leesvet

its been awhile, BUT, I've GOT to replace a bulb in an outer tail light assy.

I forget what the easiest access was/is.

seems like it was thru a fender liner/wheel well. I can't fit my arm thru the gas door opening, even door assy removed. No access from below....

any other routes to that tail lite bulb that I'm missing?

seems like I remember having to find skinny friends for some of these maint issues...

Got to do a booster too, and lost my midget, so that means I gotta take the seat out to climb in and get under the pedal assy.
No wonder the shop charges so much for the simplest chores....

tunedport85inject

usually from the licence plate hole remove the inner tail light,then from the inner tail light hole remove the outer,i'm a skinny guy and i lost a lot of skin doing my tail light led swap...

c4cruiser

Remove the license plate, then the backup light housing. It does help to remove the inside tail lamp housing. You'll need a 10mm socket and a short ratchet or thumbwheel ratchet.

Some say that you can go up from near the power antenna, but I think it's easier going thru the holes where the lamp housings are mounted. In any event small hands are a big help. But have some clean rags and bandaids close by; you can just place them close to the beer bottles.....

One thing to consider is to take some time and replace all of the bulbs. Over the years, the waterproofing grease that GM put in the sockets will have hardened and the chances are that trying to remove the bulb will break it. Clean all the old grease from each socket, scrape the contacts, and install new 1157 bulbs smearing some dielectric grease around the bulb socket. I used Sylvania 1157 LL bulbs (stands for Long Life) in my '87. Good time to clean the housings and the recesses in the bumper cover.

leesvet

ok....cool.
Whats the difference between the 2057 and 1157? FSM had 2057 listed for stop/tail..?

xrav22

2057 are brighter I used them they are stock

Hot Rod Roy

xrav, have you tried the 1157 and the 2057 side-by-side for brightness comparisons? The bulbs.com website shows the 1157 at 27w and 8.3w for the brake and tail filaments (32 and 3 candlepower). The 2057 bulb is 27w and 6.7w for the brake and tail filaments (32 and 2 candlepower). That tells me they have the same brightness brake lights, and the 1157 is the brighter tail light. The 2057 with its lower wattage tail light filament should have a longer life, since it's the tail lights that have much more useage than the brake lights. I can't find any specs on the 1157LL.
I'd guess Corvette recommends the longer life 2057 because they're so **** hard to change! Is my guess off base?

cohocarl

Yes, it's a P.I.A., (but what isn't on a C4?).
I found I gained a lot more access by removing the spare tire mount behind the license plate. Only 3 bolts after you remove your spare tire.




I found an old pic from a post I made back in 2002 in response to a member stating your arm will get scratched up...

xrav22

I was confused with the higher contrast of the 2057
Model Filament Volts Watts Amps CP Life
2057 Low-High 14.0-12.8 6.86-26.88 0.49-2.10 2-32 5000-1200
1034 Low-High 14.0-12.8 8.26-23.04 0.59-1.80 3-32 5000- 200
1157 Low-High 14.0-12.8 8.26-26.88 0.59-2.10 3-32 5000-1200
2397 Low-High 14.0-12.8 6.72-28.54 0.48-2.23 2-40 5000- 400
2357 Low-High 14.0-12.8 8.26-28.54 0.59-2.23 3-40 5000- 400
H1157 Low-High 14.0-12.8 15-50 1.07-3.90 25-107 400- 400

2057 Dim tail light, high contrast
1034 Efficient, but short life
1157 Common type dual filament bulb
2397 Dimmer/brighter and higher contrast
2357 Brighter brake light (my preferred tail light for the MGA)I just copied and pasted I run 2057)
H1157 Very bright, but with problems.

AGENT 86

I can change my outers, via the inner fender, much faster that removing all that other crap. Did my inners, via the plate hole.

leesvet

ok.....
since this is an outer, I might just go ahead and do the liner entry for that one. Was planning on popping the rear wheels off anyway to pressure wash the underside after a lonnnnnnng wet winter.

Ok, I 'get' the bulb differences....anyone running the 2357? are these are durable as the 2057 and 1157? I ask because I have blackout lenses and could use some brightness in the brake. Right now 90% of the brightness at night comes from the 3rd lite...

leesvet

C4 maint lessons:

have peroxide and clean towels available and grey tape.

No aspirin for 1 week before changing spark plugs passenger side

Take aspirin for 1 week AFTER changing spark plugs passenger side

scotch-brite pads hurt less than the finger nail brush on fresh wounds

The inventor of the non-stick Band-Aid should be nominated for sainthood

And finally....

alcohol works better IN you, rather than ON you....

TerryOlson