Obscure (But Important) Seals In Prep For Winter

[Strife]

I recently discovered that I was entirely missing the small seal around the pin of my hardtop. I looked at the EPC and the soft top also has a seal like this (although it is shaped differently). I bought replacements from the dealer (surprisingly expensive) and they install easily with a little rubber lube. The big end faces down, if my "parts" hardtop can be trusted. Get the direction right, because once installed, the hardtop seal is VERY difficult to remove. Don't ask.

If these are missing, it's possible that you may discover in the spring that your top compartment (and top!!!) have been taking on water all winter. Note that the pin lies OUTSIDE of the rear soft seal that goes around the brightwork, so this big rubber seal will NOT stop water from going down this hole.

That hardtop soft seal is very easy to replace but you may not be able to recycle the plastic pins - there are lots, and their prices adds up (the softtop seal for this function has no pins, but is stuffed into the softtop frame, and is a @#$@# to install).

A good boot lid cover seal is also crucial for winter. You do NOT want to open the lid on the first nice day of spring to find a rusty, moldy mess inside. I found that only the genuine MB seal fit really well. One aftermarket seal gave me some trouble, and another low-quality (no fuzz) seal was $35 of garbage.