2025-10-11 Taillights

On Friday, Oct 9th, I went to a U-Pull in London, Ontario, to see if there were any parts left on a 1980 TR7 they had.  The website showed it had burned.  Not a good start for looking for electric parts.  But the images did show taillights; it was listed in July, and they were probably gone, but I figured I should check.  

This is what I found: a sad state 

After about two hours of crawling all over this carcass, I came away with the following

• A pair of taillights 
• A pair of front indicators (looks almost new ) 
• A pair of rear side markers, including covers  
• Steering column cover
• Convertible top cover ( 8.5/10 condition ) 
• A set of brand new, never-installed, control arm poly bushings 
• Lengths of the front wiring harness, for the connectors, and these escaped the fire 

Refurbishment

The taillights in the car were not very bright.  I suspect the reflective material had aged etc. Much like the front indicators.  But I didn't want to touch them because the lenses were cracked and spider-cracked around the mounting screws.

Pulled the 'new' assemblies from the stash and started to pull them apart.  Step one, lens and base into the sonic tank along with the bulb holders 

First, the right side.  

The bulbs look brand new!  This is the left side.   I suspect that most TR7s on the road are like this.  

These bulbs also look new.  

After 40 minutes in the sonic tank. 

This lens looks good!

The bulb holders are super clean as well

The base is cooked off 😝 Off the media blaster for the base.  After 15min 

Now for the left side.  Again, the same out of the sonic cleaner and into the media blaster  

Just to show how much crap came off the lenses, UGH!!!  LOL  

Finishing 

The fronts of the bases were taped off, and the backs were painted with Tremclad Gloss Black Rust Paint.  Then the reflectors got taped with silver aluminum tape to provide a reflective surface.   I have used Chrome paint on others, and while the paint is easier, the tape provides a brighter finish.  The best way I have found is to make pieces of tape that cover one face versus trying to do corners :-) 

 

For the mounting, the nuts on the burned car were hand-tight, and I thought this was unusual until I checked them on my car.  They were also hand-tight.   Like the front indicators, I decided to use nylocs and washers.  This allowed them to be made snug without putting extra strain on the thread and lens

For sealing the taillight from water, etc.  I used 1/4" self-adhesive neoprene, trimmed to the edge of the base.   This needed to be that thick because the lens studs have raised shoulders.   On the back, I  used 3/16" neoprene weather stripping.  

The Final Installation 

Here is the comparison of the refurbished one and the one from the '7 

On trying to install, it looks like the back was hit on the left side.  The 'new' one would not install cleanly, and the mounting holes needed some 'adjustment'.  A small file opened up the opposite mounting holes.    

But they did go in.  And now this project is done with upgrades.   Some quick notes:

• I tried to use LED bulbs instead of incandescent bulbs.  Normally, they are brighter, but I think since the bulbs are not pointing directly back, they are not as good.   
• The lights were tested after the tape was applied to ensure clean contacts

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