David, thank you for your reply - I figured it out - the black plastic was the dark portion of the front cover - I needed to remove the lef side cover as well and remove the screw on that side as well.
For others trying some more tips:
After I cleaned the glue I used electrical tape and put the printer back together. I tried ot print a test page and got the scanner error 52. I was ready to give up after reading this is the laser unit but decided to have one more go at it. I noticed that as I was connecting back the ADF connectors I moved one behind the metal unti held by 4 black screws. I re-inserted it and the printer works as new right now. Thank you all ofr your help!
PS - It is a frustrating process but the psoter above was right - go by your nose and you will get it!
