DIY REMOVAL OF THIRD brake light!!!!!!!!

Read T · 01-04-2013, 08:08 PM

My brother made clear replacements for his S14 (and upgraded to LED), I can ask what material he used. Most likely stretched Lexan over a mold of the old lense.

Dragon_Ball_Z · 12-17-2014, 05:34 PM

Does the light have to be resealed when reinstalled?

Bluebatmobile · 12-18-2014, 05:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bonzo

I was scared to do this 3rd brake removal, so I used Oracal (think that's how it's spelled) tint vinyl from Andy at Bluebatmobile, and had the actual tail lights and the fog light (which I made a 4th brake light) painted by my local body shop for $175. It all matches up really well.

Don't have a pics from straight on back, but you can see the tails here.

Check that, I do have pics of the rear.......

B@t

Kbiz26 · 04-25-2015, 07:52 PM

I just put my tail lights on after using VHT on them and they look great, but I need to do my 3rd brake light now. Does anyone know where to find a video on the removal process? The DIY video on the tail light video was way off from my model but it helped to have some video footage to reference! Thanks for the help!

Jayhovah · 05-24-2016, 01:49 PM

The DIY mentions a seal that holds the lens to the body... Does that seal needs to be fixed back up when you reinstall? I want to remove mine to have it smoked.

madeinjapan · 08-11-2016, 08:52 AM

boy was this fun

only broke 1 tab not too bad

SINISTER · 03-08-2017, 02:52 PM

Doing this right now...this is a great car but in all the cars that I have removed the tail lights and 3rd brake lights this is the stupidest/hardest 3rd light removal I have ever done...

SINISTER · 03-08-2017, 02:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jayhovah

The DIY mentions a seal that holds the lens to the body... Does that seal needs to be fixed back up when you reinstall? I want to remove mine to have it smoked.

No one ever responded to this but I am just going to put a thin strip of some 3m double side tape around it just in case...

JARblue · 03-08-2017, 03:24 PM

The seal was probably to help prevent vibrations. I'm not sure I would replace it with something with adhesive ... at least not strong adhesive. I'd just get some backer rod or a rubber gasket if I felt it needed it.

SINISTER · 03-08-2017, 07:43 PM

Have you ever taken it off? The original is adhesive..you have to essentially cut through the seal to get it out....pita...
But some thin rubber gasket/weather strip would work and wouldn't be a PITA to get out in the future....

Jayhovah · 03-08-2017, 08:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SINISTER

Have you ever taken it off? The original is adhesive..you have to essentially cut through the seal to get it out....pita...
But some thin rubber gasket/weather strip would work and wouldn't be a PITA to get out in the future....

Weatherstrip sounds like a pretty good idea. Any idea what kind of adhesive it was?

SINISTER · 03-08-2017, 10:24 PM

Some gooey black crap...you have to essentially cut through the crap/seal...
I managed to get the stupid light out without breaking a clip. Not sure how exactly...I have a Nismo so the instructions of putting the plastic spreaders on the top did not work because there is no clearance with the rear spoiler. I did pry from the bottom all the way around had multiple plastic panel removers jammed all around the bottom and slowly pried up. The lens actually comes out separate from the base ...
I hear by give the 370z the biggest PITA mounted 3rd brake light award....I have taken out tons of 3rd brake lights in my life on different cars and this one takes the cake for PITA...

JARblue · 03-08-2017, 11:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by SINISTER

Have you ever taken it off? The original is adhesive..you have to essentially cut through the seal to get it out....pita...
But some thin rubber gasket/weather strip would work and wouldn't be a PITA to get out in the future....

I offered tools and a helping hand to someone several years ago who did it in my driveway. It was a mess. Hence, I wouldn't recommend putting something with a strong adhesive back in there. We used Naptha (basically lighter fluid) to clean everything up, which worked pretty well. He didn't replace the seal with anything.

SINISTER · 03-09-2017, 10:20 AM

I just got finished putting it back on ..I believe that the original gasket crap was meant to create a bit of water resistance and noise vibration reducer like Jarblue mentioned. The top portion of the gasket was in tact and allot of the lower portion was still present. So I simply added a small amount of black caulking to adhere and form to the rest of the gasket that was still present at the bottom... When it clips in it is a tight seal....and with the remaining gasket and caulking it is back to new...or at least good enough for a stupid 3rd brake light..
2 coats of night shades and 3 coats of clear and its looking mean instead of red....lol

Chuck33079 · 03-09-2017, 10:22 AM

I saw what was required to take out that light, and just used some leftover film from the tinted taillights I had on another car.

