Right, well as the title states, I'm trying to remove the tail light covers, as they seem to have gotten a little dirty inside over the years. I've looked under the bumper, but they dont seem to mount there. I'm assuming they're mounted behind the carpet in the hatch(its an 84 gsl-se btw) but I wanted to check before I tear the whole back apart. Are they a fairly easy removal? just need a run down, thanks

 

10mm deep socket, right behind the carpet, but there are several around the corner that are a bitch, you will have to remove the plastic quarter pannels to gain more room

 

you can do it without removing those panels just be creative! Be really careful not to break those lenses though! You could always refer to the dirt as a "tinted" lens

 

right on with the avatar... you a member of the imperial navy too?

 

I do not know if it is possible to remove just the lens from the taillight assembly. I attempted it not too long back and almost busted the lens. It appears as if the two units are welded/glued in some way. I know at first glance it looks as if they snap on but it is a pain to try and get a small flat screwdriver on there to pry without breaking anything. If there is a trick to it, I want to know as well.

 

belive its easier to remove the center section first when removing the taillights.
Lovin your avatar as well.

 

Agreed^^^^^

 

The two lenses are glued together and they can be seperated. I did it when doing my taillights(see avatar). It takes a little bit of force but it can be done without breaking them.

 

Best bet is to remove the assembly from the interior first, by taking off those bolts. I made the mistake of simply trying to pry the lens covers off and ended up damaging them slightly. The lens cover itself is held in by old glue and the rubber "gasket" material, and also a small plastic bead that penetrates the housing. Its basically a ball-on-stick arrangement, and this is why you should pop the lens off from the inside first, as this piece will break very easily if you try to yank it off.

Its pretty simple, but I'm having trouble explaining it... hope that helps.

 

awsome, that definately helps a lot. Thanks for the input eveybody

 

It seems I will have to try again. Any suggestions as to what section to begin prying from to avoid damage to the lense?

 

When I did this, I found that it separated easily enough when I heated the seam with a hair dryer and pried with a butter knife. Go slow, start at the center of the narrow ends of the assembly and you'll do fine. I even managed to not only save the original gaskets but they cleaned up as well using the heat technique.

 

I pulled them apart starting from the end of the lense towards the center plate and just take your time

 

I have been wanting to remove those damn covers too, but never have the time. However, I did practice on taking the lenses off soon after I bought the car, and found that using a heavy duty X-Acto knife (with new blades) heated to almost glowing with a propane torch cut easily through the old glue. Go slowly and you should be ok. Oh, and a question to other members...Is inhaling the toxic smoke from the melting glue a bad thing?

 

Is inhaling the toxic smoke from the melting glue a bad thing?

I would assume so !!!!

 

Thanks for the advise guys, I will be attempting this next week.

 

Yeah, I was just kidding about the smoke thing. Although that would explain why I can suddenly read the minds of animals....