Good luck fixing door trim this weekend - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

tinypanzer · #1 01-04-2010, 10:12 PM

Hi all....

Wish I had taken pics and done a write-up. Think I will when I do the other side...

Anyway, typical W126 door trim problem, the cloth wrapped door seals coming apart. From the looks of it, I would have had to buy a new one. Anyway, with some contact cement for the rubber strips, and some 3M interior trim glue for the cloth, I was able to put the thing back into its original albeit dirty state.

It took about 2 hours start to finish, but could maybe be done quicker. It was definitely a test of nerves and patience. All I had to do was pull off the rocker panel, remove one metal clip holding the cloth to the floor, the whole seal was able to be popped right off.

First, I used contact cement to glue the two pieces of rubber seal back together. To try and wrap the cloth around it without doing this first would be impossible. After applying contact cement to both mating surfaces of the rubber, I let it get tacky and then gently glued the pieces back together making sure to do it evenly and as it had been before.

After letting that dry for about 10-15 minutes, I was able to start re-gluing the cloth back around the rubber. The underside of the cloth will have folds and little telltale signs of how it was aligned on the rubber before it came off. working from the end that is still attached to the end that has come undone, you spray the glue twice on the rubber, let it get tacky, and then carefully wrap the cloth back on. Using a plastic card, or similar, you can push the cloth into the crevices and also burnish. Work on about 6-10 inches at a time and use clothespins or little clips to hold the cloth on tricky spots such as the curved parts.

Be careful not to spray the glue on the cloth, and hide the cloth with a newspaper when you spray the rubber.

After about 30-45 minutes of this, you'll be done. Then you can go back and touch up spots that didn't stick so well.

Once it's dry, you can just pop the thing back in and put the rocker panel on in less than 5 minutes.

The result was as good as I could have hoped for.

Pics/more soon when I do the other side.