Monday, April 09, 2007 - 10:17 pm, by: Michael Howatt(Howatt)
REAR LIGHTS – CONVERSION OF ORANGE AREA TO CLEAR
Step 1. Remove wire harness and (4) screws in the back (red squares)
Step 2. Remove foam pad
Step 3. Place taillights in oven for 5-6 minutes at 300 degrees (place newspaper under tail light. The rack gets very hot and it’ll melt anything it touches)
Separate the Taillights very carefully, I used a screwdriver to pry it.
Step 4. We’ll be working on the outer lens (orange and red) Mask the sections with painters tape which you don’t want to remove.
Dremel out the orange section. Cut out only where it bends (look at the photo)
Sand edges with 80 grit sand paper
Step 5. Reassemble the whole taillight and place it in the oven for 5-6 mins at 300 degrees, when glue is heated, ziptie the whole taillight together.
Let taillight set for 24 hours. Then remove zipties.
Step 6. Mask area with painters tape to protect the area of the lens that you don’t want to cover with the epoxy.
I used (3) types of sealants (1) Devcon Plastic Welder (2) PC-7 Epoxy (3) Bondo Filler
(1) Mix Devcon Plastic Welder and spread as needed (working time is only 4 min) (2) Mix PC-7 and spread as needed (I use this to cover the most) don’t be afraid to use a lot because we’ll be sanding it down in the next step. Let Plastic Weld and PC-7 Set for 24 hours.
Step 7. Sand and shape with 80 grit paper, I used a palm sander, dremel (for corners and details), then hand sand with 200 grit paper.
Mix Bondo Filler and spread to fill in cracks (working time is only 3 mins) Sand with 200 grit until smooth.
Step 8. Clean lens of all dust.
Paint sanded areas black. I used Krylon Plastic Paint
Let paint dry for 24 hours.
Remove upper masked area (painters tape)
Step 9. Place the plexiglass over the taillight and heat the plexiglass with a heating gun to mold it into the shape.
Step 10. Place the plexiglass over taillight, Mask the plexiglass and use a dremel to cut out the shape that is needed.
Step 11. Mask area with painters tape to protect the area of the lens that you don’t want to epoxy.
Mix Devcon Plastic Welder and spread as needed (working time is only 4 min)
Mix PC-7 and spread as needed (I use this to cover the most) don’t be afraid to use a lot because we’ll be sanding it down in the next step.
(Let Plastic Weld and PC-7 Set for 24 hours.)
Step 12. Sand and shape with 80 grit paper, I used a palm sander, dremel (for corners and details), then hand sand with 200 grit paper.
Step 13. Mix Bondo Filler and spread to fill in cracks (working time is only 3 mins) Sand with 200 grit until smooth.
Step 14. Clean lens of all dust.
Paint sanded areas black. I used Krylon Plastic Paint
COMMENTS I'd definitely make the black lines as small as possible. Also, use the plastic weld to try and mold around the bottom of the plexi to smooth it into the case better. I think the black lines are the only thing messing up the look right now.