I must replace the hood pad on my 1982 380SEC - any suggestions ie; how to clean off the old pad.

I took an old bed sheet and covered the engine compartment and fenders. I then used a hard rubber squeegee to scrape off the old hood pad. After I got it all off I then I washed the underneath with soap and water. After it dried I put the new pad up by moving the hood back all the way. You can find the releases on the hood hinges, the hood then goes back further. I used the 3m adhesive the dealer sold me with the pad and pressed it on. Don't forget the fasteners in the front. Good luck!
Brian

__________________
Brian W. Heitman

www.MBCA.org/northtexas

Join MBCA!!!

A scraper (soft enough to avoid paint damage, please!) and carb cleaner spray (make sure it doesn't have methylene chloride in it!).

Scrape off as much of the old pad as you can after covering the engine -- it is likely mostly powdery gritty stuff by now anyway. Get off as much as you can without damaging the paint.

If it was a factory hood pad and there is very little adhesive there, spray down with carb cleaner, let it soak a few seconds, and wipe off with rags or paper towels. This should remove all the free stuff, leaving only traces of adhesive. If someone used gobs of Liquid Nails or similar, you will have to keep spraying and scraping until you get most of it off. Took me several hours on the 300D. Will only take a few minutes on the TE when I do that one (after repainting the hood to fix a crap paint job and some dents) because it only has factory glue on it.

To install the new pad, fit it up dry with the hood all the way up. Get it where you want it, then prop a broom between the radiator suppor and the center of the pad, close as you can get. Pull the pad down over the broom, exposing the back of the upper half (or so). Apply three THIN coats of 3M super weatherstrip adhesive, product 8090 to both hood and pad. Comes in a large spray can. Very light coats are all you need, all you want is near 90% coverage. No need for a continuous layer. Tends to "dissapear" into the pad, so go gently. You will not need the entire can.

Allow the adhesive to dry until just tacky -- at least 5 min. If you dont' wait, it will just peel off. Roll the pad back up, starting in the center -- the broom will hold it in place nicely. Rub it firmly and it will be completely adhered at once.

Lift lower part up and repeat, making sure you get the center part glued.

You can peel the pad back and re-position for about 20 min, but I would make sure it's correctly positioned at the beginning!

Don't make the mistake of using product 8060 -- the cans are identical, but it will peel off in the summer heat! That can be fixed by just re-gluing with product 8090.

Peter

__________________
1972 220D ?? miles
1988 300E 200,012
1987 300D Turbo killed 9/25/07, 275,000 miles
1985 Volvo 740 GLE Turobodiesel 218,000
1972 280 SE 4.5 165, 000 - It runs!

I tried a number of solvents. 3M Adhesive Remover in the aerosol can worked best. But it still required a lot of scraping. To attach the new pad, I used 3M 8090 aerosol adhesive. Worked great. One can is enough.

Having a helper for the installation is highly recommended.