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The taillights on my '82 were installed incorrectly by a previous owner. They were all put in without aligning the long post at the back of housing assembly with the hole in the body. This meant they were all tightened down tilted, and the edges of the lamp holders (sockets) were hitting the body behind them. One of the lamp sockets is damaged because of this, and I'll need to install a new one. Anyway, I've put the taillights in place the way they should be (I think), but now they wobble. Is there supposed to be a gasket or seal between the housing and the body? I can't find anything like that for '82 in the online catalogs.
a picture of what you have behind the tail lamp would help but the Parts and Illustration catalog shows a "rear lamp mounting panel retainer" part# 14011849. This link shows how they are installed
You're referring to #13 in the drawing. I think that's what the lamp socket snaps into. If those were missing, the lamps would just be hanging in the air. I'll pull one of the taillights out again and double-check to see if the rear piece looks like that. Thanks!
OK, the Retainer Assy shown in the drawing is riveted to the urethane bumper. That's how the AIM drawing shows it too. Sorry, I looked for this the other day in my book but couldn't find it.
Here's the drawing:
The one I opened up isn't assembled quite like that, but it's close. The only difference is that there's no rivet on the side with the blue circle, only where the three red arrows are (photo below). I don't know if the retainer has been removed and reinstalled without that rivet, or if the factory did it that way. In any event, this doesn't seem to be the problem.
I tried tightening the two hold-down screws more at each lens, and the lights snugged up some. However, they're still not 100% secure feeling, and one of the screws is on the verge of stripping. The real problem seems to be the plastic standoffs labeled "NUT" in the last drawing. They're loose, and they wobble pretty badly. One of the photos shows a closeup. These look like they're a press fit into the metal brackets that are part of the Retainer Assy. I think there are two ears on the backside that snap into place. Unfortunately, I can't get to the outside ear to press it, so I can't remove either standoff without breaking it. The last photo is the taillight assy that I removed for the pictures. I don't see any damage to that.
So, has anyone seen these nuts (standoffs) for sale anywhere? I could break them out to remove them, but I need to have replacements in hand first.
'82 Tailight-Body Gaskets?
