Clear Taillights

Note: This is based on the construction of taillights for '86 to '89 Celica, but '90 to '93 models are very similar in design and construction.

Materials:

• 2'x2' transparent acrylic panel. I suggest to buy the more expensive type, Lexan or high impact acrylics, they are easier to work with and more durable.
• 2'x2' fluorescence lap cover, prismatic panel. Acrylic is more transparent, but more brittle. Styryl is more flexible, but not as transparent. There are a number of different designs to choose from, find one that suits your taste.
• Adhesive. I suggest polyurethane glue or high-grade silicone glue. I DON'T recommend the use of "hot" glue. It is reversible, i.e., melts in hot weather, brittle when frozen in cold weather.
• Cutting and shaping tools. I used a band saw, Dremel multipro, power sander, and sandpaper.
• Clamps. Get all the clamps that you could find, c-clamps, spring clamps, and even cloth clamps, the more the better.
• Paint.
• Masking tape.
• A good dictionary, incase you want to curse the way you have never done before.

Procedure

1. Removal of taillights from vehicle. Remove the panels around the trunk. Don't forget to remove the hidden screws, some are just hidden with plastic caps, two are hidden under the covers for rear seats retention hooks and one in the cover of the jack access opening. Care should be taken when removing the side panels. The part that contains the speaker grill is attached to car by push-in clips, remove them carefully. Remove the four nuts on each side of light housing. Push the housing out with a constant force, take you time. It may help if you heat up the glue around the housing with a hair dryer, be careful not to crack the light or paint.

2. Removal of the stock lens. Break and remove the stock lens. Hit it carefully not damage the housing or the inner lenses that you may want to reuse. If you are familiar with Chinese Kung-Fu, hit the lens with a "steel-ball-on-chain" blow, this will damage the surface but not the internals. Remove as much of the glue as possible, impossible to remove all.

3. Trimming of housing>. Once the stock lens is Removed, trim the protrusions of the housing. There are two such protrusions, one between the signal and stop and one at the far edge on the opposite side. These protrusions are needed to be removed in order for the prismatic lens to fit into the housing.

4. Shaping of the replacement lenses. Use a piece of transparent acetate sheet (or two pieces taped together so that it is big enough) to trace the shape of the prismatic lens. You can make it anyway you desire, but I cut it such that the lens fits inside the rim and reserving the rim for gluing the clear lens to. Also, I reused the stock red marker, so my prismatic lens ended there. Always be satisfied with your patterns first before cutting the lenses. Repeat this procedure to make your clear outer lens. I made mine bigger than needed and trimmed after glued.

5. Painting the rims. Cut out another acetate pattern to mark the rim that is to be painted (this is needed on the outer lens only), to hid the glue. Mask off the areas that do not need to be painted. Sand the areas that are to be painted with fine sandpaper, I used 320 grid. Paint the sanded area with a few of coats of paint (I did five coats), the first coats should be as thin as possible (almost nothing). If you start with a heavy coat, the solvent from the paint could damage the acrylics. Also it is a good idea paint the black plastic housing with bright silver paint or chrome paint.

6. Pre-forming the lenses. Assemble everything together as if you are ready for gluing, but fix things in place with masking tape. Clamp everything in place, putting it in a bucket of hot tap water will make the bending process a little easier. After everything is clamped together, put the whole thing in a bucket of boiling water and disassemble when the water is cooled.

7. Final assembly. Sand all the surfaces that are to be glued, including the painted surfaces but be careful not to remove the paint. Clean all surfaces and glue together with a generous amount of glue. Hold things in place with clamps and don't touch anything for a day.

8. Final Shaping. If you made your outer lenses a little bigger as I did, then the final step is to rim the excess off and sand everything to your desire.

9. Final Notes. Depending on the design of your outer lens, keep in mind that the side marker is attached to the car with two screws. For one of my designs, the outer lens covers the red marker, so I had to drill the holes for the screws.

Good Luck and have fun! I have done 3 different prototypes and now planning to make some out of fiberglass. I will post pictures and instructions for that too once it is done, I can picture in my mind that it will look unique and blends well with the design of the car. E-mail me if you have any questions.