I'm very hesitant to pull apart my interior trunk panels to get at the last fasteners that seem to be holding it in place.
What other screws are holding it in place that arent visible from taking off the covers after opening the trunk?

 

well after u take that cover off and take out how ever many screws are on top like 3? dont pull straight out. pull it sideways away from the center piece. good luck. its a pain sometimes.

 

they aren't held in from the trunk. The are on tabs...just grab the light and slide it away from the car. That is the left tail light, slide left. Right, slide right.

or you could do a search on how to remove tail lights, which would have revealed the same answer

 

Yes the hardest part of this is pulling the lights out away from the car it is easy to brake those mounting tabs. That how I got 99 spec ones now.

 

Other than the advice here.....the shop manuals are stickied at the top!

 

Just don't forget to un-screw them, I believe there's two that hold them in place (there's three in somewhat of a right triangle, remove the two closest to the light). Just open the hatch you'll see them, remove them and follow the steps listed by 7racer. You're likely going to have to use some force to slide them out though.

 

I just went through this process installing my new 99 spec tail lights. I unscrewed all three screws that hold the plastic trangular cover on and simply removed it (on both sides, directly above each tail light, you'll see these right away once the rear hatch is open). Once removed, firmly grasp the tail light and push/pull it directly to the right (for the passenger side) or directly to the left (for the drivers side), in any case away from the center mounted third brake light. It does take some effort (depending on if they have ever been off before) but they will come off. Be careful when they do come off not to damage the tail light harness by pulling them to far away from the bumper. Installation is just the reverse of the above.

Good luck.

 

Sweet! thanks fellas. I'll be sure to check out the stickied shop manual!