It is currently Thu Mar 28, 2024 5:07 am

All times are UTC - 5 hours [ DST ]




Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 4 posts ] 
Author Message
PostPosted: Thu Nov 23, 2017 9:28 pm 
Offline
SLE Member
SLE Member
User avatar

Joined: Wed Oct 18, 2017 9:26 pm
Posts: 40
Location: Martinsburg, IN
Year and Trim: '03 SLE Silver/Charcoal
I went shopping for a Driver's door switch and came across an SSEi that had taillights that are delaminating BUT still watertight, mine are not water tight at the moment so I opted to get those as well... cleaned them up and look better than what I have, (before and after pictures tomorrow as I have not put them in yet....

However my project part that I bought was the center reflector. This one is not in great shape but it does have the clear cover on it. Mine on the car does not have the cover on it and the black accent pieces are half broken and are flopping around. So I want to take this salvage yard reflector apart and either modifying the one on the car them resealing the clear cover onto the one on the car, or cleaning this one up and installing it.. (clips intact). I have thought about customizing it some way or another with LED's or looking into something more evenly lit across the back. Curious how difficult it is to remove without breaking the clear cover...

_________________
2002 SLE "Frankenbonnie" 02 engine, 04 transmission, and a 03 PCM to make everything talk. Sadly I know longer own
1993 Suburban Zombie Apocalypse Assault Vehicle (GMC Edition)
2003 Yukon Black/Charcoal cloth 4x4 POW/MIA
2003 SLE Silver/Charcoal (New Acquisition)


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Thu Nov 23, 2017 10:32 pm 
Offline
SLE Member
SLE Member
User avatar

Joined: Wed Oct 18, 2017 9:26 pm
Posts: 40
Location: Martinsburg, IN
Year and Trim: '03 SLE Silver/Charcoal
It is now apart... cleaned up and now deciding how to proceed with the old vs the new... I plan to dissect the old lights and see what I can do there too.... though the left side has cracks in the plastic though...

_________________
2002 SLE "Frankenbonnie" 02 engine, 04 transmission, and a 03 PCM to make everything talk. Sadly I know longer own
1993 Suburban Zombie Apocalypse Assault Vehicle (GMC Edition)
2003 Yukon Black/Charcoal cloth 4x4 POW/MIA
2003 SLE Silver/Charcoal (New Acquisition)


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Fri Nov 24, 2017 9:12 pm 
Offline
Posts like an LN3
Posts like an LN3
User avatar

Joined: Fri Jun 24, 2016 12:15 am
Posts: 522
Location: Isanti, MN
Year and Trim: 2000 SLE Saved from the scrapyard.
Good luck with it. I have a center reflector sans the clear cover off of my car ( original ) and broke the cover trying to remove it using heat/light prying. The acrylic was splitting at the edges and I tried my best to remove it without damage and ended up breaking one of the wings off ( the rightmost side of it ).

There is a water thin acrylic glue that will migrate into the cracks and can probably help a lot in salvaging the lens, but every time I try to buy it online, it tells me I can't, even though I purchased the medium flow version of it ( which is too thick to wick into a crack ). Unfortunately, the lens is a thermoset plastic, so you can't really do much to it other than sand it, glue it and spray paint it like the headlight lenses. I used VHT nightshades on mine along with a number of layers of clearcoat, and it looks pretty good. It needs to be wetsanded and polished still, but for now, it does the trick.

Interested in seeing your progress though. I have a full set of tails and center in really good shape, but the center reflector has just a little bit of delam starting, and I'd like to try to reverse it before putting it into service or selling it.

_________________
A temporary fix does not exist. It becomes a solution until it needs to be fixed again.
Image
https://photos.google.com/album/AF1QipOYkkevV0gKTHc_8Cstuy8yS1Qyx6SiIKeTzuHy


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Tue Dec 12, 2017 12:58 am 
Offline
SLE Member
SLE Member
User avatar

Joined: Wed Oct 18, 2017 9:26 pm
Posts: 40
Location: Martinsburg, IN
Year and Trim: '03 SLE Silver/Charcoal
I took a bunch of pictures along the way...I will post them once I have uploaded them. I opted to mask and paint the inside of the cover... It looks good at the moment. However I am letting cure for a few weeks since it is cold now and I do not have a heated garage. I masked the outline and each of the lines that go across, took about 3 days to get that far along... I am now debating on whether to illuminate it now or leave it as it is. Also the reflector that is on teh car is already missing its cover and some of the black plastic bars are damaged.. now that I have sprayed the inside cover I could just cut those off the one on the car and they would not rattle when closing the trunk and jut install it on the original reflector. Just a matter now of how I am going to reseal it to keep water out.

_________________
2002 SLE "Frankenbonnie" 02 engine, 04 transmission, and a 03 PCM to make everything talk. Sadly I know longer own
1993 Suburban Zombie Apocalypse Assault Vehicle (GMC Edition)
2003 Yukon Black/Charcoal cloth 4x4 POW/MIA
2003 SLE Silver/Charcoal (New Acquisition)


Top
 Profile  
 
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 4 posts ] 

All times are UTC - 5 hours [ DST ]


Related topics
 Topics   Author   Replies   Views   Last post 
There are no new unread posts for this topic. RCR-Rear Center Reflector

jmal843

0

1831

Thu Feb 02, 2012 10:16 am

jmal843 View the latest post

There are no new unread posts for this topic. Tinting the Reflector

Jatlec26

7

1975

Mon Oct 21, 2013 12:09 pm

nos4blood70 View the latest post

There are no new unread posts for this topic. Trunk reflector restoration?

Sether

6

2403

Tue Jun 13, 2017 3:24 am

ddalder View the latest post

There are no new unread posts for this topic. Rear Reflector Brake Lights?

OnlyAnSE

6

1672

Sat Feb 25, 2012 12:02 am

SLOGXP View the latest post

There are no new unread posts for this topic. rear reunk reflector dekanination

swampy

2

181

Tue Jan 30, 2024 11:28 am

swampy View the latest post

 


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Search for:
Jump to:  
cron
Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group


phpBB SEO