Just a couple of hours for this light...

Every light replacement has come with its own unique set of challenges from rotted screws to stuck screws and more. This was no different. 

Pulling the lens off, it was amazing to find that the screws were barely rusted. The lens, however, was beyond redemption. It was cracked and therefore the cause of water leakage. Out of curiosity I tried fitting the lens from my Harbor Freight clearance light on instead of the cracked lens because frankly the rest of the light was in good shape. The U bracket it was mounted in was very firmly attached with plenty adhesive. Sadly however the Grote base did not accept the Harbor Freight lens. I noticed that was the lens that fell off a few years ago and had to be patched into place with silicone goop. It was time to replace it - way past time.

Unscrewing the rusty screws was pretty straightforward as was easing the U bracket off with a pocket knife. From there I did go down some routes that didn't work out and had to be undone before finally getting it right.

The first thing was to put the new light in place and unlike yesterday, remembering to put the foam sealing pad behind it. I had to go back to yesterday's light and put the foam pad in place so it was properly weather sealed. Then it was a case of tinning and soldering the wires before using shrink-on insulation. 

Next I drilled out the two screw holes and installed a pair of rivnuts. I might go back and redo yesterday's light once I've done the roof vent, the front marker lights and the window covers. I'm still unhappy with yesterday's work and I am somewhat of a perfectionist.

After that I went over the area where the light would be mounted with a nylon brush in my pistol drill followed by spray painting the area. When the paint was almost dry I squeezed on some Dynatron caulk and screwed the new fixture plus the bracket into place and popped the lens back on.

The caulk might get some white paint when it's dry but that'll have to be done with a brush. I have no plans to do this yet. The white paint is to reflect heat to keep the inside cooler. The grey won't add that much to extra heat so it's probably not worth doing.

Lights done so far...

• New lenses and gaskets on 4 turn signal lights
• New lenses and gaskets on both 7" brake lights
• One brake light totally replaced (4")
• Both reversing lights replaced.
• New lenses on all 4 corner markers.
• One headlamp replaced.
• 5 marker lights totally replaced.

Lights remaining to do...

• Three amber top markers - these need to be done after replacing the roof vent as I'll be clambering over them to access the roof vent.
• 4 side markers - These can be done from the ground and need to be done after installing the window covers.

I have two sheets of aluminium of different grades to cover the outsides of the two windows blanked off from inside. I'll have to order more to do the other windows. Given the cheaper 5052 aluminium seems to be just as good as the stiffer 6061, I'll probably go with 5052.