300E Door Pockets Coming Apart

[cbpa40]

Both door pockets on my 1988 300TE are coming apart at the top. Almost every 300E I have looked at are doing the same thing. I tried upholstery glue and clamps, but they came apart within days. Can anyone offer a solution?

[Robert W. Roe]

Are they coming off the door panel? I think they screw in from the back. If you feel adventurous, and if they are indeed coming off in the way I suspect, you could try taking the door panel ("door skin") off and then fill the screw hole with adhesive. Let it dry, then drill a smaller pilot hole and reseat the screw.

[jeffsr]

The plastic retainer hooks that hold the pockets and trim panel are broken. This happens a lot. I think MBZ really fell flat on their faces when they used this method to hold trim on. Retainer hooks arepart of the pockets and trim panels. You will either have to replace those parts (good luck), or try to repair the plastic hook retainers (really good luck)

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Jeff Lawrence
1989 300e
2000 Dodge Grand Caravan SE

[Nate Stanley]

cbpa40,
I had the same problem on our '79 300D, right front door.I'm assuming the design is similar, where the map pocket had a molded-in hook that does thru the door panel and is secured by a steel clip form the other side. The fix goes as follows, assuming you still have the broken end rattling around inside your door. 1) fire up the hot melt glue gun. 2) glue the broken end back on the map pocket, using just enough to hold in place. 3) pass the map pocket thru the door trim panel, holding the map pocket tightly against the panel. 4) flood the entire backside of the hook with hot glue until it is fully covered. 5) continue applying pressure against the map pocket until the glue cools and sets. We have had no trouble all summer, (fix was done in May). Bear in mind that the map pocket should not be loaded with phone books, etc. after this procedure, but so far it's still working.
Cheers,
Nate Stanley
'79 300D, 206K

[cbpa40]

Sorry that I didn't explain the problem in detail, but the door pockets are not falling off the car. The vinyl is coming loose all around the top edge. I tried folding it back around the top and glueing it, but with no luck. My 300CD has the solid plastic pockets, which always crack, but these vinyl covered pockets aren't much better.

[Michael]

You can purchase the lower door pockets separately, which I've recently done. I've tried all the fixes...gone so far as to take them off the car and glue them on my workbench, and though the glue held it didn't look that great. Which is why I bought new pockets ultimately, not to mention that you end up with new, less brittle hooks (don't forget to fish out the old broken ones, and consider applying Dynamat to the insides of the outer door skins...it'll make your car even quieter).

Good luck

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All the best, Michael
500E
300TE

[300EVIL]

WELL, YOU COULD DO ALL THAT OR JUST BUY A NEW SET FOR $100 LIKE I DID. I DONT THINK ITS WORTH THE TROUBLE.

[Chris Blanchard]

I had a 300TE with the same problem, so I know exactly what you are talking about.

I have heard that a product called "Shoe-Goo" works well to reattach the vinyl skin. You must "clamp" the vinyl in place after applying the Shoe-Goo with clothespins while the glue sets up.

I heard this "solution" about a month after I sold the wagon, so I don't know if it works, but it does sound reasonable.

Good Luck and let us know how it goes.

[Arthur Dalton]

Cotact cement works well . Do both surfaces and let dry.
Then Clamp all along the edge with closepins. The trick is to run a 1/4 " plastic tube on the inside edge under the clamps. [ this gets the covering back into the inside groove ] Let dry overnight.

You can also use wood pencils, but the tubing fits tighter as it bends to conform to the pocket shape

[Arthur Dalton]

Typo:
"CONTACT" cement

cbpa40,

How did you go about fixing the problem? I am in the process of deciding to DIY or replace.

Also, has anyone had the vinyl on the door pillar separate around the edges?

[Ron Johnstone]

I just successfully fixed the problem on my 88 TE, using contact cement. The trick is to throughly clean the surfaces with acetone and Q-tips, clean away all foam as you need vinyl/leather contact to a hard surface, without any mush in-between. Buy fresh, solvent based contact cement - tubes are available. Spread thin coatings over both surfaces, let dry, then do it again to be sure you have covered all voids. Let dry until paper won't stick to a glued surface, then squeeze the surfaces together and hold them with many clothespins - one per inch, for a couple of hours. Don't overly stretch the material when squeezing them together as that will add additional stress on the glue joints.
If they simply will not stick, you could slit appropriately sized plastic tubing and slip it over the edge to physically hold the material. You might find it in matching colors to your upholstery.
Good luck!

I have a '95 E 320 that had the identical problem. I repaired them using the new brush on Super Glue. After applying the glue to the material I used small, strong clamps with a strip of wood the same length of the pockets, I left the clamps on overnight and the material stayed in place perfectly. This was months ago and the pockets still look perfect. I did take the vehicle to an upholstery shop where he attempted to repair them with contact cement...this
did not help at all.