Tail Light Replacement

[celliott89]

So last night, someone on the highway near denver was nice enough to pull a pit maneuver on me and run from the scene of the accident... Long story short I have a dent to pop back out and a tail light to replace. I was going to go to a junk yard tomorrow to look for one because they are $60 on ebay... How hard is it to replace the tail light? What are the steps I need to take? Is it easier to do with the trunk open? Im kinda a body repair newb and would love some help with this....

[MConte05]

Trunk open, 4 nuts on the back, unplug the wires and swap.

Is the taillight completely busted? Or just slightly cracked?

If it is a 93-94 sedan, I would be interested in trying to get your taillight if it isn't too bad, or if you find some more in junkyards.

[celliott89]

Its completely fubar unfortunately ... Theres also a sizable dent on the rear right quarter pannel that I am going to attempt to fix tomorrow. Its a 93 sedan by the way...

[mike-tracy]

You'll want to buy some replacement glass sealant from a parts store so you don't collect water in your new lights. Scraping off all the old stuff to the best of your ability of course.

I was pit maneuvered by a driver who fell asleep. End result was my car hit the wall at an angle going 70. You're lucky to get away with some bruises and dents.

[evolutionmovement]

Hopefully, it will be as easy as my old GL sedan bodywise. I came into a ramp too hot for the sand that was laying across it and tagged the guardrail at about 80 with the right rear. Cracked the side of the light and had a dent I was able to kick almost back to normal from inside the trunk. I expected the ass to have been hanging off before I was able to take a look at it. You might be able to use a piece of wood and hammer that at the metal from the inside depending on how it is. If you need to get behind an inner panel, you can sometimes hammer wood in as a wedge between the panels to pop the outside one back into shape.

[celliott89]

Rubber mallet did the trick to get most of the dent out... Im gonna get more of the details out of it when I have the light out and more space to work. Thanks for the heads up on the glass sealant, I was wondering where that sticky black gue was coming from...