Tail light & mirror removal

[TriTown]

Ok, I give up! The car is going in to the body shop for paint so I'm taking the mirrors off & tail lights out etc.. It dropped the price seveal hundred dollars and now I see why. I have the side markers out but how the heck do you get the tail lights out. I can't get my my arm in anywhere to reach the nuts! Also I seem to remember that the mirror glass snaps off the motor so you can get to the 3 mounting screws but before I need to buy new mirrors I thought I would double check.
Thanks!

 

[JonM]

What I did was undo the muffler bolts at the rear...then get a swivel with a #10 socket and a long extention/extentions about 2 feet long...then slip it up and remove the inside lens...then you can reach the outside lens from the inside hole...the mirrors should pull stright out...it has a ribbed sleeve. It isn't easy but you are getting paid well to do it.

 

[TriTown]

It sure seems an extream way to get to the nuts but that's what I was thinking. I should rplace the bulbs while I'm in there too.

It makes you wonder what they were thinking when they designed the car.

Thanks for the quick responce!

 

[tnovot]

Remove the license plate and backup lights and go through there. Remove the inner tail lights first on both sides and then you can use those openings for access to the outer lights. Like many other things, it's really pretty easy once you know how.
Yes, replacing the bulbs is definitely a good idea. I used long-life bulbs for mine.
Terry

 

[tdonlin]

As for the mirrors, yes, they snap out. I just replaced those little cross like pieces that connect the mirror to the motor. Kind of a pain but well worth a couple hundred dollars off of painting.

 

[TriTown]

Thanks again for the tips. I got the mirrors off without too much trouble. I just did'nt want to pull on the glass without checking first.

As for those tail light lenses!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!I could not get to the back of the lights through the plate opening. No room on an 85 for my hand let alone an arm. I got them out by dropping the spare tire and removing the door it sits on. Then I took to bolts out of the bottom of the bumper cover and laid a big screw driver up between the aluminum bumper stop and the rubber shock cushion for the bumper and just pulled back enough to get my arm in with a 10mm ratchet. Once the two inboard light were out I reached through those holes and undid the out board lenses. It was still a tight squeeze. If you have big arms you may have to get one of the neighborhood kids to do it for you.

 

[c4cruiser]

The plate opening works but you also have to remove the backup lights. Small hands help going thru there. You can get a small 10mm socket in there.

When I was wiring up my trailer hitch on my 87, I decided to replace the bulbs. Turned out they were all original bulbs!! The grease they factory uses in the sockets to keep moisture out was so hard that every bulb broke trying to remove them. Had to use needle-nose pliers to get thebases out of the sockets.

 

[JonM]

I must defend one thing the engineers did do with the tail lights...they did make the wires long enough to pull down and change the bulbs easily

 

[TriTown]

so...what you're saying is, they were sort of thinking at the start but then they fired up a fatty and lost the moment!