GTA tailamp and grill above bumper removal

Hi all
I wish to refurbish the tail lamp assemblies and the grill below the spoiler on my New Zealand new UK spec '86 Atmo (a couple of the last few things left to do).
Anybody got any tips, or a PDF or diagram?
Neither my English or German manuals give any indication how to go about this, and I would rather not break anything!!
Thanks
Graeme

[stephendell]

Sadly you will be very lucky to do this without damage.

Firstly spray everything you can see with copious amounts of wd40 or similar and leave overnight.

Each lamp has 4 large long hex nuts of the type you would find on the back of an old radio. They are accessed via holes in the rear panel from the engine bay. You may need to remove the bulb change cover panels.

The grille has 4 smaller long hex nuts one in each corner. You will need to remove the lights first.

On the lights the mounting studs are threaded into the plastic and if the nut is seized to the stud it might unscrew completely from the light cluster itself. This is ok as the light won’t get damaged and you will just have to deal with the seized nut and stud later once the light is removed.

On the grille the studs are bonded into the plastic and they will likely break off. You will need to glue them back on. You can remove the lights without removing the grill so maybe best to leave it alone if it looks ok.

[stephendell]

See this thread for photos of the grille fixings.

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=9441&p=96107&hilit=Rear+grille&sid=1ba1af91803f613907f631e990f9bb22#p960

I cannot stress enough how fragile and brittle these mounts usually are.

[mettersl]

The light studs can be replaced by PCB up stand bolts and nuts in the right sizes...you will find these in various lengths and bolt sizes on eBay..I used brass replacements as they were cheap and you wont need to worry as much about future corrosion. Most suppliers are in china and Hong Kong, so delivery might be quicker for you.
There are usually lots of washers used to space out the lights correctly in the opening to match the bumper (these cars weren't made to any kind of tolerance).
You can also find inserts and studs to go into the light unit itself. On my car the bolts were completely rusted and would not come apart.
The rear grille is difficult as the insert is moulded into the plastic, so does not unscrew and is not adequately plated so the nut will very likely be seized. the bolt is captive and cannot be replaced.
To make it worse the rust runs up the legs and this is what causes cracking of the corners of the grill and the weakness in the legs. If yours isn't cracked, I really would not remove it.
On mine it had to come out for the respray and was already broken, so I bought some acrylic square rod, cut it to length and drilled it to take an insert, then glued it where the broken leg had been with a combination of solvent and UV curable glue...that worked, but they are at an odd angle so need some careful measurement.
Here are some pictures of what you will find behind the grille.

20190427_133327.jpg

20190427_133335.jpg

20190427_133342.jpg

Thanks Mettersl and Stephen.
Stephen, when I follow the link it tells mew I do not have the required permissions to view??
Can you help with that?
Cheers
Graeme

[johnb]

The same happened to me.
I noticed that clicking the link logged me out for some reason so I just logged in again to see the photo.
I guess it shouldn't really log you out.

I was keen to see Stephen's photos, but it tells me I do not have permissions and I cannot log in again after I use the link without going back to square 1.

I can see mettersl photos fine

[johnb]

I just tried it again. Clicking the link logs me out and shows 'no permissions'. I then just manually logged in again whilst still on the linked page and the photos then appeared. It didn't take me back to the original thread.

Thanks John
I will try again
Cheers
Graeme

No you John.
When I try to open the link it takes me back to the forum index pag, and laogs me out. When I log i, that takes me back to the forum indx page again and on it goes.
I will just have to try and wing it. I thik I have a fari idea now where the fitting are.
Cheers
Graeme

[stephendell]

I’ll check your permissions

Or just mask, repair and spray in situ.

Before and after.

[stephendell]

I’ll check your permissions

All seems to be work ok. If still having a problem try restarting your computer or delete cookies

Cheers Stephen
Still have not been able to get this to work, although I see the photos from others OK. It just seems to be when I follow your link.
Anyhow, I have great news.
I have managed to remove both lamp assemblies and the grill without any damage.
Have cleaned up and resprayed the grill.
I have also split the top cover off one of the tail lamp assemblies. Interesting that the rear bit is really several different lights assembled together.
The only bits needing a refurbish are the clear top covers, which I would have thought would be the bit that most often needs replacing. I cannot see how somebody has not produced replacements at a reasonable price for those top covers, since the Elan uses them as well. The overall thing made out of clear plexi would be pretty straightforward I would have thought, with the only complicated bit being the fitting of the reflector.
I saw online somebody selling replica taillamps for a Lotus Elise Turbo, which is actually a Toyota taillamp - the Lotus saw even had the Toyota numbers etc on it. The price was about 80 quid for a pair I think. They are about the same height as the Alpine lamps, although the wrap around at the outside end may well be shorter.
I will keep you posted meanwhile on my refurbishment.

[mettersl]

Hi Graeme,
Well done...you’ve been very lucky...must the that NZ road salt free environment you have helps.
The French GTA owners did produce a run of replacement lenses, as you say, that's the only bit that needs replacement really, the rest can be cleaned and repainted.
I have a pair on my GTA, but they were £560 as the tooling is more complex than you'd think...the parts are very big and getting the flow right isn’t easy...there is a slot at the extreme end and one of mine isn't fully filled, but it’s better than the cracked originals.
More recently they have been trying to make a new batch but the plastic has become unavailable and the tool now won’t work at all.
There is another French company having a go too but they are trying to make the whole assembly, which seems excessive.
Fingers crossed that something happens.
Renault used to do a kit to fit A610 lamps and the centre grille to the GTA at a bargain price.
If we get new supplies of GTA lenses it likely to be GTA only they are much easier to make than A610 units. These are more complex inside and out, probably making them too hard to reproduce.
If new GTA lamps become available, expect to see A610s with GTA rear lamps, rather than the other way round.
Cheers
Lee