well, today i sat down to clear my tails, getting them off the car was easy enough, but when i started heating i screwed up. first i got warping in 2 spots even after sweeping motion and thats not the worst part. after trying desperately for 2 hours to get the housign and lens apart i put a nice little crack onthe op left hand corner. perfect day ...now i need to go to a junkyard, and find a pass side tail light so i can clear it and install it, and figure out a way to make the install easier and do it on my drivers side...damn i really screwed up on such a simple job

 

ahahahaha, that stinks, eh?
J/K

 

You should try baking it in the oven for 5-10 minutes at 200 degrees. That will warm it up evenly and help keep from warping particular areas.

 

now he tells

 

He's right, only I used almost 250 deg. in the oven. Leave it in there for at least 15 min. It comes apart like butter!

 

what? that won't melt the housing at all leavin it in the oven for that long?? i think i am gonna try to get a junked pair of 97+ taillights cause i am to much of a punanny to try it on my own. DAMN you SPRINT why can't u just clear my tails

 

No it doesn't melt at 250 deg. you can even place it on a dish towel placed in a cookie sheet. Nice flat surface. I've done several tails like this, they come apart like butter that way.

 

i will attempt this once i get home later because right now i am stranded at school....anyone know about how i can fix the little crack? i was using a butter knife to try and pry away the lens from housing and heard a small crack, i look down and see a small piece hanging by the rubber molding, it isnt very noticeable....perfect ending to a perfect weekend ....anyways, how long should i keep it in the oven for? and is it 200 degress? and also any other advice would help seeing as the first time i attempted this i got warping in 2 small spots and a nice crack as mentioned before...if anything i will have to go to a junkyard this weekend and work on those but most likely todya after school on my stock ones...thanks

Mike

 

well there you go. Now all of you dont have to use the heat gun. I first time I melted mine with the heat gun. Ohhwell

 

Fix your crack with crazy glue.

 

Just practice using the already broken one. Your gonna replace it anyway.

 

so what do you do after you heat the lights up?..can you give me step by step instructions??

 

http://www.seas.ucla.edu/~cheston/rearlights.htm

 

You shouldn't use a heatgun, just a hairdryer. It worked really well for me. Just have to be a little patient.

 

i have a 95 maxima....can someone give me instructions on clearing those?

 

I am leaving in about 30 min to go attempt this again, I will just use the oven and hope it will come out alright. Also, if it comes out alright with the tial light that has a small crack in it I will just use that one. No point of buying another tail light if it looks good and is barely noticeable unless pointed out when I can buy other mods etc. Thanks for the help guys and if all works out in a few hours I will be posting pics. Thanks

Mike

 

You can't. You'll have to buy the clear tails and paint the lower section red to get the red/white tails.

Only 97-99 can remove the orange in the lenses.

 

Please post how it worked, I plan on clearing mine this week and the oven trick sounds like the easiest way. I did just buy a heat gun, so I will probably use that to. BTW if you want a cheap heat gun look in the paint department, sears had an $80 heat gun with the tools, but a $20 and $25 heat guns in the paint dept. The $20 one only has one setting, the $25 one has two.

 

First time I tried mine, I cracked the right one on the inside corner too. It was small enough that I didn't really care about it, and some nice fellow rear ended my car when it was parked and ran away afterwards , so it was replaced with insurance after 4-6 months of it being broken. Hope yours doesn't get replaced that way, it kind of sucks

 

i have not met or seen anyone who cleared out the tails with out cracking them.

 

I did mine this weekend and I was applying to much pressure to the corner of the tail light and it broke off. I used some crazy glue and fixed it up the best I could. I can notice it because its my car, but I have to point it out to others. Its just one, so I might go to the salvage yard and get a right side tail light. Anyone have any idea how much that will cost?? Thanks, its also good to know that I'm not the only one that screwed up.

 

use oven for 300 degrees at 5 minutes and re-heat when id cools down. it works perfect. 250 for 15 will work too. but 300 for 7 minutes max will work fine too.

 

Me Too
Cracked my drivers side lens
Used the clear "super" glue and it is not noticeable...except to me of course.

 

Well, I cleared one side and looks good but I will do it over in th next few days. Reason is I cut the plastic but got chips and ridges and isnt as even as I want it. So, tomorrow friend is bringing ovr dremel tool and doing all my lights. Also, do use the oven, i udes the heat gunand couldnt get them apart, all I did was crack the tail. Also, I am glad I am not the only one who cracked it, as said no one can see it after I superglued it or even takes notice to it, but I know its there, and last night I could barely sleep thinking about that crack hehe...so, I am nto going to buy other tails becasue it is a hassle to do this so many times, and I need the $ for otehr more worthwhile mods. I wil just finish this up by doing all the lights including center, and use a dremel tool. Honestly, if I were to do this over, I would just buy them from greg, reason because I burnedout a heat gun which I have to replace for $60 and cracked my stock tails...also the time etc. Thanks and when done I will post pics

 

I cracked a little peice on 2 of my lenses, but I used epoxy to put them back on.

