rear reflector removal help

[jgurnari]

how do I remove the rear reflector on a 1985 porsche 911.
bumperette need to come off? bumper off?
thanks

[Bsess]

If I recall correctly, there is no need to remove the bumper. You can pry it off from the top edge with a large putty knife or similar. It's held on by a series of push-on type clips, although it is somewhat difficult to remove without damaging it.

[smadsen]

BEWARE! You're dealing with 40-year old plastic that has been heat cycled by the muffler a bazillion times.

[isby]

It's tricky to get the reflector off without cracking it (ask me how I know). On the back, it should have 10 of these protruding plastic stem-like things (see image below):



They are press-fitted into 10 metal clips, which are in turn press-fitted into the sheet metal. At least on my '84, the screws at the end of the stems are not used. The clips have a death grip (I mean, a real death grip) on the plastic stems. You can't be too careful in prying the reflector out of the clips. Even then, there's a good chance you'll crack it. A new reflector is around $600 - good incentive to exercise care.

[jgurnari]

would it make it less likely to cracking it I DID go from the back somehow.. don’t mind taking the time to remove bumperettes or anything else. I want to repaint the edges.. BUT DONT WANT TO BUY A NEW ONE!

[David Inc.]

Any time you're working on old ass plastic it's in your interest to work on it gently. I know the SC clips are a different setup, but I think had I tried to just slowly pull it from the outside it would have blown into a million pieces.

It's really not so bad removing the muffler and lower valance to get to the backside of the thing, at least on the SC. More stuff in the way on the Carrera?

[john walker's workshop]

Later carreras used clips along the top edge under the wide rubber strip. A screwdriver gets them loose.

[fallingat120mph]

1986 coupe here.

Was told a few weeks ago the only way for me to remove the reflector was to remove the exhaust. Not sure if that is to do it right, to not break anything, or simply the only way...

It's on my winter list of things to do and haven't really looked into it at this point but am subscribing to this thread to find the answer or present one if I actually get around to this myself.

[isby]

There is a heat shield tucked under the bumper that is attached by sheet metal screws. If you remove the bumper and heat shield, you can gain access to the back of the reflector. If you have enough room back there, you may be able to push out the metal clips from the surrounding sheet metal with the reflector stems still attached. I presume that it would be easier to remove the clips from the reflector on the bench.

[jgurnari]

Isby. Oringially I thought that was the way... I will look. Thanks

[David Inc.]

Originally Posted by isby

There is a heat shield tucked under the bumper that is attached by sheet metal screws. If you remove the bumper and heat shield, you can gain access to the back of the reflector. If you have enough room back there, you may be able to push out the metal clips from the surrounding sheet metal with the reflector stems still attached. I presume that it would be easier to remove the clips from the reflector on the bench.

The clips/brackets with the pins are epoxied on, they have to be broken off and put back on if you want to respray the reflector. It's a chore but it can be done. I did mine last year and it actually came out looking really nice. Not better than new OEM but a hell of a lot better than aftermarket (with stickers, yuck) or faded old OEM. Here's a before and after. You can still see the spots around the edge in the after photo where the brackets were re-epoxied to the reflector, I don't think there's much to be done for that as the break won't leave a continuous surface for light to pass through.

Before:


After:


Look here for some more info:
https://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/814394-1980-911sc-rear-reflector-restoration.html