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(BODY/ELECTRICAL) Removing the rear light lens?
Theres a lot of dust inside my rear left lens. How can i take it off and clean it? Or do i have to break a part to get in there?
Thanks Geoff |
Well, if you get a big enough hammer....
No, I beleive if you take out the retaining screws, the light lens is actually glued on, and you must break the seal without cracking the lens itself... Someone with these type of taillights give me a hand? Jeff |
Wait, what year is your car?
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umm, that tail light assembly is a sealed unit.
You really shouldn't be taking it apart. You will only end up with more moisture/dust after you can't get it to seal back together properly. I've heard of people baking it at 200 degrees for 15 minutes to loosen the glue, but you will probably either end up with a browned lens or a pile of goo. I would not recommend it; I'm pretty sure I tried and was sorry I did. |
wait thats right...isn't the SA lens actually held on by screws? If you've got an SA it should be pretty obvious.
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No, series 3.
Damn. Well, on my 85 gs (the car i'm selling) both lenses have at one point fallen off and been caulked back on. The gsl-se that i'm getting as soon as i sell the GS, is having upcoming problems similar to this. I was also hoping to try the "clear" light mod to the lights, see if i liked it. Why must they seal it damnit! hehehe Thanks guys. |
i took a couple diferent pairs of mine apart,
thats how i made custom lenses http://www.printroom.com/_vti_bin/Vi...d=1&courtesy=1 http://www.printroom.com/_vti_bin/Vi...d=2&courtesy=1 http://www.printroom.com/_vti_bin/Vi...d=2&courtesy=1 http://www.printroom.com/_vti_bin/Vi...d=4&courtesy=1 |
basically get an exacto (sp?) blade and cut as much of the glue away as you can. The Gently pry it apart a little at a time.
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Clrear Tailights Procedure
http://www.dcee.rotarymaniacs.com/tu...exnewlite1.jpg
http://www.dcee.rotarymaniacs.com/tu...exnewlite2.jpg http://www.dcee.rotarymaniacs.com/tu.../turbotips.jpg Clear Tailights Procedure Pictures and details courtesy of Danny C and his Turbo GSL-SE :) I don't feel like making this a web page so here it is... The taillights are made up of two main pieces - the lens and the plastic housing. In order to make the taillights clear you need to separate the two. First thing to do is completely remove the two taillights. On one taillight it was easy for me because the whole lens actually fell off in the car wash. The other taillight wasn't too bad. The glue that holds the lens to the housing is old and dried up. I pried the two pieces apart very gently. I remember using a screwdriver from the backside of the assembly and prying it between the two. You have to be careful because you can either break the lens or you can scratch the inside of the lens (which shows up on the outside). There is probably a better way, but I don't know of it. Once you have the two apart you can see that there are 3 reflectors/filters inside - yellow (turn signal), red (brake light), and clear (reverse light). I removed these three reflectors completely. I cleaned up my lights and re-assembled them without the reflectors. I used black silicone RTV to glue and clamps to hold the pieces together and let it dry overnight. Since you have removed the color reflectors from the lights you will need to buy red brake bulbs and yellow turn signal bulbs. I got mine from carparts.com. I also removed the rubber trim that goes around the taillights and the center panel. I think it looks better without it. I haven't had any water leakage problems or exhaust fume problems, so I am guessing that the rubber is just for aesthetics and for a backup water/exhaust fume seal. dANNYc |
Re: Clrear Tailights Procedure
http://www.dcee.rotarymaniacs.com/tu.../turbotips.jpg
What are those fittings under the licence plate? Fuel lines? I know it's a GSL-SE but I don't remember the lines running that far back. ~shrugs~ -Error402 |
Re: Re: Clrear Tailights Procedure
Originally posted by error402 What are those fittings under the licence plate? Fuel lines? I know it's a GSL-SE but I don't remember the lines running that far back. ~shrugs~ -Error402 http://www.dcee.rotarymaniacs.com/tu...umpcloseup.jpg http://www.dcee.rotarymaniacs.com/tu...nebaydone2.jpg More Info on the car - Here |
D'oh I'm such an ass. I wasn't even paying attention.
Directfreak thanks. :) Nice looking engine bay. One of these days my will look that nice. :D -Error402 |
Getting those light lenses off is a pain in the ass. I had a Wal-Mart shopping cart come *UP* a hill and roll into the back of my RX four hours after I had it on the road after storing it for the winter (ok, I lie...I was fixing it during the winter :P ). Cracked the plastic lens and orange reflector beneath. It ended up working kind of nicely because they gave me an insurance check for $200. I spent $100 buying an entire car w/ the lens out of a yard and pocketed the other half.
Anyway, I managed to get the lens off of the junker's light assembly with no problem because the glue was all cracked and nappy. No such luck getting the busted lens off my car's though. I tried using a screwdriver and ended up busting the thing into a million pieces during the process of getting it off (true, I wasn't being THAT careful because I never planned on keeping it, but I wasn't trying to break it really either.). I used clear house siding silicon caulk or something to glue the new lens in place and it looks like it's worked perfectly...at least no moisture leaks yet (I guess the cold of winter will be the true test). My bottom line opinion? I'm REALLY not sure I'd mess with it if you don't have a spare. Plastic is pretty unforgiving... |
maybe using a blowdryer on hot setting will help loosen the glue up a bit?
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an exacto knife between the lens and surface it's attached too should work...
Am I wrong here? I wanna do that clear lenz thing, looks spiffy! |
I'm not sure if you could do an exacto knife because I think it's a lipped joint...you'd only get half the glue.
Also, be careful of the clear taillights. The picture posted above look good, but there was another butchered RX7 that looked horrible with them. I think you can only get away with it if you have darker colors... |
Hey Directfreak..how'd you do the RX7 in the center panel??
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Originally posted by mwpayne Hey Directfreak..how'd you do the RX7 in the center panel?? |
Originally posted by The Martyr wait thats right...isn't the SA lens actually held on by screws? If you've got an SA it should be pretty obvious. |
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