 

One down, one to go, and I didn't crack the first one , but I probably just jinxed myself.

I put the tail light in the oven at 200 for about 8 minutes, very hot to the touch and glue was getting soft. After worked on the lense for a few minits I set the temp to 225 and put it back in for 10 minutes. Burned myself on the tail light and went to look for gloves. The lense came off pretty eaisily with about 5 minutes of slowly prying, no heat gun.

Timer just went off, gotta go get the other one out of the oven.

 

And people say Max owners don't know how to cook

And on another note, some of those sig's are not MedicSonic approved, you need that stamp of proof.

 

Do you pre heat the over so that you put it in when it is already 200 degrees or what not? Or do you turn it to 200 put it in at the beggining so that it gradually heats up to that point? Did you have to tin foil the other part that you have to with the heat gun? Also did you use flurecent light covering to use as your clear part? How did you attach it to the top piece once the orange was seperated?

SuDZ

 

Ditto, I have the same exact questions.

But I think I know the last. You're supposed to still use the original glue when you removed the orange piece, to put the clear piece in.

 

I was about to take on the clearing tailights project today but I decided to paint my nasty chrome grille black instead

I have a question regarding clearing tails....
How easy is it to clear away that little red piece all the way in the corner of the light where it curves??? I see that some people left it and I think it looks way better without it... maybe i'm just picky, but is it harder to remove or what?

 

You sig has a 99 se-l, Green with beige interior. Yet, the picture is different.

 

i know..its stock so at least once i get my mudflaps in and paint them, and put on my clear corenrs i will take pics and use them as my sig...till then im using my friends 3rd gen..

 

You just have to take out one phillips head screw to get the read part out, I think theres a little glue there but if the whole thing is warm you will barly feel it.

The clear pice just kind of stays in under pressure, if you take your tails apart, cut a piece and stick it in there you will see what I mean.

My tails came apart very easily after about 15 minutes at 225 degrees.

The hardest part by far was cutting the clear lense, I cut at least 10 for the left side. The best method I came up with was to warm it with the heat gun, then cut it with sharp sizzors. The ideal cutting temp was about 2 seconds away from the melting and sagging temp. I only did about an inch at a time, heating then cutting. With two people it would probably be a lot easier, one person coould hold the heat on it while the other person cut.

I thought doing the second one would be easier after all the practice I had, but I was wrong. After cutting 5 pieces I was running out of patience and clear lens. I finaly ended up using a piece that had a small gap at the bottom , it's hard to see from more than 5 feet away, but I will probably redo it in the spring.

To bad the cleared ones cost $200, I would have gladly paid $100 for a set done perfectly, but for $200 I will spend a couple hours of agravation to do it myself. If we could just get the guy who sells the cleared tails to sell the pre-cut lenses for like $10-20 it would be sweet. I would buy them in a second and redo my tails. I think I will send greg an Email and see if this is possible.

Now I just have to find some yellow bulbs, none of the auto parts stores have them and the local 'rice shop' will order the but they are $7. Sombody suggested wal-mart, I'll try there tomorrow.

 

if you have access use a soldering iron and jsut melt away the template...the way i did it was i didnt have a soldering iron and had to sit there with a heat gun first heating the blade of a utility nife then going into plastic and repeatin thi sliek 40 times...still came out liek **** and i am re-doing all of this. i will also knwo to use an oven which i wish i neew before i did this onteh first tail light....all of thsi cost me over $100 becaus ei need ot replace someones ehat gun, materials etc and my time..id recomend jsut buying from greg and doignthe inner parts myself..this wekeend when i havre more time i will do all lightsi ncluding centers with a dremel tool and aid of someone hopign it will come out perfect. thanks

Mike

 

Do yourselves a favor and go buy a $40 rechargeable Dremel. It only took me two trys to cut a useable lens and the other side was easy after that. It's a bit tricky getting a good fit and I couldn't imagine trying it sans Dremel. Good luck.

Miguel

 

I used a Dremel myself. The piece was cut almost perfect!!

 

I did pre heat the oven, if you do not pre heat it the heating element stays on for like 10 minutes straight and I thought that would cause more problems then putting them into a hot oven. I did not cover anything, just put them in lens side down on a cookie sheet with some rags on it.

If I attempt to cut a better piece I will probably buy a dremel, and do it on a hot day. It seems heat makes every part of this job easier. If it works easier with a Dremal I might do the baxck up lights to, so they match exactly. Did you guys who used dremels heat the lens material up in any way?

 

Ever use a dremel? Plastic is nothing. It'll cut right through your car. I used mine to modify my trunk when I installed my Spoiler. It'll cut right thru steel. Great tool. Heat will not be needed.

Miguel

 

Yes, same here. The Dremel will cut through plastic like butter and knife. However, the edges will not be smooth. You will have to smooth it out using sand paper.

Maybe I was using the wrong tip to cut the lens? I used the brown, sand-paper like circle...
What did you guys use?

 

I used the cutting discs and finished up with the sanding attachment.