Clearing taillights

[jmgladden]

Last night I went ahead and cleared one of my taillights. Didn't take too long, just a bit messy with the dremel tool and all that black adhesive.

My question to all of you who have done this to your car. How did you clean out the lense once you were done breaking all the pieces out? My lense was full of yellow dust and a couple small pieces got stuck in the corner.

Any ideas would be great!

~Jonathan

[Mrcoilover]

Originally posted by jmgladden
Last night I went ahead and cleared one of my taillights. Didn't take too long, just a bit messy with the dremel tool and all that black adhesive.

My question to all of you who have done this to your car. How did you clean out the lense once you were done breaking all the pieces out? My lense was full of yellow dust and a couple small pieces got stuck in the corner.

Any ideas would be great!

~Jonathan

Mine did the same thing. I tried to blow it out w/ a can of air spray.....
didn't work. I just left mine like it was. Not too bad unless you really
look at it.

[freaktroll]

Yeah, I just tried to blow it all out. It got rid of all of the dust, and the small pieces i just shaked it until it was clean. I have a few scratches on the inside of the lens from trying to get that orange thing out though. Damn that was a pain in the butt.

[Mrcoilover]

YEAH I got some scratches on the driver side (1st side attempted) and
it is not too bad on the other. It is not as simple as they say it is. I
still haven't got to the front yet. Can't even get to the infamous "3rd bolt". Have you tried it yet.

[freaktroll]

OH, and for all of the little pieces stuck in the corners and stuff, what i did was kindof flex the tail light (squeeze it together, almost try to bend it, and start to shake it out) and that will open up the gap a tad so the piece isn't wedged in there, or get it closer to where you can fish it out with a folded up piece of paper. I guess the dust wasn't really a problem with me, I just blew into it a couple times and it was fine. I think the process took me about 4 hours to complete with a dremel! I kind of messed up on the second light and didn't drill enough holes so it took way too long! I was really anal about getting every little orange piece out though (that probably took about an hour).
Good luck though.
JP

[jmgladden]

I am going to do the other taillight tonight at the front corners this weekend. Now that I know what I am doing, it shouldn't take as long. My friends have all sorts of freaky tools, so I am sure we will get that third bolt no prob.

I didn't get any sratches on the lense, just a few small ones right at the entrance of the hole. Can't really notice it at all because the bulb is there. Plus, nobody is going to notice unless they are up close and looking for it. Looks great from a few feet back.

~Jonathan

[Mrcoilover]

well tell me how that 3rd bolt goes.

[freaktroll]

Yeah, I thought the front were a little easier. The bolts are really tricky though. What I did was just fish around a bit with my hand on the back of the headlight housing. You can feel the bolt side sticking out pretty far. It almost feels like it should be something to adjust the aim of the headlight. It is back there, kind of in between the top screws, but at the bottom of the housing. Like i said, its just kind of sticking out. You cant see it, so you have to feel for it. Once you get all three out, its kind of tricky because it is still attached by these plastic threads, so you have to pull pretty hard. It feels like there are still screws attaching it to the car, but once you get it off once, it comes off much easier after that. Make sure to pull it straight out, and kind of watch the bottom edge of the housing. It has a tendency to rub on the bumper when you try and pull it out, and it will rub the paint right off of your bumper! Just a little tip to avoid frustration.
JP

[greekman]

has anyone done this on a p10. if so, or for you p11er's, what all is intalled in doing this. what needs to be bought, used, tools needed, difficulty (on a p10), etc... i had thought about doing this, but i don't want my car to look too ricey, so i wanted to see some pics before.

[redvalkrie]

Tool's needed:
Ratchet
Extension atleast 1"
10mm deep socket
10mm socket
a lot of pacience & a helper with long skinny fingers is good!

The nut on the passengers side is a bitch I had to do it twice 2 G's in the fam it looks clean now.

MY first pair came out better than the second, I tried something new with the second.
I got it all out then heated the lights to soften the glue, it work except you have to put in spacers so the glue wont stick together again use some cardboard to separate it, work your way around the hole light it takes a lot of patience so take your time I got in-patient since it was my first time & beleive me Nissan/Infiniti loves that adhesive that stuff is gooped in there good so I ended cracking both but I got the culpret out.
I will show you guys what tha dame freaking piece looks like intact.
(I have to buy new marker lights now)

Got to buy my Digi cam still!

[jmgladden]

Well, this weekend I decided to finish the rear of the car and possibly do the front. Boy did I make a mistake there.

First off, I didn't even get close to attempting the front end of the car. I had already done the passenger taillight with essentially no problems. Took about an hour or so. Well then I did the driver side, which literally kicked my ass. I am drilling little holes all along the front of the reflector in order to break some of it out. Well when I when to break it out, I ended up driving a philips head screwdriver through the entire lense. I was so pissed off that I threw the damn taillight across the backyard and completely shattered it against the wall.

So, I make a quick trip to Infiniti of Scottsdale where I purchase a new one for $68.74 after tax. Not to bad, but I was still pissed. So later that night I attempted it again. I didn't break the lense, but I did break a small bit of the back where the bulb would go. I simply applied some super glue and everything was okay. However, what I didn't realize was that some of the super glue had run down into the taillight and dried a nasty white on the silver reflector.

From a distance it is hardly noticeable, you would have to be looking for it. Up close it looks kinda bad. Maybe when I have $68 lying around sometime I will try it again.

So, be careful when you attempt this! It could be quite costly.

~Jonathan