01-04-2013, 08:08 PM	#16 (permalink)
Read T A True Z Fanatic Join Date: May 2012 Location: Raleigh, NC Posts: 1,046 Drives: 11 Nissan 370z BC 6M Rep Power: 18	My brother made clear replacements for his S14 (and upgraded to LED), I can ask what material he used. Most likely stretched Lexan over a mold of the old lense. __________________ 2011 Nissan 370z Black Cherry Sport Pkg - Daily Driver, , 1960 Morgan +4 fun car, 1986 BMW 325ES, 1998 M3 and 1996 Spec Miata - Race Cars SUPPORT TEAM WINSOME RACING - WRL, CHUMP, LEMONS

12-17-2014, 05:34 PM	#17 (permalink)
Dragon_Ball_Z A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Jul 2014 Location: Mississippi Posts: 1,117 Drives: Nismo& Sport/Touring Rep Power: 17	Does the light have to be resealed when reinstalled? __________________ Build in Progress

03-08-2017, 03:24 PM	#24 (permalink)
JARblue A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Austin, TX Age: 43 Posts: 36,450 Drives: 11 Z34, 98 E36 M3 Rep Power: 2684440	The seal was probably to help prevent vibrations. I'm not sure I would replace it with something with adhesive ... at least not strong adhesive. I'd just get some backer rod or a rubber gasket if I felt it needed it. __________________ 2011 370Z 6MT Sport Gun Metallic \| ARC \| CJM \| Ecutek \| FI \| Fujimura \| R2C \| SPL \| Stillen \| TWM \| Z1 \| ZSpeed \|

03-08-2017, 07:43 PM	#25 (permalink)
SINISTER Track Member Join Date: Aug 2014 Location: Earth's Toilet: Houston Posts: 552 Drives: 2013 370z NISMO Rep Power: 2154	Have you ever taken it off? The original is adhesive..you have to essentially cut through the seal to get it out....pita... But some thin rubber gasket/weather strip would work and wouldn't be a PITA to get out in the future.... Last edited by SINISTER; 03-08-2017 at 07:48 PM.

03-08-2017, 10:24 PM	#27 (permalink)
SINISTER Track Member Join Date: Aug 2014 Location: Earth's Toilet: Houston Posts: 552 Drives: 2013 370z NISMO Rep Power: 2154	Some gooey black crap...you have to essentially cut through the crap/seal... I managed to get the stupid light out without breaking a clip. Not sure how exactly...I have a Nismo so the instructions of putting the plastic spreaders on the top did not work because there is no clearance with the rear spoiler. I did pry from the bottom all the way around had multiple plastic panel removers jammed all around the bottom and slowly pried up. The lens actually comes out separate from the base ... I hear by give the 370z the biggest PITA mounted 3rd brake light award....I have taken out tons of 3rd brake lights in my life on different cars and this one takes the cake for PITA... Last edited by SINISTER; 03-08-2017 at 10:30 PM.

04-25-2015, 07:52 PM	#19 (permalink)
Kbiz26 Base Member Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Indianapolis Posts: 24 Drives: 11 Nissan 370Z GM A7 Rep Power: 10	I just put my tail lights on after using VHT on them and they look great, but I need to do my 3rd brake light now. Does anyone know where to find a video on the removal process? The DIY video on the tail light video was way off from my model but it helped to have some video footage to reference! Thanks for the help!

08-11-2016, 08:52 AM	#21 (permalink)
madeinjapan Banned Join Date: Jan 2016 Location: pistolvania Posts: 1,387 Drives: 2013 g37x 2014 370z Rep Power: 0	boy was this fun only broke 1 tab not too bad

03-08-2017, 02:52 PM	#22 (permalink)
SINISTER Track Member Join Date: Aug 2014 Location: Earth's Toilet: Houston Posts: 552 Drives: 2013 370z NISMO Rep Power: 2154	Doing this right now...this is a great car but in all the cars that I have removed the tail lights and 3rd brake lights this is the stupidest/hardest 3rd light removal I have ever done...

03-09-2017, 10:20 AM	#29 (permalink)
SINISTER Track Member Join Date: Aug 2014 Location: Earth's Toilet: Houston Posts: 552 Drives: 2013 370z NISMO Rep Power: 2154	I just got finished putting it back on ..I believe that the original gasket crap was meant to create a bit of water resistance and noise vibration reducer like Jarblue mentioned. The top portion of the gasket was in tact and allot of the lower portion was still present. So I simply added a small amount of black caulking to adhere and form to the rest of the gasket that was still present at the bottom... When it clips in it is a tight seal....and with the remaining gasket and caulking it is back to new...or at least good enough for a stupid 3rd brake light.. 2 coats of night shades and 3 coats of clear and its looking mean instead of red....lol JARblue likes this. Last edited by SINISTER; 03-09-2017 at 10:22 AM.

03-09-2017, 10:22 AM	#30 (permalink)
Chuck33079 A True Z Fanatic Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: Houston Posts: 12,265 Drives: 2011 370ztt Rep Power: 29538	I saw what was required to take out that light, and just used some leftover film from the tinted taillights I had on another car. __________________ 2011 MB Touring-Sport-6sp-Nav/GTM TT/FI TT TDX/JTran/Kosmic/Eibach/Hotchkis/SPC/CSF/RPS/SoThatsWhereAllMyMoneyWent

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