[R129 SL] Ugly deteriorated map light covers (update)

[Cliff Sadler]

Well gang,

I have successfully removed the assembly (Thanks to Charlie Rodgers on the
list), removed the electronics from the housing, and removed the offending
paint job from the plastic cover.
It is now black with a textured surface, much like the dashboard.

I am going to leave mine like this until I decide whether to repaint it, or
replace it with the wood veneer version from Performance Parts (on backorder
right now)

If anyone else wants to brave it, below are step by step instructions that I
will not guarantee will work for you, but did for me.

PS,

does anyone have a source for the small plastic covering for the mounting
assembly of the sun shades? These also suffered from paint deterioration,
but are beige plastic instead of black like the map light housing.

Here's the original note I got from Charlie that I  have added to:

-----Original Message-----
From: r129list-admin@mbcoupes.com [mailto:r129list-admin@mbcoupes.com]On
Behalf Of Rogers, Charlie
Sent: Wednesday, June 04, 2003 3:50 PM
To: 'r129list@mbcoupes.com'
Subject: RE: [R129 SL] overhead map light assembly issues


I had the same problem with my 1991 300SL.  I takes about 15 to 20 minutes
to remove  the cover and I just repainted the existing cover with some spray
paint I got at and auto parts store that matched the interior (sort of).
The toughest part about pulling the cover is to remove the rear view mirror.
It just pulls down (hard) to disengage from the retainer.  Then push the 2
light holders up (from the side) into the assembly and you can remove the
covers and bulbs.  There are 2 screws (one in each light well) that unscrew
to remove the cover.
Be careful, because there are wiring harnesses that need to be unplugged
from the mirror and the assembly.  Once removed, the assembly has
electronics and sensors inside.
For more details on this process, I got a subscription to AlldataDIY for the
manual for my car.  If you go to their website, www.alldatadiy.co, you can
subscribe for 1 years use of their technical data for about  $28.  It
contains almost all the repair manual data for the car and you can print out
what you need.
Charles

Cliff adds:

I have some photos for this procedure that I can post if someone wants to
host them. The rear view mirror is held on to the assembly with a spring
loaded shaft. You can pull straight down by grabbing both sides of the
mirror and pulling. The force required will probably also disengage the
cable assembly before you can stop the downward motion. I've done it twice
with no ill effect, but I wouldn't want to do it a lot. You may be able to
rock the mirror side to side to disengage it from the bracket. Once you've
removed the mirror, you'll see an aluminum bracket, that has 3 screws in it.
those, along with the screws under the map lights mentioned in Charlie's
email will allow the whole assembly to drop down. The cable assembly for the
mirror is routed through the housing and will need to be pulled through the
housing to remove it from the car. There is another cable assembly for the
electronics in the map light housing. I believe that it's for the lights,
and for the A/C inside temperature sensor. NOTE! I drove the car for a day
while the assembly was out, and the A/C was blowing hot air. I thought that
I had a serious problem until I thought about the sensor having been
removed. Plugging the assembly back in caused the A/C to begin working
normally again.

Once the assembly is removed, it's pretty easy to get the electronics out of
the housing, and is absolutely necessary if you are going to remove the old
paint the way I did. There are 4 "tabs" where plastic studs were melted to
hold the assembly in the housing. They are pretty weak, and just prying up
on the assembly was enough for mine to let go without damaging the assembly
or the housing. YOUR MILEAGE MAY VARY. Once the electronics were out, I was
dealing with a single piece of (broken), gooey painted plastic.

To remove the old paint, I tried a number of things, like thinner, goo-gone,
Goof OFf (2nd best way), and xylene, and settled on a very unorthodox way to
remove it. Carb cleaner, in a 1 gallon can. Car nuts will know what I'm
talking about. It's liquid (not a spray can), and has a metal basket in the
can for dipping parts. It also removes every shred of paint from a carb when
left overnight.  Didn't know how the plastic would hold up, but, so far, so
good. after about a 2 hour dip.

Once the paint was off, I washed the piece, glued it back together where it
was broken from me trying to pry it off earlier before I found the secret to
removing the mirror, and then replaced the electronics by laying them in the
housing. Although I didn't re-melt the studs, it seems quite stable in the
housing, and doesn't move around when I'm switching the lights on and off
after replacement.  When putting the assembly back together, the hardest
part is making sure you don't pinch the cable assembly for the mirror as you
push it back into the spring clip.