Author - pim25

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Tail light lenses on our cars may vary in size and pattern, but all have a simple construction consisting of just a few parts: a metal chrome frame with mounting hardware, a diffuser with a gasket, a gray plastic housing, a black plastic gasket between the frame and body, as well as mounting hardware:

Even if you have all these parts intact (lucky!), the rubber gasket on the diffuser is surely showing signs of aging and may let in water.

And it lets water into the trunk, unfortunately, causing corrosion there. Car owners try to fix leaks using sealants, but they don't help much.

So I will describe the process of making a new gasket.

First, you need to remove the remnants of the old gasket from the diffuser. The glue is good, so use a utility knife and be careful not to scratch the diffuser.

After removing the mounting area, clean off any remaining old glue and degrease it.

Important! Try not to tear the old gasket – we will need it as a template.

Next, take a porous rubber sheet about 4-5 mm thick. Place the old gasket on top of it and spray light-colored paint over it from an aerosol can.

You get lines for cutting:

Then use regular scissors to cut out the gasket along the outline, including all narrow sections. Small distortions won't affect the usability of the gasket. Don't be overly meticulous – remember that this rubber pieceis entirelycovered by a chrome frame when installed.

After degreasing the gasket, apply clear polyurethane ‘Moment’ glue to the diffuser and gasket:

...and stick it back in place. It's better to clean and polish the diffusers from outside beforehand. You can hand-polish them with any polishing compound, even a Turtle Wax:

As a result, you get tail light stop lights with new gaskets:

After also polishing the chrome frame, you can reassemble everything in reverse order. The plastic gasket between the frame and body can be replaced by rubber – for example, take a new black one meant for mudguards.

The result will definitely please you 🙂