Has anyone had experience in removing the clear plastic cover from the tail light assembly? They seemed to be glued on and I'm trying not to crack them taking them off. Any knowlegable help would be appreciated.

 

Open the access panel in the boot on whichever side you need. Inside, you will be able to see a bolt with a nut (10mm I remember reading). Undo the nut, being careful NOT to drop it, and the whole tail-light assembly should just pull out. There is a clip in wire-harness connection which you can simply unplug. The lights are connected to a circuit board that is held in by a top and bottom clip.

 

I believe it's either glued or fused. You could probably cut it with one of those paper-thin X-Acto Saws. Whatcha gonna do once you're in?

 

Agro....I've got the lights off the car. I need to get the clear plastic lens off the light.

Vespa.....Thanks, but looking at it I don't think they can be cut off. I need a way to soften the glue, if it's possible. I've got a project in mind that if it works, I'll post the whole thing on here. If it doesn't I want to save myself the embarrassment! :smile:

 

i read somewhere about opening a sealed headlight. in that thread they suggest placing light in oven for 10-15 min at 350 degrees to loosen the glue that holds the headlight assembly together. this method may work on the tail lights as well. good luck!

 

>> i read somewhere about opening a sealed headlight. in that thread they suggest placing light in oven for 10-15 min at 350 degrees to loosen the glue that holds the headlight assembly together. this method may work on the tail lights as well. good luck!<<

I'll try it and see. Another person suggested dipping them in boiling water (a technique used by some bikers on lights). All the did was soften the clear plastic enough to mis-shapen it

 

Well, no luck with the oven. These things are really sealed well! Anyone else with an idea????

The one light I'm working with is ruined so I'm willing to try anything on it.

 

excuse the bump, but I'm still looking for anyone who's taken the clear plastic cover off of the tailights. Anybody???

 

I just look at my spare set of tail light and with the chrome lining. I do not think it is possible to to take the clear plastic off.

 

>>Well, no luck with the oven. These things are really sealed well! Anyone else with an idea????
>>
>>The one light I'm working with is ruined so I'm willing to try anything on it.

Moorlock,

It's really popular with the S2000 guys to bake their front HID lamp assemblies to open them up and take out the amber turn signal covers. I could dig up the very detailed how-to on baking the headlights if you want.

Sounds like you've already tried though, but maybe the temps were too high and you didn't leave it in the oven long enough (at lower temps that is). Was it from baking that you ruined the light?

 

The light was messed up by the boiling water treatment...the oven only added to the damage. I think the problem with the heat treatments is that the plastic on the back lights is much thinner that that found on headlights and distorts faster.

I'm beginning to believe this project just isn't going to work out.

 

Why not just dremel out the light casing and then put it back together again using silicone?

 

>>Well, no luck with the oven. These things are really sealed well! Anyone else with an idea????
>>
>>The one light I'm working with is ruined so I'm willing to try anything on it.

I have received the following from an "expert" on tail lights.
The tail lights cannot be disassembled with heat. They are 1-piece
injection molded assemblies. Instead, we will have to make incisions in the
back of the light assembly to gain access to the internals of the lamp.

Good luck if you decide to give it a try. :smile:

 

Thanks for the info. I'm surprised someone actually dug this thread back up as it was from a while ago. Unfortunately, going in through the back won't get me any closer to what I wanted to do.

 

what did u want to do?

 

>>what did u want to do?<<<

I wanted to get in and paint the chrome areas black. I thought that'd look pretty good on my B/W car. I don't want to tint the lens because I'm a firm believer in signaling as best I can to the guy behind me. It'd be an easy job if I could get the clear cover off.

 

>>>>what did u want to do?<<<
>>
>>I wanted to get in and paint the chrome areas black. I thought that'd look pretty good on my B/W car. I don't want to tint the lens because I'm a firm believer in signaling as best I can to the guy behind me. It'd be an easy job if I could get the clear cover off.


You have got the idea EXACTLT right!
It will give a smoked/tinted look without any "tint"
I'm working with a "pro" to do what you want and it's big $$$. He told me that it's the inner housing that gets painted with a matte-black finish (rather than silver), this makes the lenses looked darker.. but not TINTED. The differences are VERY subtle. Most, if not all, of my appearance mods have been suble and this one will be no exception I'm sure.

 

>>
>>You have got the idea EXACTLT right!
>>It will give a smoked/tinted look without any "tint"
>>I'm working with a "pro" to do what you want and it's big $$$. He told me that it's the inner housing that gets painted with a matte-black finish (rather than silver), this makes the lenses looked darker.. but not TINTED. The differences are VERY subtle. Most, if not all, of my appearance mods have been suble and this one will be no exception I'm sure.


hmm very interesting, do post pics when you get them finished

 

any luck on this? i planned on sanding off the chrome on the inside because it would give it less of a cheesy chrome look. i considered painting it black but i guess ill decide when i get the thing open!

 

use a thin about half inch wide chizzle and pry it open slowly thats how i did my headlights im sure the tails will be much easier as theres no plactic lens overhang in the way like on the headlights

 

Moorlockx, Im in the process of blacking out my car, and was also looking for a way to get rid of the chrome in the taillight, I dont like the smoked film that you can put on. So I found these Altezza matte black lights that i bought off ebay for $29. the only issue i had was my 06 had the reverse light in the taillight and the new ones had no place for a reverse light. all i did was put the reverse light below where i had a blank spot for the fog light.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/02-03...spagenameZWDVW

 

Moorlockx,
I took a set apart last year, just haven't gotten to install them. Here's some pics of what I did. Hope this helps you guys some.


Side by Side of before and after.



Close up of "glue" seam I used a dremel to score/cut.



Couple of pics of weld spots you'll have to grind down some. and a pic of all the separate pieces. More details w/ the pics in my gallery.

 

Taillights can be taken apart with heat and a small tool to pry them apart.

 

It's hilarious how much misinformation there is in here...it most certainly is possible, it's not injection molded, there is silicon, you don't have to go in from the back....

anyways....it certainly is possible. And it's quite simple as well.

Take your taillights out of the car, and notice the very obvious area where the silicone is holding the clear lense to the black backing. It's a black silicon, but kinda squishes out around the edges. Take a dremel with a cutting wheel to a little bit of that silicone. I don't suggest cutting all the way around, but you *could* do that. I just make a slit about an inch long with the dremel. Now take a smaller flathead screwdriver and place it in this new slit you created. Begin prying and turning the flathead screwdriver. It might make an awful cracking noise....but don't worry, its just the glue breaking. Just slowly work around the edge until the unit pops off....you may need to use two screwdrivers in some cases. I've got it down to about 15 minutes on each taillight total.

 

If I only could do that I have a bad feeling I would screw it up.


Art