I have a set of 86 taillights that I've taken apart for cleaning and detailing. What is the best kind of butyl to use? Is there a certain size? I don't want to assemble the lens to the housing and make a mess. I saw some 3M at a local chain store, but wanted to check here first. Thanks
This probably won't be any help, but I've always just used black RTV silicone on mine - holds well, keeps the moisture out, and comes apart without too much work. Doesn't pull off in a nice clean strip when you take off the lenses, though, so it's a more semi-permanent thing than butyl tape.
They sell some windshield and window caulking-in-a-roll stuff at Autozone and Checker that is essentially the same stuff as the stock butyl tape, although it might be a wider/thicker bead. Otherwise, only other place I can suggest would be 50resto, as I remember seeing them selling rolls of the stock stuff on there.
I had to take apart my taillights and reassemble them the other day. I used 3M brand and this stuff is called "Windo-Weld Ribbon Sealer" and its 3/8" in size. It was actually for a windshield but I just rolled the stuff in my palm and spun it down until I reduced the diameter down far enough to fit the lights. The stuff worked great and the good thing about it is that if you need to pull them apart again its not a problem. It seals great too and was fairly cheap from what I can rememeber. I see if I can find my reciept and see how much it cost but I think it was less than 10 bucks and that was for a 15ft roll. JUst my .02.....l8r