Im in the process of tinting my tail lights, and while doing so, I've noticed that the reflective paint inside the tail light is rubbing off (cleaning and wet sanding the light uses a lot of water, so naturally, it comes off).

Anyway, mine look as though they are glued together, but still have areas where they snap together.


Perhaps the better question would be "how can I repaint the inside a reflective color, without taking it apart, and without painting the lens cover mistakingly..

 

pull em apart carefuly they will seperate once all the screws are out and the tabs are lifted. they should not be glued but stuck on the seal tape that is on em. then you can clean and paint and polish all ya want.

Jefff

 

Im hesitant to do so. I fear that some goober had an AOTDA (attack of the dumb ***) and tried to seal them or something. This **** is thick.

Does anyone else have pics of their tail lights apart (camaro tail lights)

 

Its probably just the seal tape, try taking the screws and lift the tabs and see if it doesnt start to pop out... if you have to you can always dremel it but youd have to glue em back, just be careful not to crack them in the process

 

Hey omni, I finally got mine off with some trouble. This is what I did. I sprayed around the seal with WD40 not sure if this is even needed but I did it to help loosen up the bond. Then I used needle nose pliers to push the 2 upper plugs together and push them out. Then I started on the side of the taillight where the license plate is. I used a small flat head screw driver to push in between the crease and turn a little to loosen up the bond. I did this every half inch or so and it started to loosen. Once it starts loosening here its simple going along the edge of the rest of it too slowly pull them apart. Mine were horribly stuck together. Be really carefull not to pull up on the actual plastic part of the two bottom clips because I broke one. Just push the black piece in pretty hard and it'll go. I used 3m plastic polish to do both inside and out. The inside was in good shape so I only did one swipe. I also polished the actual part that reflects the light and wow. The light is 5X brighter and you can actually see straight thru it to see some of the inside of the housing. Lemme know if this helps you man.

 

Hell yeah that helps, appreciate the info.. did you repaint the reflective area? Im looking to repaint that with something highly reflective. Seriously thanks for the effort, i'll give it a try tonight and let you know the results.

 

The reflective part was in pretty decent shape due to the fact that my taillights probably have never been opened for the 14 years its been a car. I just cleaned them real good with windex and used 3M plastic polish to run over it and got a really good shine out of it. I hooked them up to my other IROC to see how shiney they are and wow. They are unbeleivable brighter then the non polish lights on it. Take a look I don't think they'll be bad enough you need to repaint.

 

Another quick note. I put them back together probably withing 1 hr 1/2. This way that sealant around the beam wouldn't lose its adhesiveness and not seal good. I'll take some pics tonight when I get the digital camera home and show you how they look.

 

would that work with the 91-92 grid style taillights?

 

Please do... im eager to see the results...

 

Mine are the 89 Grid styles. I think the 91-92 are identical correct?

 

this what you want to see?

 

Damn I could only wish mine looked soo good.. going to need a scrub down and repaint. Seriously looking into som chrome paint.. whatever is most reflective.

 

nice job got any pictures of the lenses?

 

http://www.alsacorp.com/ChromeFX.html

doestn' get much closer to chrome...

 

Yah' and its cheap too

 

yep

 

here is the completed lens... that was some cheapy silver paint i think it worked just fine. chrome would be nice too.

this is after polishing and repaint with fusion black for the grids came out super

i used eastwood plastic polish with a buffing wheel, but there are other ways out there too that work just as well.

Jeff

 

now thats a nice job:hail:

 

OK.. got the lens apart... need to find some replacements for those screws as they were too far gone to save. What did anyone else use to put the lights back together ?

Also.. any good rattle can paint I can use... or something I can get in the store..

 

Perhaps I should say "I got one lens apart".. the other one is being a biach. Can anyone recommend a chemical to chew up this bonding agent?

 

Try a very small amount of paint thinner or adhesive remover, only on the part that's sealed.
I just had mine apart & painted the amber part red. And polished them.

 

is that to remove the lense or just to clean them? becouse i want to make a pair that has the looks just like the back up lenses all the way across becouse i have a white car.