tail light fixing options

i have a small crack in my tail light, it is near the top edge on the driver side lens. its not all that bad, but im worried that it will grow and ruin the light. what options do i have to fix this? if i got some sealant would it make the crack less visible? would the sealant cause a change in the lense so the light wouldnt get through the same and look weird?

your ideas/experiences?

my advice to you is to SLOWLY close your hatch from now on, we used to have another crx it had a small crack on the drives lamp too anyway it got reealy bad from the vibration while closing the hatch..
im sure if you go to an auto part store theres got to be somthing for it

does anyone have any experience fixing cracks in tail lights? im sure its neither difficult nor costly, but i dont wanna mess em up cuz they arent exactly common or cheap lights.

lots of looks, no suggestions or experiences? i guess im the only one who has had cracked tail lights :frown:

well, i dont think there's too much you can do to prevent the cracking - especially after years of aging. Your best bet would be to look in a number of classifieds and on ebay for someone selling aftermarket or stock tails. I was looking for taillights for my sedan and found quite a few stock lights for the hatchback and crx that were decently priced in the 20-40 dollar a pair range.

I found someone who'd sell me 89 sedan tails without the center middle piece, but he wants $100 (shipping included) and he doesn't even have a cam to show me pics, what a joke :O

i should have clarified, the light that has the crack is an aftermarket clear lens. thats why im worried about it, cuz it looks to be right through the lens, and if it spreads im gonna be pissed cuz they werent cheap, and they're not easy to replace.

im thinking that im going to check out some glass repair place and ask them what they think, and if it seals well and looks fine still, i'll be happy and leave em, but if it looks funny then i'll do some paint on them to cover it.

thanks for your input.

just curious, but what kind of aftermarket tails do you have?? atteza or what ever there called are pretty cheap and common, or you talking about these ones
http://files.automotiveforums.com/gallery/watermark.php?file=/500/2467778769.JPG

"these ones"

altezzas need a new name, like "cheapgayaz"

seems like everyone with a car and $50 goes for the fancy chrome-look tails, very custom.

ya sorry its not that big of a pic, anyway i like the all clear ones even tho most people dont, piggies arnt too found of them either :( dont you get pulled over alot?

to be honest with you, im only in the 'admiring of them' stage, i had to do some drilling to make em fit, and i dont wanna put em on and have a red center panel, it looks funny. i dont have the clear center, so im gonna be buying a new center panel and painting it to match my car, then i dunno if im gonna do a thin black outline around them to cover the crack.. im considering my options.

i'll be right pissed if i get pulled over, i've poured time and money into my shit.

i've heard that you can be legal with red reflectors on the car at the back... im gonna just push it and hope nothing happens.

my plan is to always have em on so theres some red shining through at all times. im in saskatoon, SK, canada.. not LA, so i might not have any troubles.. you'll be damn sure to hear from me if i do!!

i take it you had some papers handed your way with yours on?

fix it ticket's :( so i painted my old ones red and poped them back on...for now :evillol:

how often did you get pulled for the lights and how much were they?

what kinda bulbs did you have in yours, i have some led's, i think they're 1157's or something like that, supposed to be 2057, but the 1157's work and are a little brighter.

did you have trouble with fitting them on your car? i had to drill my car a bit, and im drilling another hole in the lights to fit the far side parking light.. otherwise theres just nowhere for it to go. these lights have been way more of a pain in the ass than i expected, but it'll be worth it when i have them all finished up.

well pretty much when ever a cop was behind me
most of the time they jut gave me warning's, but the first time he called like 4 other cop cars!! they look under your hood like they know what doing, hassle you, waste your time blah blah... after that most of them remembered me and dont pull me over for no reason anymore, i took them off because i dont want some doush who stopped me last month and told me to take them off already so im not gona push my luck for now. they went too much $ just a hassle

i got them for like 120 shipped new

i used my stock ones for a lilttle while then painted them with a red sharpie ;) didnt work burned up the colors

no they poped right on without any modifications, probably differnt becuase you got a hatch ?

yea, mine i had to widen the holes on my car to make the screws all line up so they are snug against the car. i was really expecting it to just bolt up like stock, but everything hasta be a pain in the ass!

i got mine for like 115+shipping from idaho, and canadian customs was like $50, and i wasnt really expecting that. so i'm really hoping no cops give me shit.

so what bulbs did you use after your stock ones fried the colour you put on?

the led's im using are slightly too wide for the holes in the lights, so im gonna hafta do some forcing, lol. it should look really sweet tho. when i have them all finished i'll get some pics for everyone to see. for now i gotta deal with my cv boot bullshit, so things are getting backed up a bit to get the important stuff done.

haha, the bulbs are fine just the red burnt off so its clear agian.
did you crack yours trying to put them in or you got them used?

i got em on ebay, and they were described as "new" but thats obviously bullshit cuz of the crack and one of the screws had been broken off and then glued back on. the person claimed to not know much about them. i really wanted some clears, so i went for it cuz the pic looked good, but good ol ebay allows some bs to slip through.

so you never got coloured bulbs for your clear tails? im not sure if i follow you on that.

i didnt have them on long enough! i every other night i re colored them, i was planning on getting some colored ones but didnt keep them on long enough, i got the amber colored turning singal ones tho.

plus at night they were fucking pink! laame

yea man, thats why im getting these sweet led's they're monochromatic so the colour will always be solid red, and they're bright and they shoot the light straight out the back, so it'll look crazy.
but i gotta poo, back in a few. :werd:

hey, i just found an old pic with the lights installed and acually visible :icon16:
http://files.automotiveforums.com/gallery/watermark.php?file=/500/246777clear_tails.jpg

nice, i like those tail lights best of all the aftermarket replacements.

too bad 4th gens dont get more to choose from. not to mention those clear ones are illegal now.. if my stock lights werent all cracked and worn out i'd keep em, but the clear ones also give a nice custom look. should be nice on white too i think.

what do you think of making the center piece white to match my car and then making a small white outline on the clear side lights?

i was also thinking of painting the center black and doing a black outline on the clear sides.

if only i could photoshop to see how it would look on my car....

hmmm.. personaly i would rather make the center while and leave the side lights all clear

just my opinion tho

chances are im just going to leave the clears, at least for a while.

should i be sealing them with something so they dont get moisture and crap in them? any tips from experience?

just put some clear silicone stuff around the sides and you should be fine

is that what you did? what stuff would you suggest exactly?

my brother did when he got some aftermarket lights and they didnt leak..ill have to ask him brand tho

cool, that would be awesome if you could find that out. im just not sure what will work and hold up for a long time cuz i dont want it to look bad or wear out.

thanks man