God help me, changing out the top brace of a 125

[bradleyheathhays]

For reasons unbeknownst to me the top frame member of my 125 cracked through in three places when I was cleaning the joint with acetone in prep for resiliconing, so now I'm faced with the daunting task of replacing it. I think most top braces have the same general design but just in case here's a cross section of mine...

bracecrosssection2_zpsc5ff5128.jpg

The right side of the frame is 2"

So the question is...how to break that silicone seal, and I honestly don't know the best way to approach it. My only idea so far involves using a long razor to split as much silicone as I can, then possibly dremmeling a cut line all along the very top of the frame directly above the glass pane. After that and a little more dremmeling on the corners, I'd hope some gentle prying from the outside bottom lip would be enough to bend each rail of the frame up and remove it in pieces.

So far the only method of frame removal I've seen suggested using piano wire to saw the silicone out. Not sure how well that would work.

Anybody done this job before? I'm all ears.

[Cliff]

The last time I had to replace a frame pc, I used a box cutter blade to cut away the silicone from both sides of the frame pc. It took a little effort, but I got it off after that.

[Lady Hobbs]

I had to replace a frame last month and it was a heck of a job with the entire frame siliconed on, not just dabs here and there. I also don't have much in the way of tools but I used a hack saw on the frame to cut it in a few area's. Also a razor paint scrapper but one with a longer blade (commercial type) would have been much easier.