I have a 1981 380SL. The previous owner drilled out the trunk button, ruining it forever. I don't want to spend the money on a full lock set, so I decided to find a way to make a remote trunk popper. I want to share with you how I did it.
I cut a piece of 1/16 sheet metal 2"W x 4"L. I bought a hinge mount style door stop, some 6mm x 25mm bolts and stover nuts, and a 7/8 hole plug at Lowes. I bought a remote door actuator on Ebay for $21. I bent the sheet metal at 1.5" and drilled a 15/64 hole in it so that the bend sits right on the bottom of the opening for the trunk latch. I mounted the door stop on the plate so that it strikes the latch. I replaced the adjuster screw in the door stop with a pan head 6mm bolt. The round head works well for sliding across the face of the latch. I put one more bolt in as a stop for the door stop so it cant slide past the latch. I mounted the electric solenoid where the vacuum trunk lock was. Then I drilled a 1/16 hole through the door stop where the rubber bumper was to run the actuator cable through. I capped the vacuum lines to the old vacuum actuator.. I ran a fused hot wire directly from the battery to the solenoid. Then ran a ground wire to the actuator button, which I mounted to the floor right front side corner of the driver seat (out of sight, but easily accessed from outside or while seated). I used the hole plug to cover the original trunk button hole. If you bend the tabs out from the inside, it is pretty secure, barely noticeable, but removable in case of popper failure or dead battery. I hope this helps someone else save some money, and have a cool remote popper. None of this permanently changes anything, it can all be put back to original if wanted. I plan to add a relay so I can wire it into my car alarm aux. Any questions, please ask. Have a great day.

How the plate should sit in the latch hole. Bolt hole lines up with bottom bolt of trunk latch plate.

The solenoid mounted in place of the vacuum actuator.

Mounted the button under front corner of driver seat.


I tried to upload a video so you could see how it works, but it wouldn't let me. Where my thumb is is what pushes the latch. The cable mounts to the other corner, upper left.