my tail light clearing experience, with pics.

INFORMATION G2IC Archives
1

NOTE to view these pictures, right click on them… go to properties, and copy that URL into your browser.

This weekend, i decided to try and clear my tail lights. After i got them out of the car, i preheated the oven to 175 degrees and got started. After about 15 minutes in the oven, the glue was still too cold so i put it up to 190 degrees. Another 15 minutes and the lens came apart from the housing pretty easily. I took out the ugly yellow lens:

http://pic3.picturetrail.com/VOL22/555758/822072/9635163.ptp

Then I applied silicone to the housing and tried to put the lens back in. There was a problem though, the old glue took up a lot of space and the lens would not fit all the way into the housing. I even tried standing on top of the assembly but it didn’t help. So in the end, the lens was sticking out about a quarter of an inch more than it should have been. After it was already together, i noticed that the side of the lens where the gill goes was bent out of shape! I tried to bend it back and it just snapped on me! So i had no choice but to glue it back on with crazy glue:

http://pic3.picturetrail.com/VOL22/555758/822072/9635137.ptp

http://pic3.picturetrail.com/VOL22/555758/822072/9635157.ptp

It looked pretty bad. I decided to just go to sleep and continue the next day.l

I figured out that the reason that part of the lens bent, was because it was laying directly on the rack when it was in the oven. Of course the metal would be a lot hotter than the air in the oven and therefore, the lens bent out of shape. On my secont tail light, i put a piece of wood under that part of the tail so it wouldnt be in contact with the rack and it worked wonderfully. When i pried it apart, i also took off the excess glue with an exacto knife. This helped the lens fit back into the housing better. This time it fit back in perfectly. The second tail light came out great.

When i was installing the lights back in, the bent piece broke off, so i just said screw it. im gonna try and bend it back into shape. I put it in the oven for a while and tried to get it back to its original form. Of course, it was impossible, but it did look better than before:

http://pic3.picturetrail.com/VOL22/555758/822072/9636782.ptp

http://pic3.picturetrail.com/VOL22/555758/822072/9636773.ptp

Since the lens was sticking a little bit though, when i tried to install the light back in, it didnt fit all the way in and left a gap between the light and the car by where that broken piece is. I had to use two layers of weather stripping in order to fill that gap and stop my car from getting flooded. You can see the weather stripping in the first pic, even though i went over it with a black marker.

So in the end, here is what my car looked like:

http://pic3.picturetrail.com/VOL22/555758/822072/9638499.ptp

I hope this helps some people out in the future.
and also.

2

Doesnt look that bad compared to mine. its always tough the first time you try to open these taillights. I cracked my passenger taillight in 3 places cause i tried to rush thru it. And im not even done yet, ima leave the silicone for tommorow.

3

ouch man… you gotta be patient!! I was patient, but I was stupid. You learn from your mistakes! I guess we can be broken tail light buddies at the northeast meet :wink:

4

looks sharp bud. i didn’t have a prob. with mine bending on the rack. which silicon did you use. some are better than others.

5

ull probably laugh when u see mine. i did a shitty job on my lights. if i had a scanner i would show. the lens is cracked through the reverse light, the left side brake light, and a little minor one on the side.

BTW, what kind of silicone did u use??

6

i used permatex clear RTV silicone. Bought it at the Kmart in elmwood park for like 3$.

7

try to find anyone in ur town who wants to buy some altezzas; preferably someone with 92-93 stock taillights. I wanna sell my taillights already…

how many integras are there over there in ur town? i dont know if you pass through paterson, but there are alot over here. and i mostly know all of them that live around downtown, south p, and union ave. ima try to bring them to the meet but i know some wont come because alot are going down to wildwood

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i think im the only one in my town with this teg that modifies it. so i doubt you will have luck. Try ebay.

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atopps: What’s the year of your car? 92-93 ?

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yes, its a 92