Well I own a carwash and an asphalt Co. So when its gonna rain for 5-6 days I look for something to do to the mini. Last night I decided to try to tare donw the tailights and get rid of the chrome trim strip. Its actually really easy to do. A big flat head screwdriver, a good heat gun, some painter and fine line tape, what ever color spray paint, and some good rtv silicone sealer.
Heat up the inside edge keeping the heat directed to the housing, the lightly pry the seam apart, once you get it to crack, keep heating and moving around the housing and it will separate. Clean the chrome strip, I used methanol, one swipe it took the chrome off!! Then tape off lens and 3 coats Krylon semi flat black. Let dry, clean housings and inside lenses. RTV the entire ledge drop on lens and tape it tight together let sit overnight to dry. This morning I took all the tape off polished the lens and reinstalled. I left the chrome inner for the Backups for just a small contrast. But really happy with the end result. I have maybe 2 1/3 hrs of work time on this job.

 

Looks clean, nice job

 

Excellent job! Looks great!