so i finally got the new seals for the tail lights and  found new bolts and washers. the problem was the acorn nuts in the housings were rusted, and a few were even missing. so here is my repair.

 

new 3/16" stainless screws, fender-washers (3/4" OD) and ny-lock nuts. and a dremel with a cut off wheel

and the other tool. i bought 1 extra nut to do the dirty work

here is the housing after cutting the plastic to get the old acorn nuts out

now for the dirty part. find a 3/16 screw and another nut to lock everything together, clamp it in a pair of vice-grips as shown above, and heat that nut up until it just starts to glow red. if it isnt hot enough, you will make a mess. now press that hot nut into the plastic. this is why you want it hot. it should take just a second for it to melt, and when you pull the nut out the top of the hole will kind of fold in. this is what will hold the new nuts in place.

after molding the new hole

after melting all the holes, i used a 17/64 drill bit to clean out the hole where the screw goes through the housing.

now, the hardest part. hold your new nut in place, and squeeze it down into the hole. i used channel lock pliers. once the nut is bottomed out, it kind of snaps in place.

all the new nuts in place. nice tight fit.

i used this glue to hold the lenses to the housings

and the tail lights in the car.

 

 

 

Were you going to add the chrome strips later? I thought they were mounted before assembling the light. That's a good repair technique by the way

8 hours ago, Patcon said:

Were you going to add the chrome strips later? I thought they were mounted before assembling the light. That's a good repair technique by the way

my chrome strips are pretty much junk. some p.o. spray painted them, plus the chrome is pitted. i ended up sanding  them down and painting them with the plastic-dip paint and gluing them on with hot melt. they dont look too bad.