[Shop-talk] red LocTite: How much heat do you need to disassemble parts

[Jeff Scarbrough]

Is that painted or bare metal?  I don't recall having to remove an item
fastened with red (I'm a blue man, mostly),  but in either case, I'd take a
heat gun and apply heat equivalent to full sun in Arizona and see if that
would loosen it up.  Couldn't hurt, since the car should be built for that
kind of warmth.

I wonder if some let-go spray like Kroil or PB Blaster would be effective?
Especially if it was already warm?   Anything that wouldn't harm the
finish.

Good luck!

-- Jeff

On Fri, Apr 17, 2026, 22:10 Philip Ethier <pethier7 at gmail.com> wrote:

> I figured that changing the side mirrors on the Birkin would be a walk in
> the park.  The mirrors that came to me with this car are flat.  The left
> one is wonky, and a DPO tried to fix that with an airplane clamp.  That
> does not work.
>
>
>
>
>
> Got new mirrors.  Convex.  Look good.  Mounting method looks identical.  I
> rolled back the big locknut.  Now all I have to do is grab onto the mirror
> strut and rotate it out.  No go.  I took a closer look:
>
>
> https://www.flickr.com/photos/pethier/55213872895/in/photostream/
>
>
>
>
> I see red.  I fear that some DPO has used Red LocTite on this mirror
> stem.  WHY?  There is a massive locknut on this (much-more substantial
> stuff than on my Caterham).  I can't believe it would rattle loose
> untreated, much less rattle loose with Blue LocTite.
>
>
>
>
>
> Just for laughs, I check the right mirror.  No, that one is not coming off
> either.
>
>
>
> OK, so if it is red LocTite, there is no way it is coming out without
> heat.  So how much heat do I need?  Will a serious heat gun do the job?
>
>
>
> I have already wrestled off the wind deflectors, since they certainly will
> not survive any heat in the area.
>
>
>
> Should I not try heat here?  Plan B would be to declare the removal
> impossible,
>
>
>
> crack the nut and Dremel the part that didn't fracture
>
>
>
> saw the mirror stem off leaving the threaded stub sticking out of the
> windshield frame
>
>
>
> find or make coupling nuts and screw the new mirrors into those
>
>
>
>
> --
> Phil Ethier, West Side, Saint Paul Minnesota, USA
> 2006 Gulf Stream Conquest Super C, 8.1, white
> 2011 Cayman 2.9 PDK, white
> 2021 Ford F-150 3500cc twin turbo, white
> 1991 Caterham 1700 Super Sprint, not white
> 2003? Birkin, green
> www.mnautox.com
>
> <http://www.mnautox.com/>
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