I just replaced a door stop in my TD. The old stop had obviously run out of grease and one of the ball bearings had come out, leaving only a twisted spring. Apparently some PO had tried to fix it and given up, because the missing ball was gone. Apparently moisture eventually washes the factory grease away.

The left front and left rear checkstraps had obviously been replaced, because they were not painted white, as they are when they come from the factory. The right ones are still painted white and are therefore probably the original 17 year old pieces.

The thought occured to me that a bit of preventative maintenence would be in order, so I squirted some white Lithium grease with the tube extention onto the front side of the check strap. (Hold onto the thin tube or it could get squirted into the door.) Then I swung the doors open and closed and they became totally quiet, so it must have done some good.

The mesh bags on the back of the front seats were sagging pitifully. Naturally, the elastic in the top cord was pooped. The parts shops don't stock these and of course it would be hard to find one in a junkyard. because they would also be as pooped as the waistband of an old pair of Fruits of the Loom.

Finally I simply pulled the balls off a couple of 9" ball bungies I used for the tarp on my carport. These cost around 50 cents each, surely less than an authentic MB part.

You need to unscrew the screw at the bottom of the seat, and slide the seat back down and out. Don't pull on the cord or the pocket or you will break irreplaceable plastic.

Once you see the inside of the seat back panel, it will become obvious how to slide out the old top cords and to tie the new bungie cord into the slot and reweave it into the rest of the mesh bag thing.

Observe how even the inside of the seat back is real leather. Should you need a nice piece of the right color upholstery leather or MB-Tex, this is sure to be the least used and abraded piece on any Junk car. Leather can, of course, rejuveated, cleaned and redyed any color you wish.

A bungie in the Florida sunshine is still elastic after two years in the direct sunlight. I imagine that my cords may not outlast original MBZ cords, but they are only a buck for both. Red plastic and synthetic cord deteriorates faster than black. All-black ball bungies are available from Northern Hydraulic.

So now my city map book and Haynes shop manual can ride in style for several years longer.


With any luck, I can keep the door checks lubricated and never have to replace another one.

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Semibodacious Transmogrifications a Specialty

1990 300D 2.5 Turbo sedan 171K (Rudolf)
1985 300D Turbo TD Wagon 219K (Remuda)

"Time flies like and arrow, yet fruit flies like a banana"
---Marx (Groucho)