Ok,

The question of the day is...

How in the hell do I get the tail lights out of an S13 Coupe?

I've removed the inner section with the bulbs, the trim section (where it says 240SX), and all the bolts (6, I believe) I can find holding the lenses in. The things wont budge even after a nice round with a rubber dead blow mallet. Anyone have any advice on getting these things out? I'd like to get then loose so I can spend some time polishing them up correctly. It looks like they are RTV Silicone'd in or something.

 

sledge hammer works best

 

Got them out with some pulling. They are held in with some sort of tar adhesive. Took some WD40 to the tar after pulling the lights and they are out and clean.

 

the "tar" thing is whats used to seal the taillights...

 

I dont know how it is on the fastbacks, but the tail lights on the coupe are made of two seperate parts. The one you see from the outside is a set of lenses and they pass through holes in the rear of the car and are bolted into the car and sealed to the back of the car by that ugly "tar" stuff. The actual bulbs are in a grey tray that locks into the light housing and is accessable from inside the trunk.

When I replace the tail lights after painting, I plan on using some good high quality RTV and make a real gasket that goes around the lenses and hole in the car. I dont think that that tar stuff is the best sealnt out there. There must be a better way.

Please ignore the crap in the trunk. Its been temp. storage since I dont have a ton of room to store parts I pull off of the car.

 

you can get the tar stuff from a local dealership fairly cheap. if you can't find that, there's another sealer that works just as well but i can't remember the name right now. the problem with rtv and silicons, is that over time they become brittle, flake, and develop cracks, which results in leaks. it won't happen over nigh or anything like that so you could use rtv and it should work fine for some time though.

btw i have to disagree about the tar not being the best sealant, it retains all of it's original properties very well over time and imo it is the best.

 

lol at the fact that you still have an exhaust on the car.

 

Check the build thread on the family fool!

 

I did right after I posted that. lol. kinda funny.

 

the stuff i was thinking of is actually called, "the right stuff". i haven't used it but from what i've been told it's better than any rtv.

 

Body Shop instructor at my college called the crap DumDum, said I should be able to get it at NAPA and should use only that stuff. RTV would mount them permanetly.

 

if you don't mind i'd like to see some pictures during and after the install along with you're impression of this stuff. like i said, i haven't used it personally nor have i seen the results, i've only heard about if from others.

 

i put the fanboi dmax tails on my car & encountered that stuff when removing the originals. its messy stuff. but my tails came with this thick foam tape stuff where the factory goo used to seal the tails. it has worked great soo far (4mo's) i even spray the car down with a pressure washer @ my job regularly & have yet to see condensation building up inside the lenses