I decided I would take out the damper seal this morning. Using an adjustable wrench and hacksaw (thank you BrotherBart), it was a rather easy process. Two bolts secured the damper seal across the arm. The adjustable wrench took care of that in a matter of seconds. After that, a few minutes with the hacksaw and out she came. Next I'll install the block-off plate. I'm pretty excited about the straight shot.