Rotus Tail Lamps

[redbaron]

Has anyone else out there had a problem with their Rotus tail lamp spacers melting? I did and what a mess. I was able to get some replacement spacers from Dennis but the clean up of the old melted spacers was a real challenge. The problem was that any solvent that would disolve the gooey residue would also strip off the body paint and melt the plastic lens material as well. The final solution was good old WD-40. Believe it or not, it softend up the goo to the point where, with a generous supply of paper towels, I was able to clean everything up and not damage the paint of the plastic lens. I will post some pictures to show what a mess this situation creates. 

[redbaron]

Photos of Rotus tail lamp spacers - 1http://www.usa7s.com/forum/uploads/redbaron/2006-05-03_220834_Rotus_Tail_Lamp_001.jpg-1

[redbaron]

http://www.usa7s.com/forum/uploads/redbaron/2006-05-03_221033_Rotus_Tail_Lamp_002.jpg

[redbaron]

http://www.usa7s.com/forum/uploads/redbaron/2006-05-03_221126_Rotus_Tail_Lamp_003.jpg

[slngsht]

That's quite a mess. Mine look fine. Were your spacers hard plastic or soft plastic?



Any idea why they melted? That must've been some burnout you did to create that much heat <img border="0" src="smileys/smiley4.gif[/img]

[redbaron]

The spacers were soft plastic. No, I didnt do any burnouts.&nbsp;I am a senior citizen and no longer&nbsp;engage in those&nbsp;sort of antics, unless provoked of course.&nbsp;I am no chemist but I am guessing that what happened was that in the mix of ingredients involved in the original spacers an excessive amount of plasticizer was used. That's the stuff that makes the mix flow freely and fill all the spaces in the mould. The real kicker in this whole episode was that the original spacers were fine for some 10 years or so in&nbsp;the Michigan climate where I had the car exclusively until last year when I decided to bring it down to our winter home in Florida&nbsp;so I could get more "play time" with it. In anticipation of our intent to make Florida our only residence I left the Rotus here over the summer. I suspect that in the enclosed garage that temperatures often exceeded 100 degrees which caused the excess plasticizer to "do it's thing" and return the spacers to an almost liquid&nbsp;state with the results as depicted in the photographs. If anyone else has a theory&nbsp;I would like to hear it.&nbsp;My sincere&nbsp;hope is that the replacement spacers do better this summer.&nbsp;

[slngsht]

Mine are soft plastic as well.

[solder_guy]

My favorite solvent is Goo-Gone. It is safe with plastics. Find it at Walmart (8oz bottle is $4).



Rob Mitchell

[redbaron]

You will notice in one of the photographs that the tail lamp lens is cracked.&nbsp;I have tried to find a replacement lens on the internet but to no avail. I think the lamp is some 60's vintage Toyota part and I suspect any of these lens parts or the entire lamp assemblies for that matter have long ago gone to that happy hunting ground in the sky. If anyone out there knows of a source please let me know. I have already tried Dennis and he has none. I managed to patch up mine with some plastic glue but I would really like to replace it if at all possible.

[redbaron]

http://www.usa7s.com/forum/uploads/redbaron/2006-05-04_094644_Rotus_Tail_Lamp_004.jpg

[slngsht]

based on the parts list, the part numbers are 81550-60190

and 81550-60110



I googled it, and this came up:

>http://www.man-a-fre.com/pa/taillights.htm (http://www.man-a-fre.com/pa/taillights.htm)



Looks like the part you're looking for is in the picture on that page. You might want to give them a call.

http://www.man-a-fre.com/pa/pictures/taillamps.jpg



Cheers.

[redbaron]

<strong>Gadzooks man, I think you have found it. I must have gone through a couple hundred pictures on Google Images and I couldn't find a match. Thanks for the info, I will give them a call.</strong>

[slngsht]

Cool!

Let me know how it turns out dealing with them.

Since alot of these parts are no longer available from Toyota, let me know, and i'll post the link in the Tech section under the Rotus parts list post, so we can build a library of misc. parts suppliers.

[redbaron]

Excellent suggestion.

[redbaron]

I called these folks and talked to a technical specialist on 805-578-8712 and found him to be very helpful and knowledgeable. He told me this was a '74 - '76 vintage part. I forgot to ask for the specific model application. In any event, they carry the complete lamp assembly or just the lens. Since&nbsp;I really need only the lens I ordered one at $14.95 plus shipping. Note that the original equipment part was "handed" but the replacement part will work on either the left hand or right hand side.This is true for the lamp assembly # 51550-60190 or just the lens.

[slngsht]

Thanks for the update... added your note to the tech section in this thread. >http://www.usa7s.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=41&PN=1 (http://www.usa7s.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=41&PN=1)

[solder_guy]

I forgot to ask for the specific model application.



Here's what I found:



>Exploded view of Rear Lights (http://www.man-a-fre.com/explodedview/lightingandelectrical/rearlights.htm)



Rob Mitchell

<edited><editID>solder_guy</editID><editDate>38841.9500925926</editDate></edited>

[redbaron]

Rob, thanks for the info on the exploded view of the tail lamp which contains all the part numbers of the individual&nbsp;components of the lamp assembly. The one item I needed to get my lamps 100% restored was the lens gasket. I contacted the folks at Man-a-Fre again, on the wild chance they would stock that part. Wonders of wonders they actually had it! This outfit has really impressed me. They had already set up an account for me based on my order yesterday of the lens so they had my name, address and credit card account on file. Consequently today's order was quickly&nbsp;handled because it involved little more than providing the part numbers.

[solder_guy]

My spacers are carved out of wood!



Rob Mitchell

[redbaron]

I can finally close the book on this tail lamp fiasco. Dennis prevailed upon his source to run some additional plastic tail lamp spacers and I procured a set.They survived the high temperature of a Florida summer and did not turn into jello. The folks at "MAN-A-FIRE" in California (http://www.man-a-fre.com/pa/taillights.htm)came up with the correct lens and lens gasket. The attached shows the refurbished tail lamp installation.

[redbaron]

http://www.usa7s.com/forum/uploads/20070102_173218_IMG_1618.JPG

[solder_guy]

Nice repair. And the fender cleaned up nicely! Did you replace the parts on the other side also? May I ask how much for the lens and gasket?



Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

<edited><editID>solder_guy</editID><editDate>2007-01-03 07:55:12</editDate></edited>

[redbaron]

Rob, the situation on the other side wasn't as bad. The lens and lens gasket were OK. Only the tail lamp spacer had turned to jello so all that I had to do was clean up the gook and install the new tail lamp spacer I obtained from Dennis. By the way, I use the Grant "No Wheel - No Steal" set up on my Rotus.

[solder_guy]

Well I'm going to get rid of my Rotus Tail Light assemblies (with wood spacers) and go with new Caterham ones. I have to replace my fenders anyway which are cracked and beyond fiberglass repair.



So I got new fiberglass fenders and Caterham tail light assemblies off eBay. They look great! The advantages of the new light assemblies are that there are only five holes to drill through the new fenders (no huge hole to cut out). Plus there's a built-in red reflector. Disadvantage is no reverse light .. so I need to buy backup lights.



And I don't have to jack up the car, remove the wheel and disassemble the whole thing just to change a light bulb. http://www.usa7s.com/aspnetforum/images/emoticons/cuss.gif



When I harvest the Rotus parts, they will be available to others.



Rob Mitchell

<edited><editID>solder_guy</editID><editDate>2007-01-03 13:24:12</editDate></edited>