Opening up a tail light, tips? (update 10/2/09 Opened!)

[Whelan]

I got my Ebay OEM taillight and it's in great shape and perfect for my LED project as the dummy lens.When I did the headlights on my Civic I used my heat gun. It took a little while and some prying with a screwdriver. Then after I went back and scraped all the excess out of the channel and did a great re-seal with clear silicone and clamps for a full 24 hours.I have heard people bake them and am not sure if that is so safe or a good idea. Anyone else? I may stick with my heat gun for my taillights.

[keithvibe]

If they are OEM tails. You won't be able to bake them open. They are flash sealed. *plastic to plastic* Only way to open them is to dremel them with a cut off wheel. If they are the aftermarket tails that you can buy on ebay, yes you can bake them open.

[Wolfman213]

That is not a good thing to hear Guess I should have bought that plastic welder that was on the woot-off the other day lol.

[Whelan]

Are you sure they are flash sealed? My 02 Civic headlights were glued with some kind of gray sealant.

[lovemyraffe]

The easiest way would be to let some punk-@$$ kid roll a utility truck in to the back of your car. It makes it hard to put them back together though. http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=38821

[keithvibe]

The headlights are different then the tail lights. You were talking about headlights on your civic and your talking about tail lights on your Matrix. trust me on this one.

[Whelan]

Ugh. Well They are comin apart somehow in the next day or two.

[ou.grizzly]

Laser beam!

[keithvibe]

AdamSend PMAG a PM on MO and ask him. I know he has opened up a set in the past, though I think it didn't turn out well

[Whelan]

I may do that, he is on TMG too now.

[Wolfman213]

I know that we've been speaking Matrix this whole time; am I to assume that it's the same for the Vibe as well AFA being a plastic weld?

[ou.grizzly]

PMAG = Pour Me a Guinness MO = Matrix OwnersPM = Personal MessageTMG = The Matrix Garage

[keithvibe]

Quote, originally posted by ou.grizzly »PMAG = Pour Me a Guinness MO = Matrix OwnersPM = Personal MessageTMG = The Matrix Garageding ding ding.. grizz wins the booieprize

[ou.grizzly]

Quote, originally posted by keithvibe »ding ding ding.. grizz wins the booBieprize Fixed it for ya.

[Whelan]

Done!Took some finesse and about 10 minutes. I used a small Swiss Army Knife and used the metal file blade shown below. Then I gently got the blade pried in between the plastic case and backing. I started on the top corner above the 3 reflectors and worked my way around. You have to be careful though cause you could crack the clear plastic easily. I went from the corner across the top. Then from the top corner where I started down along the bottom to the reverse lamp. At this point it is pretty hard to get in deep enough to split the plastics on the inside edge, but there was enough pried apart that the lens basically pulled apart easily. Now I was curious about the red lens. It's held into place by two small pop clips that are part of the lens. With the knife blade of the SAK I gently went in (careful not to harm the fake chrome) and popped off the outside clip, the lens fell out after that. The back of the reflector on the Matrix lens has an external reflector that can be removed, then the backing is a fake chrome which refracts light back onto the concave interior.

[keithvibe]

GREAT

[Wolfman213]

Hopefully I'll be able to snags Raffe's broken lens and see if I'll be able to finagle them the same way!

[A Psycho Martyr]

I had an idea that maybe instead of yellow turn signals My brake lights could act as turn signals as well. I see it ALL the time on other cars. The same bulb for both. How could I get this to work with mine?

[vibedrivermatt]

So how do you plan to rejoin the parts together. Are you using a kind of adhesive? uhhh silicone?

[chloeelvis]

cool. very great post.

498115=15076-laser.jpeg

[Ls1jorge]

Was this project ever finished, I took my car to a guy on craiglist he runs his own shop, he sells LEDs, hids, neon underglow lights, speaker systems..etc & I asked him if he could put leds in my stock tailight housing for braking & turn signals, he told me it can be done with modifcation with the wiring & install, he hasn't gave me a price yet but should I give it a shot???

[A Psycho Martyr]

if someone doesn't do a friggin how-to already I'll do it myself!

[06pvibe]

Quote, originally posted by A Psycho Martyr »if someone doesn't do a friggin how-to already I'll do it myself! I am forced to agree. This has gone on for a while now and if someone is going to do this mod, then please do it and post it up.