: perfect rear seat frames
Post by: Harv on 17 December 2018, 09:28 PM
What is the servo like in that thing?
Title: Re: Found my white whale: perfect rear seat frames
Post by: orientrot on 17 December 2018, 10:52 PM
Quote from: daantjie on 17 December 2018, 08:52 PM
Nice!
Yup pick n pulls can be very hit n miss but sometimes you hit gold. My best score was a full set of mint suspension blocks and the tie downs still in the trunk of an old 6.9. Man I felt like Christmas came early ;D

Great score! Not quite on that level, but I did recently find a set of brand new Bilstein rear shocks in the trunk of a w126 that are the correct ones for my 300SD. Even better on the same car was a set of Evo 1 wheels for my brother's 190E project.

Quote from: Harv on 17 December 2018, 09:28 PM
What is the servo like in that thing?

It was the original all plastic servo, which I told my friend to leave since I'm converting to the manual climate control. It was gone when I went.
Title: Re: Found my white whale: perfect rear seat frames
Post by: ptashek on 18 December 2018, 10:40 AM
Those rear seat belts and seat belt escutcheons in the rear panels can be worth reasonable money if in good nick.
Title: Re: Found my white whale: perfect rear seat frames
Post by: floyd111 on 18 December 2018, 11:24 AM
Congrats! Looks pretty mint. You think the last owner put that seat pad in a few years ago, before later dumping the car?