Can someone please post the procedure that has done this. What is used to reglue? This is much appreciated.:smile:
Splitting the tail lights apart??
- Thread starter davidf
- Start date
I looked but maybe I missed it. Will look further. Thanks.:smile:
http://www.nsxprime.com/forums/showthread.php?t=67292&highlight=center+tail+light
It's actually pretty easily. Just boil some water in a pot large enough to dip the the tail light. Bring the water to a high boil and then dip the tail light. Let it soak for a while and try to pry it apart. You can also use a hairdryer at this point to loosen it up some more.
Other method is using a blow torch and loosing up the glue. Don't over do it and melt your tail light. I suggest you at least try the boiling water method first for the center just to give you an idea how to do it and how much heat is neccessary to loosen up the glue. Then you can try the blow torch method.
Just use some clear silicone you find in your local auto parts store or you local walmart.
While you have it apart, you might as well clean and polish the plastic as best as you can. Buy some plastic polish to polish your taillights.
It's actually pretty easily. Just boil some water in a pot large enough to dip the the tail light. Bring the water to a high boil and then dip the tail light. Let it soak for a while and try to pry it apart. You can also use a hairdryer at this point to loosen it up some more.
Other method is using a blow torch and loosing up the glue. Don't over do it and melt your tail light. I suggest you at least try the boiling water method first for the center just to give you an idea how to do it and how much heat is neccessary to loosen up the glue. Then you can try the blow torch method.
Just use some clear silicone you find in your local auto parts store or you local walmart.
While you have it apart, you might as well clean and polish the plastic as best as you can. Buy some plastic polish to polish your taillights.
Me and an old buddy of mine used to do the following proceedure quite a bit around the turn of the millinium on our Z's. In fact, we had a tech page for it on twinturbo.net. Alas, the pic links are gone 
But proceedure is virtually the same:
-Gently wedge the taillight between the top of preheated 400F oven door and the oven top. (I really should take another pic of that...). That way, there was enough ambient air to keep from overheating and damaging the part.
-Let it rest there about 12-15 min depending on your oven
-Once heated, remove and with latex gloves on(if you have some handy it helps keep the tar-like sealant off of your hands while making this heated assembly a bit easier to handle) use a very small flat head screw driver in the lense and pry apart. Same thing for yellow internal part. You might need to pry a little more on down the side too. Once it has pulled apart some, try to use your FINGERS to pull apart the rest of the way.
-I think someone else covered what to do next. They gave EXCELLENT advice to put masking tape around the "ACURA" decal in order to have a pre-centered space on which to apply the new "NSX" lettering on the inside.
-In order to get the adhesive soft and pliable again, I placed the loosely re-assembled light back on the oven before CAREFULLY pushing it back together completely.
-The key to this whole process is high, controlled heat souces on the seals, care when handling the part, and above all ... PATIENCE.
If I can do it, ANYONE can!:biggrin:
But proceedure is virtually the same:-Gently wedge the taillight between the top of preheated 400F oven door and the oven top. (I really should take another pic of that...). That way, there was enough ambient air to keep from overheating and damaging the part.
-Let it rest there about 12-15 min depending on your oven
-Once heated, remove and with latex gloves on(if you have some handy it helps keep the tar-like sealant off of your hands while making this heated assembly a bit easier to handle) use a very small flat head screw driver in the lense and pry apart. Same thing for yellow internal part. You might need to pry a little more on down the side too. Once it has pulled apart some, try to use your FINGERS to pull apart the rest of the way.
-I think someone else covered what to do next. They gave EXCELLENT advice to put masking tape around the "ACURA" decal in order to have a pre-centered space on which to apply the new "NSX" lettering on the inside.
-In order to get the adhesive soft and pliable again, I placed the loosely re-assembled light back on the oven before CAREFULLY pushing it back together completely.
-The key to this whole process is high, controlled heat souces on the seals, care when handling the part, and above all ... PATIENCE.
If I can do it, ANYONE can!:biggrin:
Thanks for that. I may try this on my 2 days off for christmas.:wink:
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