Tail light assembly removal

[Bluesman1958]

Hey Ya'll,

I'm new to the Z world with a 73 240. Pretty fair shape.

Somthing that I've always wanted.

I have some new tail light assemblies to put in and was wondering just how that was done. Am I right in assuming that the rivets across the top of the tail need to be drilled out? Then what? Are the light surrounds secured at the bottom somehow as well?

This site is great! My wife has fallen asleep on the couch waiting for me to get off the computer!

alan

[MikeW]

Yes, you'll need to remove the rear trim panels to get the light housings out. My panels were actually held on by screws instead of rivets but that may have been the work of a previous owner. I don't remember exactly how they were attached but then I seem to have a knack for taking things apart. I think the only fasteners are across the top but if not you'll no doubt figure it out. Once you get the panels off the light assemblies are removed by taking the screws out from the inside of the hatch area. You'll need to remove the rear plastic panel to get to those. If you plan on reusing the gaskets you might want to be careful removing them.

[EScanlon]

The 73 240Z has the same style tail lights and tail-light surrounds as the earlier ones.

The rivets accross the ledge of the hatch SHOULD be plastic rivets with a plastic pin insert to spread the legs of the rivet. Sometimes these get replaced by PO's with ACTUAL rivets. If that is the case with yours, then yes, you do need to drill them out.

If they are the correct plastic type, then carefully push the pin THROUGH the rivet and out. Do it carefully as you want to retrieve / find that pin. Once you've pushed the pin through, it should be relatively easy to lift the body of the rivet up and out of the hole.

Next, look BELOW the tail-lights to the lower edge of the tail-light surround. You'll note that the surround metal is inserted into a pair of metal clips that grip the metal. Don't spread these or use any kind of tool on them. What you need to do is to work the metal of the surround out of the clip gently. I find that if you gently pull on the outside edge (the one closest to the fender of the car) and slowly work it out from the bottom it will slide out of both clips.

Both tail-light surrounds also slip into the center surround metal which is held attached to the car by the license plate AND the license plate light. Under normal conditions you shouldn't have to remove the center surround.

To remove the tail-lights you'll have to access the INSIDE of the back panel, as the lights are held in by screws from the inside.

You could TRY doing it through the access hole in the rear cargo area finisher, but you'll need very VERY small hands and be double jointed.

The proper way of getting access is to remove the plastic surround at the back of the cargo area. Again, you need to be careful in removing the rivets as you need the pins. You CAN buy new rivets, but that gets expensive.

Once you have the surround removed, find the pins to your rivets. Then you'll be able to see the screws holding your tail-lights in place.

Disconnect the tail-light harnesses, then remove the screws. Don't fight the screws as the nuts they screw into are held by the plastic of the tail-light. In fact, it would probably be a good idea to give them a quick shot of penetrating oil from the outside to ensure that they'll unscrew properly.

Once you have the screws out, you'll have to push the lights out. They'll be held in place with mastic between the rubber gasket and the metal. Be careful of the gasket as these are important in keeping fumes out of the car.

Reassembly is pretty much the reverse. The only point to note is that when you put the rivets back, compress the legs, insert into the hole and push in firmly. Then while holding the rivet in tight, insert the plastic pin to keep the rivet spread.

Hope this helps. Feel free to ask more questions if we've left anything out.

Enrique