1 tuff z Posted June 28, 2008 Share Posted June 28, 2008 found these one late evening on fleabay. a guy in australia was cleaning some old z parts out of his shed. saw them about an hour after he posted them, made him an offer and they now have a new home! spent about 3 hours to; dissassemble, clean & polish. my question, who has been successful finding a suitable sealer to re-assemble the lens to the housing? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
quicker240 Posted June 28, 2008 Share Posted June 28, 2008 So what did you score them for? I've been trying to get a decent deal on a pair of those for years, you lucky dog.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D Posted June 28, 2008 Share Posted June 28, 2008 Clear RTV seems to work well. JUST REMEMBER TO LEAVE THE DRAIN HOLES OPEN ON THE BOTTOM OR IT WILL FILL UP WITH WATER! One of our clubmembers here sealed them 360 degrees, and didn't realize when he washed the car the white plastic is not a 'watertight injection moulding' and filled the bottom of the lights with water. As he sealed the two little retangular drain openeings on the bottom of the lens, the water had nowhere to go and (luckily) on the drive that weekend it was a big source of amusement. The water was soooooo slose to shorting out his lower sockets! The big issue, of course is minimal condensation, as it will take forever to get out, and totally corrode your sockets in short order. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexdeprat Posted June 28, 2008 Share Posted June 28, 2008 I also found this reading on the topic at the CZC web site. Good luck, http://www.classiczcars.com/forums/showthread.php?t=30671&highlight=tail+lights Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexdeprat Posted June 28, 2008 Share Posted June 28, 2008 :-DWell since we’re on the subject I have a question, how can one remove the tail light chrome trim (or actually the whole taillight) without breaking the tip of the trim in the back of the housing. It just seems to be an almost impossible task, Tony D. or 1 tuff Z any input on this task. Thanks, Alex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 tuff z Posted June 28, 2008 Author Share Posted June 28, 2008 i'm a little embarrassed as to what i paid. almost [kind of] felt guilty. total shipped from down under to me in upstate, ny was $250. i know of no way to remove those pesky spring steel circular retainers, so i've always used a pair of side cutters and simply cut the center tip for the chrome molding. you can then place the lights in the sun to gently warm them and slowly and carefully separate the lens from the housing. to remove the chrome trim from the lens, you'll need to clip all 3 tabs or points. to re-install them i've used double stick tape-but as tony stated i'm confident that clear rtv would do the job as well. tony, i was thinking of something that would stay 'tacky' like the original white sealer they used. it seems to have the consistency of gum-even after many years. i also think that if i used rtv it would be pretty tough to pull them apart again if need be. tony, your thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D Posted June 28, 2008 Share Posted June 28, 2008 i'm a little embarrassed as to what i paid. almost [kind of] felt guilty. total shipped from down under to me in upstate, ny was $250. Don't even kinda feel guilty, last set I had sent from Europe ran me a whole 35 Euros, shipped on the seller's business account as a courtesy! I was showcked when they arrived, as the 'ship from' zone was up north, and the lenses were not fogged or in any way 'solarly affected'!!! So nice I just stuck em right in with just a cursory wipedown by hand with the Orange Bottle of 'Plastic Re-Nu' I picked up some place. That was last year about this time. There are deals to be had down under! It's a "Reasonable" price. As for 'tacky' stuff, I know of some gum in black, but don't know how well it will retain the lens long-term. RTV is a pretty much permanent solution it will be a bear to remove. The only thing I could think of is maybe some really low-temperature Hot-Melt kind of adhesive that would deactive it's grip under a heat lamp or Heat Gun (around 175-200 degrees) Anything hotter and you will risk damaging the lens plastic. That would be a simple matter of dropping them in boiling water to separate the components. How does that Gorrilla Glue work? I know it's pretty sticky stuff and is a urethane based compound...maybe some sort of anti-urethane. If you wanted something quick off the top of my head, find some Air Conditioning DUM DUM compound (HVAC Guys that do ductwork should have 20# sticks of it laying around) and just run the perimiter with it, saving several spots where you would use RTV to actually 'retain' the lens. That should work pretty well, and be much easier to remove as you only have a few places bonded with the RTV instead of all that surface area around the perimiter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
