Well, the boss got home today and she came in and told me "I want you to see this" so we walked to the garage and I was surprised to see that the climate control panel had completely detached and was held to the rest of the car by two vacuum lines and two electrical wires. I easily detached those and now have the plate with me. It appears that the cover was glued to the control unit (that is, the thingy with the thumb wheel, push buttons and fan control) at two points and that the glue had finally failed. My problem is that my manual does not have an actual picture of the 88 SL cover showing how it is attached. I see two screw holes at the bottom of the opening, but I see no screw holes in the cover. On the other hand it seems to me that more than glue is needed to keep the heavy contol unit attached to the cover. Any ideas on how to put it all back together?
Thanks.

JL

The Ac control panel is held to the wood trim by 2 small screws. If over tightened they can strip the wood.
That is all that is holding the unit to the wood, besides the opening and the shape that relatively snug.

Dave

__________________
1970 220D, owned 1980-1990
1980 240D, owned 1990-1992
1982 300TD, owned 1992-1993
1986 300SDL, owned 1993-2004
1999 E300, owned 1999-2003
1982 300TD, 213,880mi, owned since Nov 18, 1991- Aug 4, 2010 SOLD
1988 560SL, 100,000mi, owned since 1995
1965 Mustang Fastback Mileage Unknown(My sons)
1983 240D, 176,000mi (My daughers) owned since 2004
2007 Honda Accord EX-L I4 auto, the new daily driver
1985 300D 264,000mi Son's new daily driver.(sold)
2008 Hyundai Tiberon. Daughters new car

Dave, thanks for your reply. What has happened is that the two small blocks of wood that attach to the screws have become unglued from the cover, so I guess I have to reglue them. Any suggestion about the glue?
Below there is a small plastic tab attached to the cover that fits into a tab on the AC control unit. That should help to secure the unit.
One more thing. On the top part of the back of the cover there are two spots (roughly above the two lower ones) that appear to have supported also two glued wooden pieces. Do you know anything about that?


JL

Glue the wooden pieces with polyurethane glue. Wet the wood surface with a damp sponge and then clamp the pieces in position. polyurethane glue uses moisture to cure so the wet sponge helps. The glue will foam and squeeze out of the joints, this is normal for polyurethane glue. But it will hold the wood the best. I use a sharp wood chisel to clean up the joints.
The tabs at the top are so the top of the wood can slip under the radio frame and then the bottom is pushed into position.

Dave

__________________
1970 220D, owned 1980-1990
1980 240D, owned 1990-1992
1982 300TD, owned 1992-1993
1986 300SDL, owned 1993-2004
1999 E300, owned 1999-2003
1982 300TD, 213,880mi, owned since Nov 18, 1991- Aug 4, 2010 SOLD
1988 560SL, 100,000mi, owned since 1995
1965 Mustang Fastback Mileage Unknown(My sons)
1983 240D, 176,000mi (My daughers) owned since 2004
2007 Honda Accord EX-L I4 auto, the new daily driver
1985 300D 264,000mi Son's new daily driver.(sold)
2008 Hyundai Tiberon. Daughters new car

So there are only two wood blocks glued to the back of the cover?

JL

One more thing, better to chisel than to sand the wood?

JL