Interior Update: Modified Recaro Seats

Original Tartan W460 Seats

I'm not looking to restore my 1984 300GD. If I were looking to have an original G-Wagon from the 80's, this would not be the car. First of all it was built as a 280GE, now it has an engine from a 1985 300 Turbo and a totally different transmission. On top of that, it was repainted a modern Mercedes Onyx color. I'm looking for a Snow Wagon to be a winter driver here in Park City so a seat upgrade was in order. 

When the 300GD came with two sets of seats, my choice came down to comfort and looks. A set of Recaro racing seats had been installed by a previous owner. He made some custom adaptors that were basically two steel square tubes that ran down each side of the seat. Also included were the original seats with that checkered fabric. They actually looked pretty good but did not even come close to comfort of the Recaro. 

Recaro Racing Seats

The thing is, the Recaro's are racing seats similar to the Recaro Speed series but with larger, and to me very ugly wings on the sides. The Speed Series are designed to accommodate racing restraints that would come over each shoulder and latch between the driver's legs. We may do some off road driving in this car, but there would be no need for racing restraints. Looking them up on Recaro's web site, I could tell the current version of this seat sold for about $900 each. I decided if I could make them look a little less like a racing seat, I would go with the Recaro. The original seats would be bound for an eBay auction!

While I did most of the interior work myself, I was not about to take on the job of upholstery work on the seats. For that I decided to use a local shop in Heber City, UT called Brent's Custom Upholstery. They said they could recover the seats, trim down the wings, remove the plastic rings and fill in the seat restraint holes. They recommended covering the front of the seats with the more durable and breathable leather and use the vinyl for the backs. Turns out this is how most "leather" factory seats are covered. 

Covered Recaro Leather Seats

When covering the old rear seats, I decided to focus on two passenger look rather than three. I had some 1" padding added to add definition to better match the pattern on the front seats and stuck with vinyl to reduce the cost. I asked them to add some ABS plastic to the otherwise metal back of the rear seat and had it covered with HR1307 Harddura. For those not familiar with Harddura, it is a strong vinyl backed with heavy felt that was used as interior floor lining in English cars, mostly Jaguars of 60's and 70's. Since I was planning to use it as the floor covering for the back of the car and under the rear bench seat, it made since to cover the back of the bench seat with the same material.

I already had the lather and matching vinyl so pulled out the Recaro front seats, the back bench seat and installed the original seats so I could continue the rolling restoration. I also dropped off some ceramic heating elements for the front seats to be installed. About 6 weeks later and the seats were done and they looked great. 

The seats are comfortable look fantastic and the rear seats look very much like the W463 seats shipping in the newer G-Wagons. I really like the upscale stitching pattern that Brent's used and it matches the stitching on the doors. While not accurate as an example of a W460, with the interior done, folks can't believe this car was made in 1984. To me it is comfortable to drive and does not deviate much from the original design.