[chuck519]

65 Conv. My BU lights are a bit pitted and old looking so I decided to replace them. Seemed like a good idea at the time. I crawled under the car and there is an amazing amount of undercoating under there covering up the back of the lights and, more importantly, the two nut and bolt connections on each side of the light. What do you guys do to get rid of 55 year old thick undercoating? And once I get the undercoating gone, it looks like it will be a real adventure getting a wrench or socket in there. As always, thanks in advance.

 

[tom991]

Get one of those retractable razor knives and start picking away at the uncoating around the retainer and the nuts that hold the backup light on. Get the undercoating off of the nuts then remove the nuts. The backup light body should come free of the retainer on the back side of the valance then you can work on getting the retainer out and replace it with the new one that came with the backup light kit. A picture would help.

 

[Klutch]

Yeah, nothing easy about removing gunked-on undercoating. Scrape, scrape, scrape...

BTW, I would suggest getting the LED backup light kit from GTONavy. You can order them here: https://vintageleds.com/

I have his entire kit on my 1970 Mach 1 and they're great. My backup lights are like landing beacons!

 

[Travis98146]

It's more work but it might be easier if you dropped the bumper. Then you may be able to lower the entire rear valance and work on it in the open. Or, you might try using a heat gun or hair dryer to soften the undercoating. Then a scraper or wire brush to clear the nuts. A 1/4" drive deep socket, I believe 3/8", should get the nuts off. With the heavy undercoating, the retainer may stay in place for re-assembly.