Tail light Goo.

[HotRodGuy]

Ok, I just got my car back from the body shop last week. It rained today and my spare tire well filled up with water so I decided to investigate. Turns out that water was coming in from around the tail lights and runing down into the well. We took the tail lights off when we painted the car and they had this black goo on um that seals the light to the car. Evidently when we put the lights back on we failed to do it properly. So, tonight I spent two hours fixing the problem. Here's what I did.....

First remove the center section and then the tail lights. To do this all you have to is open the tail light access panels and remove the 8mm nuts. This goo is some pretty sticky stuff so be ready to git messy. Clean off and keep all the goo that you can from the tail light and the car body. It helps to have sum water on yer hands to keep the goo from sticking to ya. Also try to only do one section at a time. Be sure to clean any dirt from the tail light and the car body. Now, the goo is probably geting dirty and less sticky so you have to kneed it and smush it to get it clean and sticky again. Keep water on yer hands or you'll be sorry! Anyway, now that the goo is sticky again yer ready to put it back in place. You must stretch it out and put it on the car, around the holes that the tail lights fit into (where the goo was to begin with). Again, do one section at a time using the same goo that came from that section. Make it about 3/8 inch thick and 1/2 inch wide if you can and try to keep it even. Spread it close to the edge of the opening so that it will seal tightly. After you have done both sides wait for the goo to git sticky again (it ain't sticky when it's wet). After that you can re-install the tail lights, wait a little while to make sure that the tail light is sealed (stuck to the goo) and check fer leaks by pouring water over them. If you do happen to have a small leak, like I still did, you can git sum Black RTV and put it around the tail lights on the inside of the car, just make sure that its completly dry. To do this it's easier to remove the inner trim panel than not to.

Well, hope that this info is helpful to someone, if not, then at least I think it's a good read. <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/biggrin.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=''>

HotRodGuy Out....

[yenpit]

haha.....never thought of water on hands to stop that stuff from stickin <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/eh.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':eh:'> . great idea!

i've used the 3M product......yours the same?? i think its called "body caulk"....?

[AJ]

did you repaint your whole car? &nbsp;urself? shop? &nbsp;how much did it cost? .. i'd love to paint my car black, but to do the job well, don't you really have to take out the engine etc, so you can paint the whole engine bay?.. let me know whatcha did. thanks. &nbsp; (and that will help, i'm plannin on modifying a set of tails i have, so i'll remember the water thing... i allready know i'll be happy i did.. i've touched that stuff before.. it doesn' tlike to come off... )

[HotRodGuy]

I ain't got no idea what the stuff is really called, my friend at the body shop gave it to me. If you do git any stuck on you or the car, use paint thinner to git it off.

I have a friend that owns a shop so he did the paint and body work for me, I helped a little. I took all the stuff off the car like the tail lights, mirrors, spoiler, 3rd brake light, blinkers and side markers, rubber trim around the doors, door panels, door handles, ect., sanded the car and then put all the stuff back on after he was done.

Now, keep in mind that I had A LOT of body work done. Every fender had a dent and he had to cut out and weld in a new right rear quarter and fix the passenger side door too. Oh, and a new windshield. Needless to say I had an accident. My car was already Nissan red and I painted it '02 Corvette red so I didn't really worry about the engine bay, but I did have him paint the door jams and inside the deck lid. It cost about $2400 all together, which ain't bad for all the work involved. It was in the shop fer 6 weeks and boy did I miss it!

Check out my post "Just sayn Hi" in chat and my web site. I don't have any pics of the 240 yet but I'll be sure to let everyone know when I git sum posted.

[weitau]

Rubber goo name - check this out at240sx.org

[HotRodGuy]

Oh, Butyl Rubber. Who'd a thunk it?