It turned out that the vanity mirrors had been removed from the visors on my wagon. I found replacement mirror units at a pick n pull (all the visors were in sad shape) and successfully hooked up the electrical connections. I tried hot gluing the units into the visor -- the glue held for a day or two and then let go. Any suggestions for a better adhesive would be appreciated.

I'd also like to hear what people find works best for re-attaching wood trim. My 300TD has several that were apparently hot-glued (and still holding) by the PO. But I have one piece (not re-glued) that is beginning to come loose.

Thanks

I used a two-part 5-minute epoxy when I reattached the wood trim in my 300D that I removed for refinishing. Five minutes was more than enough time to get them in place and hold with some low-tack painter's tape until cured. That was in 2008 and it's held fast.

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05 E320 CDI - 175K miles
82 300D - 200K miles (sold)

wanted to ask what all thought about using Scotch "extremely strong" mounting tape. says it holds "30 pounds" whatever that means.

In cleaning up the wood and dash surfaces for prep, it just looks to me like the wood trim was factory installed via some kind of double sided foam type tape...

Is it a bad idea to try tape? Anybody else try it?'

Go under the dash and remove the metal strips by unbending the tabs then use high strength adhesive like gorilla glue.

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The OM 642/722.9 powered family
Still going strong
2014 ML350 Bluetec (wife's DD)
2013 E350 Bluetec (my DD)

both my kids cars went to junkyard in 2023
2008 ML320 CDI (Older son’s DD) fatal transmission failure, water soaked/fried rear SAM, numerous other issues, just too far gone to save (165k miles)
2008 E320 Bluetec (Younger son's DD) injector failed open and diluted oil with diesel, spun main bearings (240k miles)

1998 E300DT sold to TimFreeh
1987 300TD sold to vstech

I'm interested in this as well. On mine the PO hot-glued the wood trim as well, and especially the strip in the middle (above climate control unit) is severely warped and coming off. Just to push that wood piece back straight requires quite a lot of force, so whatever glue I'd be using needs to be quite strong... The 2-part epoxy sounds like it might be a winner.

Now just to find a way to keep that piece straight while the glue dries, cause painters tape ain't gonna hold...

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"The MB W123 is so bulletproof, you can drive them forever. Which is a good thing as it takes that long to get anywhere."
Betsie: 1984 W123 300D (hobby, 280k miles)
Myrla: 2001 Mazda Protege 2.0 ES 5spd (daily driver, 130k miles)
The Turd: 2007 Toyota Camry (wife's car, 118k miles)

You have to remove the retainer metal piece from the dash. Clean the black foam from both sides. Lay the retainer on a 2x4. you will have to drill holes for the tabs. I used the two part epoxy. Clamp the wood piece to the retainer. Line them up well and centered. Make sure you dont scratch the finish of the wood. I used magic eraser foam to protect the finish from the clamps. Remove excess glue before it dries.

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'85 300D Cal 280,000 miles
'14 GLK 350 60000 miles

So nobody thinks they were originally attached with mounting tape?

They were attached, with mounting tape, to a metal bracket with tabs. To do the job right you have to remove the metal bracket from the dash. And you have to clean off all the residue to get a good bond.

__________________
The OM 642/722.9 powered family
Still going strong
2014 ML350 Bluetec (wife's DD)
2013 E350 Bluetec (my DD)

both my kids cars went to junkyard in 2023
2008 ML320 CDI (Older son’s DD) fatal transmission failure, water soaked/fried rear SAM, numerous other issues, just too far gone to save (165k miles)
2008 E320 Bluetec (Younger son's DD) injector failed open and diluted oil with diesel, spun main bearings (240k miles)

1998 E300DT sold to TimFreeh
1987 300TD sold to vstech

The wood on my car was attached with the foam mounting tape you described. My guess is that was to allow for the lengthwise expansion of the wood with temperature changes, but that's just a guess. I have much of my wood trim off the dash right now, awaiting refinishing, and haven't addressed this yet. Maybe e-mail the people who re-finish the wood trim, such as Madera Concepts and see if they would be willing to answer your question.

Here's another thread: http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/detailing-interior/315000-adhesive-use-glueing-wood-trim.html

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Marshall Welch
Seattle, WA
1982 300D-T

Depends what you call "doing it right". If you want a long lasting repair, one that looks good, is easy to do, use RTV. I looked at all the adhesive options (Gorilla glue, Epoxy, weather stripping adhesive, foam tape), before choosing RTV. RTV has long working time, plenty strong but not too strong so you can remove the wood trim later easily w/o destroying it.

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/342302-wood-trim-question.html

Still looks perfect since I did the job in 2013 and expect the same for many years to come. There is no need to remove the metal brackets.

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85 300D turbo pristine w 157k when purchased 161K now
83 300 D turbo 297K runs great. SOLD!
83 240D 4 spd manual- parted out then junked

This RTV sounds promising.

I was able to get my wood strips off (they were practically falling off) but the aluminum metal strips are still on and intact. I carefully scraped, goo-offed, sanded the aluminum bare (after taping off dash surface). They seem solid and I see no reason to remove them or risk bending them.

I cleaned and sanded back of wood bits. I've also rigged up some clamp/boards on my bench to slowly and carefully, over a few weeks, straighten out the piece that have warped.

The question now is, black mounting tape or something like RTV - flexibility of both seems nice. I've never been that impressed with gorilla glue. Frankly prefer something like loctite construction adhesive.

The thing with double sided tape is you must position it right the first time, with RTV you have a lot of time positioning it till perfect before you clamp or secure by propping with sticks and let it cure. If you decide to use tape, make sure it it good above 200F. A hot car in summer sun can exceed that. RTV is good between 400 to 500F depending which you buy.

I did not mention this but I did not scrape the foam completely off, just patches where the RTV was placed. That was intentional so the foam becomes a spacer for less chance of squeeze out of the RTV. It did accomplish that since there was no squeeze out at all and I did not have to do any cleanup afterwards. Not a big deal to clean up, more messy just wipe it off. Since you scraped the aluminum totally bare, you have to be careful and not apply too much RTV if you do decide to use it.

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85 300D turbo pristine w 157k when purchased 161K now
83 300 D turbo 297K runs great. SOLD!
83 240D 4 spd manual- parted out then junked

A friend of mine is a wood worker who deals with building anything anyone has a picture of and also antique repair. On a 126, he cut some curved pieces that approximated the curve of the trim. A notch in the back of the wood allowed a stick to hold the wood against the dash. Pressure was applied to the stick/wood/trim by moving the seat slightly forward.

I have to do the other car and don't remember what glue we used. Having the dash out would make the process much easier. You could also refinish the trim similar to working with guitar veneer if the dash was out.

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85SD 240K & stopped counting painted, putting bac together. 84SD 180,000. sold to a neighbor and member here but I forget his handle. The 84 is much improved from when I had it. 85TD beginning to repair to DD status. Lots of stuff to do.

The tape is likely not a normal Advance Auto part, 3M makes their VHB series in many versions, some of the heat/autoclave cured are tougher than the wood.

The problem with the tapes is getting the wood flat enough and mounting surface smooth enough. If the wood pulls on the bond, most contact adhesives will slowly release. A perfect match and good contact will hold for a long time.

I would side with a liquid adhesive, just because it is more forgiving on surface match, will fill voids and squeeze out over lumps, still get great contact. I always use epoxy on wood to substrate.

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Gone to the dark side

- Jeff