Door Latch receiver fix?

[Tom in seattle]

The latch attached to the door jamb (not the door part) pictured here (driver side) is the source of my quandary.  The chromed (female) component is swedged onto the mounting plate.  After 50 years of use the chrome section just wabbles and won't stay properly aligned.  I've taken it off and tried to peen it into alignment with a center punch but it soon loosens up and fails at its intended use.  Is this thing repairable?  I haven't tried taking a torch to it.  Is it replaceable?  The passenger side is not useable on the driver side. 

Thanks for your help.

[114015]

Tom...,

The locking eye or door catch, yes
A very typical failure, indeed.
Happens very often, especially on the more frequently used driver's side....
These are LH and RH; so you can't switch from right to left and vice versa.

It looks as if you have got a 230 SL or an early 250 SL with the three (Philips) screw mounting plate, not four.
Correct?

Also, it looks as if you have  still the early version of this part: A110 720 0504 (and ~0604 for the right hand side).
Those were later replaced by A110 720 1104 and ~1204 which have a stiffer mounting plate
and more important - the chromed 'female' part is more rigidly fixed to the mounting plate on the later version.

The later ones are still available new - but unfortunately at a price...

The parts numbers already indicate to you it is a fintail part.
So what you can do is find a good/decent used part from a fintail donor car.

I myself had the plan to get the old one somehow fixed but I think this is only of very short success.
You can try to laser weld the mounting bolt of the chromed female component into the mounting plate ... but certainly this won't be cheap (my experience with laser welding so far).  Welding with a torch is certainly not such a good idea because you will most likely burn the rubber inlet of the chromed component which makes the whole part useless ...
Better look for a good/decent used one.
And ... unfortunately, the proper function of the part (i.e. not loose) is by far more important than the condition of the chrome  ...

Here you can find some info on the plenty of differences of these locking eyes:
https://www.sls-hh-shop.de/main/en/mercedes-230-280sl-w113/72-tuer/72-b-info-schliessoese


Good luck !


Achim
(formerly with loose locking eye too)

[Tom in seattle]

Thanks for the reference, I am following up with SLS.

[TheEngineer]

This failure is typical of high mileage cars. This is one of the reasons why it is much better to buy a low mileage Pagoda

[wwheeler]

So are we saying that the later versions with the improved mounting did not suffer failures as often?

[Benz Dr.]

The 108 250S also uses this part as well as the 111 fin tail sedans and early coupes. The 110 fin tails have a smaller base and won't work. All of them are of course sided so keep that in mind while searching. Rear doors on sedans are often in very good condition and should be your first choice if you can find them.

[m300cab]

i think i have one
let me know

[Tom in seattle]

You have more experience than I but my 250SL only has 70,000 km.  I know the history of the car for the last 35 yrs.  Both the right and left latches have been replaced and I don't know why other than the originals failed at some point. The right side is the new style but the receiver piece wobbles as does the left.

I have ordered a new one but have also figured out how to fix them now.  I very carefully marked the front side of the mounting plate to mark the exact orientation of the receiver.  Then I removed the mounting screws and cleaned up the back side with a wire brush.  I clamped the receiver and mounting plate together with a C clamp.  I brought a cold pan of water to the work bench and fired up the wire feed welder. I slowly put about a 3/8" bead on each of the four sides of the swaged receiver on the back being careful to douse the welds in between in order to keep the receiver cool and not melt the rubber.  Then cleaned the welds up with hand grinder.  I also found that the spacers between the latch and door jamb can be emulated by cutting the back side of a 24 grit circular sanding disc.  A few passes with a sharp knife allows to break it to shape.  Drill holes for mounting screws.  Once mounted you cannot tell it has been worked on.

[Tom in seattle]

M300 thank you.  If this does not get me back on the road I will contact you.

[114015]

So are we saying that the later versions with the improved mounting did not suffer failures as often?

Yep, Wallace,
That's what I was saying.

Of course you could get an old one fixed somehow as Tom did
but I liked the idea of getting a good used one more.

Best,
Achim

[Tom in seattle]

Having seen the original and the new version fail, I’m not ready to say which is best. If I had to do this from the start again, I would not buy the “improved “ version but would weld the original.  Or could buy the “improved “ but would expect to weld it eventually.  The way they Swedge  them together will simply fail over time for both.

[mauro12]

Hi guys , I have a similar issue and mine is a low mileage car . My doors are closing and opening normally but if I touch the door catch , there is some play of them . Should they be moving a bit or not ?