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Sheesh! You should see this collection of 240 sedan tail lights I have.
The plastic is melted around the brake light / running light combo where the bulb holder secures in the bayonet-like mount. Many are so screwed that I have it may be impossible to repair.
Since 2008 or so I've had to go through like maybe three pair of sedan tail lights and one or two of the wagon tail lights. These are all OEM.
Wash them out, mend the flexi circuit boards, try to find bulb holder that they themselves are not all wopper-jawed some how.
Also, as it fills with water in the rains, drilled small holes in the red brake light lens at the bottom of it right near the weld to join the lens and the reflector body.
These people will put in dual-filament bulb, two different kinds where the little alignment pins are at right angle versus the spec dual filament bulbs. Or they use single filament bulb holder with dual filament bulbs. I have a few sets of sedan tail lighta nd wagon tail light left and right on reserve. I've had to coat the red brake light lens in the UV resist Goop (RV or MARINE versions - Walmart no longer has it on the shelves it appears). Slowly the goop gets cloudy.
Yet I keep them clean and bright and clear. I'd treat the flexi boards to tail light bulb holder contacts clean with DeoxIT-D grease or, not so recently, the SuperLube dielectric silicon grease.
When the prior owner of the junk yard or one of mine uses the wrong bulb, the heat cracks the top of the brake light red lens chamber. Opens right up and lets the rain fall in. The crack can span the weld between reflector chamber roof into the red lens or the break light. Oh, it's awful.
So, on one car I have a 1982 Hella six panel wrap around driver side. It has the Valeo flexi circuit board for the dual running / brake light. Some filing and the bulb holder goes in. The other three, across the two sedans (1991 & 1992) are Valeo. Not as well made, yet work. I stacked the foamy seals two layers deep and that seems to help.
I have extra sedan and wagon tail lights as I mean to install LED bulbs into them. Yet now we can get the form factor bulbs as LED versions. Yet I was planning in increasing the brake light, turn signal (front and rear), and reverse lights to be brighter. Much, much brighter.
I was also planning on running a braided heavy copper alloy cable as a ground loop from the battery through the body, though the trunk, and back again. That suff is sort of pricey now.
So, with these wrap around six panel tail lights, always good to have spares prepped in the event the mounted one fill with water and gold fish take up residence!
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