texis30O Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 the a/c material you are referring to is Mastic, it comes in buckets that look like 1 gal. pales. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexdeprat Posted June 30, 2008 Share Posted June 30, 2008 to remove the chrome trim from the lens, you'll need to clip all 3 tabs or points. to re-install them i've used double stick tape-but as tony stated i'm confident that clear rtv would do the job as well. Thank you for the response. Well to be honest with you all, I been playing with a plastic welding kit lately, it seems to work fine. I just have to get a bit more proficient with the apparatus, since welding plastic is something totally new for me. Thanks again, Alex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pharaohabq Posted July 1, 2008 Share Posted July 1, 2008 I saw some just like those a few weeks ago, up there and drooled for a week, but I got way too many other things planned, but those are pretty nice looking... how about Silicone sealer to seal them with, it is water tight and easy to cut w/ a blade, and cleans right of with GooGone... Phar Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Austin240Z Posted July 3, 2008 Share Posted July 3, 2008 lucky!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
73DatsunZ Posted July 3, 2008 Share Posted July 3, 2008 Is the only difference between these and the USDM ones the non orange part? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexdeprat Posted July 3, 2008 Share Posted July 3, 2008 Is the only difference between these and the USDM ones the non orange part? That is it! Just the amber part of the taillight is what makes it special for us in the States. Alex Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
two11 Posted July 3, 2008 Share Posted July 3, 2008 Nice. Were these ever offerend on US cars? Im in Rochester too btw dont think I've seen your car around before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
datman Posted July 3, 2008 Share Posted July 3, 2008 I think the red ones look better...but then orange is common here. I have a spare euro set I will stick on ebay this weekend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EvilC Posted July 3, 2008 Share Posted July 3, 2008 I think the red ones look better...but then orange is common here. I have a spare euro set I will stick on ebay this weekend. Is that the set you showed me? I am still interested in them.....send me pics again. clive.bogle@gmail.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 tuff z Posted July 4, 2008 Author Share Posted July 4, 2008 shoot me an email and we can meet. one_tuffz@yahoo.com also, i'll be at the japanese car show at hoselton on july 12th. many from zccr will also be there. dp Nice. Were these ever offerend on US cars? Im in Rochester too btw dont think I've seen your car around before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S30TRBO Posted July 4, 2008 Share Posted July 4, 2008 total shipped from down under to me in upstate, ny was $250. hate you... You failed to mention that when we met and had lunch. Anyways, Nice to finally meet you and to put a face with the name and voice. Also thanks for bringing the Z for me to drool over. We made it back home a few hours ago. GPS was great snaked us around the 4th's weekend traffic mess. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daeron Posted July 4, 2008 Share Posted July 4, 2008 I never understood why they shipped the USDM cars with solid red tails... to me, turn signals should be amber, tail lights dim red, and brake lights bright red. I've never cared much for cars with red rear turn signals, and honestly its probably BECAUSE of this silly detail on the Z-cars this car is rooted deep in my family, can you tell? I think the red ones look better...but then orange is common here. I have a spare euro set I will stick on ebay this weekend. I'll trade you two USDM pairs to one of yours Want the 280 style with the separate reverse light instead? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1 tuff z Posted July 4, 2008 Author Share Posted July 4, 2008 hate you... You failed to mention that when we met and had lunch. Anyways, Nice to finally meet you and to put a face with the name and voice. Also thanks for bringing the Z for me to drool over. We made it back home a few hours ago. GPS was great snaked us around the 4th's weekend traffic mess. joe, great to meet you and amy. had a nice lunch and got to talk about cars nearly the whole time! hope you both had a great time at niagara falls! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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