Mike:

Ah, and that is the rub -- you will need to make a tiny brush out of a pipe cleaner or something to get inside the holes since there is a solid panel behind.

The primer and paint protect the hole -- what usually happens is that the little plastic sleeve shrinks or gets worn so that it fits loosely. This allows grit to grind off the paint, and the bare metal rusts. MB dips the cars, so the paint can run in and out of the holes. Not so easy to do once assembled.

My brother poured paint into the insides of the fenders and hood of his 1965 Chevy pickup after taking a good look -- decided spray wouldn't do it. Never rusted, but a pain.

If the idea of hand-painted touchup bothers you (it can look pretty bad, I admit!) you can have the entire trunk lid professionally painted to match the rest of the car -- any decent body shop can do this. Won't be cheap, though, just to fix some surface rust.

Peter

__________________
1972 220D ?? miles
1988 300E 200,012
1987 300D Turbo killed 9/25/07, 275,000 miles
1985 Volvo 740 GLE Turobodiesel 218,000
1972 280 SE 4.5 165, 000 - It runs!