Well I am pretty new here, but I am a cheap sob and I would rather repair something vs replacing it. This is how I fixed my 3rd brake light. It may not be for everyone, but it will work good for some people on a budget. I did not want to spend 200 for a new light so I decided to fix this one. I fixed this when I bought the car and it has not broken again. I have opened and closed the trunk lid probably 100 times since I did this repair with no problems.
I had all materials on hand, so this repair did not cost me a dime. If you don't have this stuff, the medium CA glue will cost about $10-12, the activator is $5-6 and sand paper, etc is a few more bucks. should be able to get this done for $20 bucks or less. You will also need a 3 inch polisher to buff the light out. I bought this one a few years back from harbor freight for like 20 bucks.
http://www.harborfreight.com/3-inch-pneumatic-polisher-kit-99934.html
The first thing I did was remove the 3rd brake light and the two broken end pieces.
Then I got all my materials together
The next thing I did was clean with alcohol and let fully dry. I let it sit for about 15 or 20 minutes. alcohol will screw up the ca glue if it is not dry, so make sure it is dry. I then used medium CA glue and applied glue to one side of the broken piece. I shot the accelerator on the other side that is being glued up and stuck the two pieces together. at this point it should look like this
After I make sure the glued pieces are stuck together I then glued up the back side of the light a little bit more and I also ran a thin coat over the exposed crack on the front side. I then hit it with the accelerator. At this point these pieces should not come apart. I then repeat these steps to glue the other broken piece back on. Both broken pieces should look like this when done.
I then start sanding the light by hand with a block starting at 1000, 1200, 1500,3000. If you sand just the ends where you glued it up the middle will look like crap and ends will look new. So once you get the ends looking good don't forget to sand the rest of the light with all the grits to
nce I was satisfied with my sanding and my arm was tired, I got out the polisher and used compound to buff the light until all the sand scratches were gone and the light looked new. You could probably use the sander/polisher to go through all the grits vs doing it by hand but you might end up with low spots from your sander. By block sanding by hand you are forced to keep the surface of the light level and it won't look wavy when you are done.
This is what it looks like after sanding with 1000
This is after 1500
Fast forward to after you have finished sanding the light and buffing it up slick as glass, don't forget to paint the back side black so it looks brand new at night. you will probably do like i did and scratch up the back in the process and you will be able to see it through the light if you look close.
If everything goes well, it should look like this when you are done.
I hope this helps someone, let me know if you have any questions.
I had all materials on hand, so this repair did not cost me a dime. If you don't have this stuff, the medium CA glue will cost about $10-12, the activator is $5-6 and sand paper, etc is a few more bucks. should be able to get this done for $20 bucks or less. You will also need a 3 inch polisher to buff the light out. I bought this one a few years back from harbor freight for like 20 bucks.
http://www.harborfreight.com/3-inch-pneumatic-polisher-kit-99934.html
The first thing I did was remove the 3rd brake light and the two broken end pieces.
Then I got all my materials together
The next thing I did was clean with alcohol and let fully dry. I let it sit for about 15 or 20 minutes. alcohol will screw up the ca glue if it is not dry, so make sure it is dry. I then used medium CA glue and applied glue to one side of the broken piece. I shot the accelerator on the other side that is being glued up and stuck the two pieces together. at this point it should look like this
After I make sure the glued pieces are stuck together I then glued up the back side of the light a little bit more and I also ran a thin coat over the exposed crack on the front side. I then hit it with the accelerator. At this point these pieces should not come apart. I then repeat these steps to glue the other broken piece back on. Both broken pieces should look like this when done.
I then start sanding the light by hand with a block starting at 1000, 1200, 1500,3000. If you sand just the ends where you glued it up the middle will look like crap and ends will look new. So once you get the ends looking good don't forget to sand the rest of the light with all the grits to
nce I was satisfied with my sanding and my arm was tired, I got out the polisher and used compound to buff the light until all the sand scratches were gone and the light looked new. You could probably use the sander/polisher to go through all the grits vs doing it by hand but you might end up with low spots from your sander. By block sanding by hand you are forced to keep the surface of the light level and it won't look wavy when you are done. This is what it looks like after sanding with 1000
This is after 1500
Fast forward to after you have finished sanding the light and buffing it up slick as glass, don't forget to paint the back side black so it looks brand new at night. you will probably do like i did and scratch up the back in the process and you will be able to see it through the light if you look close.
If everything goes well, it should look like this when you are done.
I hope this helps someone, let me know if you have any questions.
Attachments
Last edited:
