997 Equipe Afficianados, a little help please.

[spudbumkin]

So I have 3 pairs of 997E's circa '93 and today I picked up a pair of the '95 vintage. As I was breaking them down to clean and regrease them I noticed that the rubber dam under the toe piece is not held in with the familiar 1" small metal V strip and seems to be held in by the plastic of the toe piece itself. When I was working out the rubber dam, I caused a small amount of damage to the retaining method. I guess my question is: Has anyone had any issues with the rubber dam not staying in place after maintaining the "newer" style 997E's?

[jgb@etree]

Pictures of part(s) in question?

[swerve]

I have some where the rubber is torn or completely ripped out. I just threw some tape over where the rubber piece was and have had no problems.

[spudbumkin]

So I got home and took some pictures to illustrate what I am talking about. After a little thought, I am going to ask how does one remove the rubber dam in the newer 997Es without damaging the plastic housing.