Resealing Tamora headlight cover
Discussion
Hi all,
One of my headlight covers has come off so I need to reattach it. All the sealant is still on the car's body so the cover is "clean".
Do I need to remove all the sealant and start again? What do I need and where do I get it?
Or can I just reattach the cover? Again, what do I need to attach it?
Is it okay to drive the car without a cover or will rain be a problem?
Cheers....
Andrew
One of my headlight covers has come off so I need to reattach it. All the sealant is still on the car's body so the cover is "clean".
Do I need to remove all the sealant and start again? What do I need and where do I get it?
Or can I just reattach the cover? Again, what do I need to attach it?
Is it okay to drive the car without a cover or will rain be a problem?
Cheers....
Andrew
Hi,
I had this problem with my Tam.
I used an adhesive called sikaflex. I bought this from a marine shop/chandlers for about £8.
I peeled off all the old adhesive and cleaned all the old paint off the lens as this had all gone flakey causing the lens to detach.
Once I had repainted the lens, I stuck it back on with the sikaflex and then used it to seal the gap between the body work and the lens. It's a messy job. Make sure you have an old rag and some white spirit to hand to clean off any excess and leave to set.
Once complete, it looked as good as new.
By the sounds of it, you will get away without having to repaint the black edging on the lens.
As for driving without it, I had no problems even in the wet. It just looked silly
Good luck.
I had this problem with my Tam.
I used an adhesive called sikaflex. I bought this from a marine shop/chandlers for about £8.
I peeled off all the old adhesive and cleaned all the old paint off the lens as this had all gone flakey causing the lens to detach.
Once I had repainted the lens, I stuck it back on with the sikaflex and then used it to seal the gap between the body work and the lens. It's a messy job. Make sure you have an old rag and some white spirit to hand to clean off any excess and leave to set.
Once complete, it looked as good as new.
By the sounds of it, you will get away without having to repaint the black edging on the lens.
As for driving without it, I had no problems even in the wet. It just looked silly
Good luck.
SP6 Animal said:
It's the black paint that's the problem getting it to stick and stay stuck.
What do people use?
I used plasti-kote enamel paint. Flat black (code b2) Wilkinson hardware stores sell it its about £4 for a 60ml pot. need a paint brush too and some model tape to mask the 15mm lines off.What do people use?
Ok restart this thread after some time.
I'm resealing one headlight cover (it was held on by double sided tape).
What paint to use for the black edge.
Plasti kote is recommended here does it work ? It is tempting and cheap.
Or sika 209 primer type d or n? is recommended in other threads. This is expensive for something I'll user once.
I have tigerseal will it work or is sikaflex 221 better?
Thanks for any information.
I'm resealing one headlight cover (it was held on by double sided tape).
What paint to use for the black edge.
Plasti kote is recommended here does it work ? It is tempting and cheap.
Or sika 209 primer type d or n? is recommended in other threads. This is expensive for something I'll user once.
I have tigerseal will it work or is sikaflex 221 better?
Thanks for any information.
I used Sikaflex 221 to reseal my rear Sag lenses. It works well but can be difficult to work with to get a smooth bead.
When working with silicon sealant, the 'wet finger' technique ia a good one so tried the same with white spirit on the Sikaflex. Have plenty of kitchen roll / rags at the ready along with the white spirit to try and get a neat finish. You don't want lint getting into your nice bead.
I'd recommend doing it in two stages. First, bond the lens in and let that go off so it is firmly fixed to allow you to do the hard bit next... and then come back and form the neat bead around the outside edge and the body.
I did not have to paint mine, but a plastic paint sounds like the right thing to use. Good luck, and hopefully minimal swearing involved
When working with silicon sealant, the 'wet finger' technique ia a good one so tried the same with white spirit on the Sikaflex. Have plenty of kitchen roll / rags at the ready along with the white spirit to try and get a neat finish. You don't want lint getting into your nice bead.
I'd recommend doing it in two stages. First, bond the lens in and let that go off so it is firmly fixed to allow you to do the hard bit next... and then come back and form the neat bead around the outside edge and the body.
I did not have to paint mine, but a plastic paint sounds like the right thing to use. Good luck, and hopefully minimal swearing involved
The sealant on my Tamora's covers has started peeling inside so although they are still sealed they look a bit tatty. Any tips for removing the covers without damaging the surrounding bodywork/paint? I've got new covers so as a last resort I could destroy the fitted ones to get them off.
Any tips for masking the new ones for painting and getting a neat uniform black surround?
Any tips for masking the new ones for painting and getting a neat uniform black surround?
On the lens removal question - I used a stanley knife blade to delicately go round the entire lens edge to break as much of the seal as possible (not possible to get into the very tops of my rear Sag lenses due to overhanging bodywork). Then I used fishing line slid under the lens and gently worked it around like cheese wire slicing back and forth to break the remaining seal (similar to how you would remove a stuck-on badge from bodywork).
On the condensation question, it can dry out of its own accord, but will likely come back as there is a break in the seal. You can try having the headlights on / getting it sitting in the sun (if you can find any). Likely need to reseal to cure properly though, or some have actually drilled holes somewhere in behind to allow for drying out.
On the condensation question, it can dry out of its own accord, but will likely come back as there is a break in the seal. You can try having the headlights on / getting it sitting in the sun (if you can find any). Likely need to reseal to cure properly though, or some have actually drilled holes somewhere in behind to allow for drying out.
Hey PB
I attached it to the side wall, with the filter on the inside so as not to be intrusive. It's easy on the offside but the nearside light has an air passage between the headlight wall and the engine bay which makes it very difficult. If I was to do it again I would consider mounting them on the bottom panel. The small hole is nearly invisible when looking through the lamp cover.
I attached it to the side wall, with the filter on the inside so as not to be intrusive. It's easy on the offside but the nearside light has an air passage between the headlight wall and the engine bay which makes it very difficult. If I was to do it again I would consider mounting them on the bottom panel. The small hole is nearly invisible when looking through the lamp cover.
Gassing Station | Tamora, T350 & Sagaris | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff