Cleared my tail lights!!

[ras2002GT]

I'm pretty new to the forum, but just wanted to say...I cleared my tail lights on my 02 GAGT saturday and it looks sweet!!! I cracked my left one just a little bit, will buy a replacement assembly today from the dealer. It took me about 2 hours to do the left side. But let me let you guys on a little secret to separating the case halves...along with a blow dryer going up and down the case, soak (don't be afraid) the adhesive with MINERAL SPIRITS. My dad told me the lenses are probably held with butile tape. Doing this, the right side took me a whole 15 minutes to do completely. I paid for an education. BTW, where can I get the 3156 amber bulbs for the turn signals? Only amber bulbs I find are the dual filament ones...Help me out please!! My car is going to the body shop this week to get a ram air hood installed & painted side mirrors. Can't wait!! I'll have pics as soon as it is back! Thanks for all the help from everyone that posted tips & tricks on the form.:cheers:

[AaronGAGT]

Nice goin man! I'm gonna try to clear my tails this weekend. Did you just fill up a bucket full of mineral spirits and put the whole assembly in there??

[ras2002GT]

Actuall, I just soaked a shop rag and ran down the seams with it. Take your time with it....go back and forth with mineral spirits & a hot blower dryer. It helps!!

[AaronGAGT]

cool, thanks for the tip, i'll try it out very soon!

[SC/T02]

It did not leave a film or harm the plastic. So you ran paint remover over the seam. Let it soak in for a min. then took a hair dryer, heated it and split it around with a paint scraper? Did it still pop and make crack noises. I want to do this so a little more detail would be great.

[ras2002GT]

Just cause I don't know if there is a difference or not, make sure you use Mineral Spirits...no it did not harm the plastic. Just get a rag and run up and down the seam your're going to do, then heat up, soak it againg with mineral spirits and start a cracking. It took me almost two hours to completely do just the left side (w/o Mineral spirits)...The right side to me only 20 MINUTES!!! with mineral spirts. Some of the plastic around the housing breaks but when you reseal it, it takes care of that problem. You'll still hear noises but make sure you go straight down with the scraper instead of going from left to right. I was going from left to right and put the lens in a bind at one of the corners and cracked it. I used about, I guess, a 3" metal scraper with a nice sharp edge on it to break the seam. Worked great, looks great!

[BrianS]

If you do this method make sure you use Mineral Spirits and NOT Lacquer Thinner. Lacquer Thinner will melt plastic. Just a heads up.

[RamAirGT22]

Mineral Spirits and Paint Thinner are the same animal...

[BrianS]

Originally posted by RamAirGT22
Mineral Spirits and Paint Thinner are the same animal...

yes....but Laquer thinner is something totally different. It's used to thin automotive paints and it will eat thru plastic.