Jack B
01-01-2014, 06:22 PM
I am having my tail light surround painted black. I thought the following picture would help those contemplating the same. This is one description of one method for this task, I am sure there are other techniques.
There are several miscellaneous clips and connectors involved in the removal of the surround, those are very obvious and simple in the scheme of things, the following are the main elements of the surround removal.
Everything starts by pulling back the carpet liner in the trunk that sits against the rear of the trunk.
1. The top edge of the tail light surround has a series of push/pull pins, merely pull those. Once the pin is removed, pull the base of the pin also.
2. Once the push pins are removed, you have to remove the following:
A. You must loosen/remove the four plastic spinners (inside trunk) that attach to the studs of each tail light assembly. The holes in the trunk liner for those studs are denoted by the four red circles in the picture.
B. The only thing that now holds the the surround in are the three clips on each side. The holes for those clips are denoted by the three blue circles in the picture. The trick to pop out the surround is to put pressure on the a tail light stud that protrudes into the trunk while using a small plastic pry bar directly on the area where a clip is located. You want to make sure the stud you are pushing on and the clip area you are prying on, are close together. You are prying between the body and the outside edge of the surround, again a plastic upholstery pry tool.
2160
There are several miscellaneous clips and connectors involved in the removal of the surround, those are very obvious and simple in the scheme of things, the following are the main elements of the surround removal.
Everything starts by pulling back the carpet liner in the trunk that sits against the rear of the trunk.
1. The top edge of the tail light surround has a series of push/pull pins, merely pull those. Once the pin is removed, pull the base of the pin also.
2. Once the push pins are removed, you have to remove the following:
A. You must loosen/remove the four plastic spinners (inside trunk) that attach to the studs of each tail light assembly. The holes in the trunk liner for those studs are denoted by the four red circles in the picture.
B. The only thing that now holds the the surround in are the three clips on each side. The holes for those clips are denoted by the three blue circles in the picture. The trick to pop out the surround is to put pressure on the a tail light stud that protrudes into the trunk while using a small plastic pry bar directly on the area where a clip is located. You want to make sure the stud you are pushing on and the clip area you are prying on, are close together. You are prying between the body and the outside edge of the surround, again a plastic upholstery pry tool.
2160