Thanks, I appreciate it. It's my 4th bird. My favorite, up until this one, was a brand new 2000 ws6 navy blue. That dark was sweet.

 

I believe he was referring to this link.

 

You are right and I am wrong


Moving on

 

OK...so does anyone have any links to sites where to purchase a new tail assembly? Yeah, I know, I said 'new'. I just don't what to risk a used one looking similar or not lasting as long...

I've found this site but it's like over 400$, for just one of them!

 

^Sounds about right for a "new" one.
Search ebay or classifieds for car's being parted out for "like new" ones.

 

I found this from 'the other forum' with regards to getting a new tail light assy.
It was only 235$.

http://www.gmpartsdirect.com/catalog

- Click that you agree
- Enter the information for your vehicle
- Rear lamps
- Combination lamps
- Tail lamp assy.
- Add to cart
- Submit Cart
- Enter email address
- Enter VIN

They should respond with email to specific part for you to order. It took me no longer than 30 minutes to get an email back from them.

 

Got new RH tail light installed.

 

Interesting. I have the same issue on my drivers side tail light. I think I'm simply going to black them both out. Gotta find the stickey for that.

 

That will only make it look like you're putting on your turn signal when braking!

 

Has anyone actually opened up a Firebird/T/A taillight assembly using the 'bake it in the oven' method ?? -- or any other method. My dr. side is darkened as well and am well aware that it is moisture degrading the reflective material. I know what I WANT to do but getting it apart is the issue. Would love to hear from someone who has done this successfully!

 

Why not drill some vent holes on the backside of the light somewhere? Camaro headlights have them.

 

Mine is the same way (98 T/A). I took it off yesterday and there was about a half gallon of water in there.. no lie! I was amused by this...

 

My plan is to paint the reflective backing of the inside of the tail light with chrome spray paint, drill some holes in the bottom of the assembly, seal it all up real good and use the thicker gaskets sold by Autotrix ( I've used them on the DRL housings with good results ). That should take care of the problem w/o having unload my bank account on new housings. BUT !!! I have to get the damn things apart FIRST..... SOOOOO ,, as not to reinvent the wheel, has anyone gotten them apart successfully ???

 

That's true my car only had 37k miles on it when I posted that picture up, its just something that happens over time. I forgot all about this thread! Its crazy to see how far my car has come since I put that picture on here haha

You're car looks great op

 

One more time...... does any body have any experience with opening up the tail lights of a '98 - '02 Firebird/T/A ??? any help is appreciated. thx

 

Sorry, I have not. Opening isn't a big problem...just use a Dremel. I'm thinking that closing/sealing it might be more of a concern. I suppose just some silicone glue would suffice. I sealed mine with GE clear Silicon II.

I'm sure there might be some plastic glue that would 'weld' the halves back together.

Good luck.

 

Well, I tried the tail light in the oven method..... didn't turn out so well !! But I figured what the heck,, I'm gonna get another one anyway. I put it in at 200 for 20 mins, it did soften the glue enough to get it apart but the actual lens gets a little too soft and it warped making it a really sloppy fit to the backing ( which turned out fine btw). The backing has a grove running the entire way around and the lens has a ridge ( sort of a tongue & groove thing). The ridge got all wavy from the heat and manipulation. Speaking of the backing and the controversy of why the light gets dark in the first place - it was totally black in the housing where it should be shiny DUE TO THE MOISTURE DEGRADING THE FAKE CHROME FINISH !! ( would never come from the factory that way). So put that one to bed. Luckily, a local junk yard had one in stock in good shape for $125 and I scarfed it up -- would have bought the other one too as it was a whole car but the damn thing was chipped too badly on the upper edge but looked good inside -- dang it!
I drilled a few drain holes in the bottom back side and bought some over-sized gaskets from autotrix.net for the sockets and did that for both sides (didn't have a problem with right side- YET) so I don't think moisture buildup will be a problem anymore. I get so tired of fixing GM's F-ups -- went through the same crap with my DRL's and now it's on to my stupid cracked door panels on BOTH sides !! GRRRRR

In retrospect, if I were going to try that again, I'd dremmil cut it and try some how to bond the two halves together again. New ones are just too much cash and good used ones are going to be harder to find. We need to learn how to fix what we have. Just for grins and giggles -- I spray chromed the back of my old one and put the lens back on with a REALLY thick bead of sealant and put a 50 lb of sand on top of it to try to get it to mold itself together -- it would've worked nicely had I not warped the lens. It was nice and bright, just like the good one. I hope this horribly long rant will help some one in the future..

 

I'm beginning to believe that the more we share our experiences on/in these forums, no matter how trivial we may think they are, the more someone somewhere can benefit from it. Heck, you can't be the only one to have "this" issue( whatever "this" may be).

Anywhooo....

Did you happen to snap some photos of the inside BEFORE you put it back together?? (plz, plz say yes)

I still have mine in the garage. probably will dremel it open and see what's up.

OH BTW, I just remembered that I removed my front turn signal lamp housing (whatever it's called) and the chrome inside of it is virtually non-existent also.

 

So lets add another one to list of our TA problems. Headlight motors/gears, leaky t tops, cracked door panels, bubbling sail panels (on some), the infamous ABS INOP/BRAKE lights, and now faded tail lights...