What have you done to your DeLorean today?

[DrJeff]

Removed the driver's side rear outer door seal. Removal of the rubber took 3 minutes, removal of the combination of 3M adhesive and 30 year old original glue took at least an hour. Thankfully only three more outer seals to go!

[jawn101]

Removed the driver's side rear outer door seal. Removal of the rubber took 3 minutes, removal of the combination of 3M adhesive and 30 year old original glue took at least an hour. Thankfully only three more outer seals to go!

Only an hour? You must share your secret... lol

[DMC5180]

Ya really, Took me half a day on one door set using 3M general Adhesive Remover. Soak, sit, scrap, take a break and repeat, repeat, repeat and repeat. Short sections at a time until clean. In fact Now that I spent all that time cleaning them up, I'm reluctant to put the New seals on for fear that, as soon as I do, i'll need to remove one again for some reason.

[jawn101]

Ya really, Took me half a day on one door set using 3M general Adhesive Remover. Soak, sit, scrap, take a break and repeat, repeat, repeat and repeat. Short sections at a time until clean. In fact Now that I spent all that time cleaning them up, I'm reluctant to put the New seals on for fear that, as soon as I do, i'll need to remove one again for some reason.

And in CA, we can't even get the good adhesive removers. I had to do the whole thing with Goo Gone and maybe a hundred razor blades, and that was just for one quarter panel. Took about 4 hours over the course of maybe 3 days.

[dmc6960]

And in CA, we can't even get the good adhesive removers. I had to do the whole thing with Goo Gone and maybe a hundred razor blades, and that was just for one quarter panel. Took about 4 hours over the course of maybe 3 days.

Strait lacquer thinner. Certainly you can get that stuff, right? I used that stuff for all my adhesive cleaning this spring. You need industrial gloves though as it seems to each through nitrile gloves annoyingly quickly. Its a mix of Acetone, mineral spirits, and a bunch of other good stuff.

[jawn101]

Strait lacquer thinner. Certainly you can get that stuff, right? I used that stuff for all my adhesive cleaning this spring. You need industrial gloves though as it seems to each through nitrile gloves annoyingly quickly. Its a mix of Acetone, mineral spirits, and a bunch of other good stuff.

Yeah, that stuff we can get... how do you protect things like the plastic infill panels/fiberglass body/rub strips while you're applying it?

[DrJeff]

Yeah, that stuff we can get... how do you protect things like the plastic infill panels/fiberglass body/rub strips while you're applying it?

I scrapped with a very sharp chisel (like a razor blade but with a sturdy handle), which got rid of most of the 3M black adhesive. I then used Mineral Spirits dabbed onto a cloth and then rubbed like mad into the adhesive. I did my best to avoid anything other than adhesive stuck to the stainless edging. I've used mineral spirits to clean up over-application of 3M before and it dissolves dried-in 3M pretty good. The old adhesive pretty much just succumbed to physical abuse. Last step was a rub down with a ScotchBrite pad (just on the cleaned edge).

[dmc6960]

Yeah, that stuff we can get... how do you protect things like the plastic infill panels/fiberglass body/rub strips while you're applying it?

Apply to a towel and rub. This stuff evaporates quickly so you'll need to do it often. It doesn't affect most plastics, but do NOT get it on anything painted. I actually used it directly on my door vapor barriers with no ill-affects this spring. Definitely use a scraper blade first to get rid of the bulk of the stuff first though.

[Ozzie]

Incorporated the adjustable link/belt tensioner mod for the alternator (reference: DMCTalk Post). Have had the parts for over a month, only found/made time today to install it, a quick install btw. This simplifies an alternator belt change greatly, especially as it will happen on the road when it does happen.
Thanks to Matt for the mod tip, and Josh Q. for the part number (March Performance #655-RA-1.625).

[Chris 16409]

Incorporated the adjustable link/belt tensioner mod for the alternator. Have had the parts for over a month, only found/made time today to install it, a quick install btw. This simplifies an alternator belt change greatly, especially as it will happen on the road when it does happen.

Looks good Ozzie. I was a bit paranoid when I did mine, and bought a longer bolt for the alternator connection. I've got a nut securing it. Did you use a lock washer or something?