Removal 56 ford tail lite chrome ring, what glue?

[kari 613]

What is a safe way to remove and replace the plastic chrome tail lens ring and what adhesive should i use so that the ring can be removed in the future? thank you, Bill

[parklane]

If you can remove it without breaking it, I would use a few dabs od clear silicone to hold it back on. Most glues, I think would hold it so tight that something would break before the glue let go.

[Daves55Sedan]

You might want to wait until all of the chrome appears to have become dull before you attempt to remove the ring. The ring is chromed on the UNDERSIDE, not on the outside. What happens is that temperature changes and sunlight tend to dislodge the chrome from the clear plastic ring. When it does, it appears to be dull. It is not uncommon for the ring to fall off after the entire plating has become separated from the plastic.
Be sure to clean the surface of the red lens where the ring was mounted prior to gluing the ring on. Use a clear silicone sealant. It will hold well.

[smtichy]

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Kari 613,

I assume you are talking about the inner ring/cap on the center piece of the tail-light lens. If so I have some experience with this. Last fall a guy on a motorcycle bumped me, and smashed the tail-light. The chrome ring popped off and split in half, so I got a good look at it, here is what I saw:
- adhesive is a black tar like glue, hardens with age, and so loses tack, and should pry off.
- the glue is just dabbed on, so on mine it covered only about 30% of the inner surface.
- as Dave55 says, the "chrome" plating is on the underside of the plastic
- bad news is that this "chrome" sticks to the glue and will pull away from the ring
- when the chrome pulls from the ring it is really tough to touch it up

On the positive side, you can buy the ring itself for about $17 from Mac's or you can get the whole assembly with chrome ring at Concurs for about $65 (call to ask them).

Hope that helps.