[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmwqnqL3Hbg"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RmwqnqL3Hbg[/ame] So I got tired of looking at the JCW appliqué coming loose and delaminating from my door sills. Yup, both ends both sides..... Sure sounds like a manufacturing defect to me...... Don't even think about grabbing the loose end and try to just peel it back. It's a thin gauge strip of soft aluminum. All you will do is curl the insert into a non-useable strip of scrap.... So off to the medicine cabinet for some floss.... I use mint, my wife uses wintergreen...... Of course, the idea is to slip the floss under the aluminum flap and cut the foam tape adhesive with a cheese cutter action. Nope.... Didn't work.... The edges of the aluminum inlay are sheared edges and sharp enough to cut the floss, much like the built in floss cutter..... So off to the local CVS..... Gotta find the floss they sneak into prisons.... You know, the good stuff that can be used as a garrote or strong enough to saw through steel cell bars.... Yeah that stuff.... Picked up two different CVS types.... Still didn't work.... So apparently they have outlawed the good stuff (sorry convicts.... gotta serve your full stint). Finally remembered one of my fishing rod and reels had some of that woven line. Worked perfect for sawing through the adhesive.... Success.... Just need to remove the leftover adhesive and get some new double adhesive tape and I'll be back in business....
I've had issues with these coming up on my Clubby. MAG replaced them both times. I wonder if the adhesive is not water resistant. I have been trying to make sure that I wipe the sills down good after every wash and have not noticed them pulling up.
Babs clubster had one come loose & looked like carp. :mad2: I carefully pulled them off. The left over adhesive I removed with my thumb. Cleaned the plastic with acetone & stuck the new one on. Easy peasy. Bought new ones from Aaron at Outmotoring. I'm thinking it will last for a few years & then I'll have to replace again. The ones on my R53 have been fine since November 2005 when they were installed by elf's at the MINI factory.
The 3M PSA tape is manufactured with two types of adhesives.... There are "others" out there such as Mac Tack from Morgan Adhesive all doing the same but that's pretty much the two types out there with proprietary formulations from each manufacturer..... Don't know who MINI uses.... Rubber based: Can be repositioned with some latitude before taking a set. Acrylic based: That's the, "Gotta Do It Right The First Time", no second tries and sticks like crazy. Both don't have a problem with water. Of course the foam tape could start to degrade over time, but that didn't seem to be the case here. There could be a release agent coming into play on the injection molded plastic trim that is playing havoc with the tape adhesive. It's also a pretty long strip of aluminum that is wanting to expand not necessarily in tune with the plastic base expansion. That expansion is developed in inches of movement over length. So the shear placed on the adhesive at the end location is going different than the shear in say the center location. Based on the way I could get the tape to peal back, it's probably the "Rubber Based" adhesive system because I was able to remove long strips before the tape broke. The acrylic won't let that happen. Secondly, the rubber based adhesive tape gives the MINI line worker more leeway when installing the strip. I'm going with the acrylic tape with my re-install..... Ahhhhh, carefully.....
The cheese cutter method cut through the tape like a block of Havarti that's been sitting in the sun..... I lifted the plate off the sill with absolutely no damage. It lays "flat as a pancake" with no distortion.... The goo gone.... Well it's making the adhesive tape and residue pull right off in one complete strip with no effort what so ever..... Smells like oranges.... Hmmmmmm, I worked cheese, pancakes and oranges all in one post..... Yessss, I'll be re-installing them..... That Goo Gone is good stuff.... Removed all the sticky adhesive....
Probably a little rendundant, but as a tag onto the above somewhat, since the residue is gone from both surfaces, using a very thin double sided tape to re-attach the sill plates works like a champ. You can get the tape from nearly any trophy shop. It's the same tape they use to attach the name plates and comes in a few different widths. I used either a 3/4 or 1" width to attach my Cooper S sill plates after I installed my aero sills. It worked perfectly. Good luck!