Trouble with rubber seal - Soft top compartment

[Ebbe]

Have anyone changed the rubber seal in the softtop compartment? I have a new one and having trouble fitting it. It seems the ends are way too big (wide) to fit in the that tight space.

What am I doing wrong..?

Ebbe

[Jonny B]

I have changed the seal in the u-shaped channel around the soft top compartment. The ends of the (expensive and quite complex) rubber piece, fit under the chrome B-pillar cap. There are a couple of screws, and one large screw that need to be removed to be able to remove the cap, and then the tab on the rubber seal will fit underneath.

[Garry]

Another suggestion also is don’t start from one side and work your way around as you will often unintentionally have a bit of stretch in it as you go and end up at the other end with what appears to be a seal that is too long.  Do a bit of each side as you go ending up in the middle/centre at the rear.

[Ebbe]

Thanks - I will removes the chrome-thing. I think it seems that removing this won't give me more space - but i must be wrong there:)

Ebbe

[Jonny B]

Can you post a photo of the difficult to fit area, so we are all clear on what you are struggling with?

[hkollan]

Hi,

I have done this a few times and believe I recognize your issue.
Tha channel is quite narrow 5-10cm before the end where there is a
Sharp angle. Try carefully to pry and open up the channel a bit with a
wide flat screwdriver or something similar. When the rubber is well seated and glued in place you can narrow it back with a few careful knocks using a wooden or plastic hammer on the inward side of the channel.

Hans

[mnahon]

Any opinions whether, for this seal, I'm better off with Mercedes OEM or the URO replacement is OK?

[mbzse]

Any opinions whether, for this seal, I'm better off with Mercedes OEM or .../... replacement...

It is a rather complex shaped seal. For instance, there are drainage slits and also many curved sections that need to fit snug against the metal parts in the car body. Also, there is a section which is covered in fabric.
A repro rubber seal frequently has a low price due to the fact that the finer details have been skipped...

Then, there is the matter of quality and suppleness of the rubber itself - low quality rubber with lots of filler material in it is hard to distinguish from better quality, just by looking at them.
But with time of use, the difference becomes (painfully?) obvious...
/hans s

[66andBlue]

It depends also on how often you open and close the folding top and whether you have help or not while closing. Even with protective plastic sheets placed over the seal the stiff fabric rubs against the cloth covered seal. The problem is more severe on 230SL than on 280SL.
If you have to replace it every two to three years then you are better of with the URO part.

[mbzse]

.../... the stiff [soft-top] fabric rubs against the cloth covered seal.../...

Yes, as you shop around for the new seal, ensure that there is a fabric covering on the rubber mould in this area that Alfred´s picture and arrow shows.  Is certainly there on the OEM.

[Ebbe]

After som difficulties its now in place. Tape helping to adjust the rubber. Now it is just to wait for the glue to dry.

[johnm]

Awesome shine on your car. Very nice!

[Ebbe]

Thanks johnm. Lot of work with the polishmachine. In fact a rather poor paintjob done  more than 14 years ago.

[ja17]

Clean the rubber molding with some alcohol or such before installation. New rubber moldings may have mold release compounds on them from  the manufacturing process. In addition preservatives may have also been applied. These compounds will compromise the bond of the adhesive. Next use the best weather trim adhesive you can find. These moldings are under a lot of stress when the top is worked.