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Taking tails apart

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Old 02-26-2006 | 01:55 AM
  #11  
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Interesting Justin...what do you have in mind for the tails?
I will agree with Randman on how he removed the lenses from the housing, pretty much exactly how I removed mine, and the cleaning does wonders, even to a perfectly un delaminated lens. I actually have two spare delamanating tails (4 other mint ones not that I'm rubbing that in to any BC member, cause they are hard to find!), that the plastic has not cracked on yet, but I think after reading this post I'll try the hairdryer idea.
But I know that you are really good with LEDS, so I'm guessing that you might be putting that in the tails????
PS what did you make up LED wise to light up the rear plate? (off topic I know, just curious)
Old 02-26-2006 | 03:45 PM
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Originally Posted by phoenix_flame220
What did you up to seal it back up after? And how was the red lens constructed? do you think it could be replaced by a clear piece or a white piece easily?
Sorry. I kinda forgot about this thread. A buddy of mine who owns an auto glass shop gave me a couple of rolls of this stuff:



This comes in different diameters. I used 1/4" which worked well. Do a google search for the specific product name and you'll find several places to buy it.

The colored parts (red and amber) are one lens and the reverse lens (clear) is separate. The colored lens curves around the sides to the turn signal area and I don't recall it having a compoune curve so bending a clear lens material wouldn't be too dificult with some heat. I can see a problem with light "bleed" between the different parts unless you use LED bulbs... which you would have to do anyway to get the red and amber signals. It sounds possible but you'd have to experiment.

With the black stripes on the SSE tails, I don't think that clear lenses would be an improvement. Personally I like the way that the tails have the 3D appearance by having the colored lens sunken in from the outer surface. Someone would have to take the lead and sacrifice a tail light to form a more definative opinion though.
Old 02-26-2006 | 04:47 PM
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well my original idea was to paint the inside of the lens so that when the lights are on, they would have the apprearance of dual circles on each side. If I go leds then I would just make a board to replace the bulbs and seal it into the light. The problem I see with leds is that the coloured plastic isnt clear. And the black grille might alter the led effect. f I could replace the plastc lens with either coloured or clear plexi, then I could do whatever I wanted. THeres 3 dual filament bulbs in the brake light part alone, so it would be a lot of circuitry to bypass the lamp monitor.

For info on my led brakelight, go to the led page of my car domain site

Mike G, are the delaminating tails right and left? Would you be willing to sell the damaged ones?
Old 02-26-2006 | 06:49 PM
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You should just get a set of se tails to fool around with,they usually have em at the yard,ther was a couple a few weeks ago at MIKES auto (here in hamilton).Plus they dont have theplastic lines.
Old 02-26-2006 | 09:33 PM
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i have a set of se tails, but they are constructed a bit differantly, and i need SSE tails to experiment with so I know exactly what im working with.
Old 02-26-2006 | 10:31 PM
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Theres a set of sse at the nebo road yard but he wants 60 bucks a piece.
Old 02-26-2006 | 10:35 PM
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i dont think ive ever bee to the nebo road yard.. ive been to mikes on centennial only.
Old 02-26-2006 | 10:42 PM
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Ya its called macs, its in the yellow pages but hes expensive.Mikes gets new ones often,havent been in a couple weeks but in 1 week he got 2 sse,89,90 and 1 92 .and hes cheaper plus it is a U pull
Old 02-26-2006 | 10:45 PM
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mikes just got more bonnes recently?? pm me if you wanna dscuss this cuz im hijacking my own thread lol
Old 02-27-2006 | 01:11 AM
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tru u are hijacking the thread...haha
Justin- they are right and left, but I'm actually trying to remove the plastic to see if I can make them look new, it is an experiment tho. So I'm working with the left for the time being. But if it fails I'll set you up with the right for a good price. I'll check out your site.


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