Well i am in the middle of clearing out ym tails. I can't believe i haven't done this earlier. Well i got my buddy and we each took a hairdryer (moms and sisters) and each took 2 sides! After 20 mins of heaitng and messing with my house's surge protectors i got the two pieces to come apart, pretty easy up to that point!!
MY Question--
What methods have the guys out there used in cutting the florescent light covers? I mean they crack and are sooo brittle with scissors...Lemme know what u guys thikn,
i'll also post some pics of the mod---Looks great, and it only costs 3.69 for the piece from Home Depot!

 

I wouldnt remove the lower red reflector thats to the side. I did and I think it looks wierd, cause I had to put in a red 194 bulb. I'm just too lazy to redo it though, even though I cracked 2 of my lenses in the process.
Also, instead of clearing just 2 of the outer lights, I'd clear all 4 lights, so that they will match perfectly. Whether you decide to use the florescent light covers or not. I didnt bother with the florescent light covers.

 

ericdwong- what was your method for clearing?

 

Those red lenses on the sides look ugly to me. I like mine clear all the way around. And for the bulbs that lit up those red side pieces, I just took em out, makes the whole piece an amber turn signal. I have pics of my rear clear on my homepage if you'd like to see.

 

I left the red part in the housing...I figure it's there for a reason and so it stays. As for cutting the lenses, heat the lense before you cut. This will prevent it from cracking as you cut. Then heat the cut outs and bend to match the amber ones you took out.

 

Looks much better if you unplug or remove the 194's that light up the small red part.

 

I had the same trouble as you did with cutting them... Scissors and knives really didn't help out much... But I ended up using a dremel tool ( if thats how you spell it)
After that it was clear sailing.

 

dremel tool is the way to go, quick, easy, and clean.

 

I didnt even use a heatgun, I used my girl's (at the time) high powered hair dryer :-). The pain in the *** part was actually getting the lenses off the car. I have a humongous subwoofer that sits in my trunk so I couldnt get in there to push with my feet. I took a hammer to the lens studs to push out the lenses. Then, use foil and cover up the rubber parts so they wont dry out due to the heat. Heat evenly around the lens until it pops out. DO NOT FORCE! This is the mistake I made on lens 1 and 3 and wound up cracking the damn things. Also, do not apply concentrated force in one area. Always spread out the pressure. After that, heat the amber piece just a little and then pop it out. I didnt bother with the florescent lenses, but I cleared out all 4 rear lights (removed clear diffusors from center reverse lamps). You can pretty much see the guts of the tail lights now, which I think looks pretty good.

As for the reflectors, yes you can remove the lower one cause there is still a top one that functions as a reflector. I put in a red 194 bulb to where the reflector used to be. I think it looks kinda funny at night cause the light is slightly pink and now the lower 1/2 the lamp glows pinkish too. O well it isnt that bad...

 

when i removed that piece i put some red reflective vinyl just in case a cop wants to give me a hard time. i didn't use the flourescent covers because they were a ***** to cut out, ans they didn't match the reverse light covers. i just cleared everything and left it clear...it looks nice to me.

 

Hey ericdwong can you post the pic of your new tailz?