hi im changing my rear lights for sti ones and just want to know what is the best way of breaking the seal around the lights without it going everywhere and also what is the best thing to use to seal the new lights?

andy

 

hit the studs with a hammer, whilst i assume this will not work all the time it did when i removed my wrx lights and they had loads of sealant on them

 

To seal the new ones in you can use Carafax non setting sealeant. Halfords claim to sell it and even let you reserve it onlie, but then know nothing about it when you turn up at the store or any of their stores from my experience - useless ****s

Got mine from a caravan shop .

 

i used the clear silicon with that non setting stuff dont you classic drivers find it lets water in??........... i went for the water tight and so far so good

 

No that's the whole point. It doesn't fully set allowing any flexing between the ligjhts and the bodywork to be taken up.

The stuff on there fromt he factory is similar.

Not saying silicone won't work, but the non setting stuff makes sense to me.

 

Heat gun lightly on the rear of the light, should break it off easily.

 

i just gently pryed the lights out . cleaned off the old sealant using meth , then sealed them back up with black sealant , but dont go to mad with the sealant

 

Great - I changed mine for STI's today and had to wiggle them out. Haven't re-sealed the new ones in yet. Thinking just black silicone too... so will do that when I get the car out next weekend...

 

its a absolute pain to get them off,like the idea about the heatgun,should help,i used a sharp tool to slip between the light and the backing to slice through the sealant,which is very tacky and hard to slice through.Try to work the sharp tool all round the outer edge of the light while trying to pull the light towards you to break the seal.Dont hit the studs with a hammer,the sealant is to strong..

 

there is a foam gasket thing to but was mullered when i took em out . make sure u seal em properly though as u will have a pond in your boot in no time . alot of classics suffer from boot leaking probs due to rear light changes . i still get a slight residue of water . what i did was drill two 4mm holes in the boot well and it seems to have done the trick .

 

Ive had the pools of water before - right pain. There is a big bung to drain it all out! Maybe i'll give the 4mm holes a go... Thanks!!

 

I wouldn't hit the studs with a hammer, as they can shear off, as i found out!
I ended up using a plastic scraper to prise them out, giving them a push from the back at the same time.

Mit

 

guess i got lucky, i expected them to break but they didnt, maybe my sealant wasnt as much as others have

 

the bung sits higher in the well i think , plus i didnt want a big hole in the boot lol so the 4mm holes did me fine . i also have a sponge under the spare to soak up any moisture .


its mad u can do every thing an the *******s still leak . justthe way they are .

never keep anyting in the boot anyways , apart from the bodies

 

I just left a portable heater in the boot for about 20 mins to soften things up a bit & then used a metal 'trim tool' to lever them out from the inside.

Removed all the sealant (combination of scraping & sticky stuff remover) & used some foam tape to seal (25mm x 15mm, which is waterproof when compressed) from tapes-direct iirc

I used foam tape, so my rears could be easily removed & put back to standard come sale time ...never had a problem with water ingress

 

cheers for the replys guys going to try and get them fitted tomorrow depending on how i feel seen as though im supposed to be taking it easy on orders from hospital lol we will see

andy