To my knowledge, my car has never had its tail light assemblies unscrewed and removed...


Question: However, if I were to do this, would I break the watertight seal (is it a semi-setting mastic, or something?) and therefore open myself up to potential water ingress into the boot, on very rainy days (and when the car is washed)?

(The reason why I want to do this, is so as to obtain full access to the trailing edge of the N/S/R wing to repair/paint it...)

 

Can be sealed in again Joz, so water ingress wont be an issue after the work is complete. Did this with mine when I had the bodywork sorted prior to sale

 

Thanks Banny.

I'm a bit nervous to do it, because I did the MY97-00 rear light assy upgrade to de-Tango my old MY93 WRX... But the water got in, regardless! And really badly, to boot (pun intended).

I didn't fit them myself though (i.e. the garage that did may have cocked up on the mastic front, so to speak).

 

It won't be easy, breaking the light to bodywork seal after all this time will take some doing.

Once it's done, remove as much of the old sealant as you can from both surfaces, scrape, paper towel and then white spirit helps.

Once done, re-seat the lights in this stuff: http://www.caravan-components.co.uk/...-in-400ml-Tube

It's non-setting and used on caravans for sealing awning rails, fridge vents etc.

Don't worry about it being grey, once the lights are in, it's invisible. Also useful for spoiler seals.

DO NOT under ANY CIRCUMSTANCES use silicone.

 

Cheers Jeff.

Yeah, I'm aware of the silicone no-no.


I'll post again here in the future, to let you know how I got on, etc...

 

John, even using Carafax, it's still a pig to get them to seal well, IMHO and experience.

Leicester to Scunny isn't that far, if they leak after resealing, pop over to Jeff's and get him to do it.

 

That's what I thought... And indeed have experienced first hand (as already mentioned).

I'm gonna get the wing fixed with the cluster in place. And see how it looks, after. Then go from there (if necessary).

 

Thanks Micky...

Seriously, just place a 10mm bead all round the light unit, press into place. Not had any probs except for a replacement light unit that let water in through a pinhole.

One decent tip is to place the light unit lens down in front of you, with the top furthest away, and start, then finish, the bead at the bottom, with about a 20mm overlap. No joins at the top.

And the cleaner you can get the car body before seating it, the better will be the seal

 

Should I need to remove said cluster, I shall certainly be taking your advice on refitting, Alcs. Thanks.