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Removing Rear Tail Lights and Mid Section

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Old Oct 15, 2008 | 11:38 AM
  #1  
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VA Removing Rear Tail Lights and Mid Section

I need to do the Rear Round Tail Lights and Mid Section Lights.

How difficult is it to remove the Rear Tail Lights and MidSection.

Is there a Procedure Documented?

Thank You.
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Old Oct 15, 2008 | 11:56 AM
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it's easy. These cars ar 15 years old, just about everything is documented if you look.

Anyway, pop the hatch, remove the two bottom most screws on the triangular shaped pieces of plastic. put your hand on the face of the corner lights and slide them away from the mid section. it might take a little effort, don't try too hard, but lean into it a bit. Remove the trim plastic that attaches the center light to the weather stripping. I don't remember, but there might be a few screws here as well. With that removed, there will be 4 8mm nuts exposed. Remove those nights and the center section comes straight up. Undo the clip and voila.
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Old Apr 19, 2009 | 10:26 PM
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Six month old post but may as well add to the archives....even though it's simple.

It's way better to do the middle section first. Removing the four Philip head screws and plastic trim leads to four nuts, but 10mm. The clip can be tough....a small flathead does a good job to pop it out. With this removed, you'll be able to get behind the side lights with better force to slide the them outward carefully.

Thanks for the help though! Just did it today and the lights are ready to be converted......
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Old Apr 20, 2009 | 10:40 AM
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Please do post some pictures after you do the conversion.

Did you go with the one from The RX-7 Store or did you do them yourself?
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Old Apr 20, 2009 | 07:03 PM
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i did mine myself cost 20 bucks to do all with a borrowed heat gun. now i will admit that the circles are not 100% perfect but you can only tell from up close. its an easy process and takes like 2 hours from start to finish.
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Old Apr 20, 2009 | 09:27 PM
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Please do share your pictures.
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Old Apr 20, 2009 | 10:50 PM
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By "ready to be converted"... I meant sending them off to Seven Lust to do it....he has great feedback and pics if you do a search.
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Old Apr 21, 2009 | 10:04 AM
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Seven Lust did mine aswell.

He's probably the best one to do them.


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Old Apr 21, 2009 | 10:08 PM
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i did mine in carbon fiber(sticker). any vinyl shop can make you perfect circles evenly spaced. apply the sticker with windex to center it, and squeegee it out. let dry, reinstall.
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Old Oct 7, 2020 | 06:59 PM
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bump.
how hard do you have to pull to get the rear tail light out?
pulling pretty hard to no avail.
bulb went out and I need to replace but the lamp won't bulge.
i'm specifically pulling to the side and out.
thanks
P
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Old Oct 7, 2020 | 07:23 PM
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It's really very straight forward. I first removed mine back in 2008. 12 years ago. And since then I'm removed them many many times to clean them and change bulbs.

There are a total of 3 screws on each side. You'll need a Philips screw driver.

Once you have loosened them set them aside and there is a hook that you need to pull on.

Yes, working on the FD can be very frustrating.

But removing the rear tail lights is probably one of the easiest things.

I hope you get it removed. Please keep us updated. I'm here to help.
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Old Oct 7, 2020 | 07:48 PM
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The rear tails dont pull off... they slide off. Slide them away from the car and they come out. So push sideways... outward.... east and west. Take the screws out the top first of course
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Old Oct 8, 2020 | 08:37 AM
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Originally Posted by Balefire
bump.
how hard do you have to pull to get the rear tail light out?
pulling pretty hard to no avail.
bulb went out and I need to replace but the lamp won't bulge.
i'm specifically pulling to the side and out.
thanks
P
If they’ve never been out, or not removed for a LONG time dust and a little grit can get into mating surface and make them hard to move. Try running a little hot water down between tailight housing and body and then try sliding them out as cr-rex described. No pulling.
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Old Oct 20, 2020 | 03:45 PM
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Got it out finally.
Helped to remove the center tail light cover and actually push the light out sideways east west.
Might have been the first time it was ever changed lol.
Thx guys
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