Apologies if this has been discussed elsewhere: I can't find it, if so. Will be repainting '92 ES300 this spring. What is involved with removing the headlights and taillights (the entire assemblies) for painting?

 

I haven't had to remove my headlights so I'm not quite sure about that but the tail lights are super easy. Undo the black plastic strip at the top of the trunk (it's held on with plastic clips, so remove it carefully), remove the trunk light lens, then you can pull off the carpet that covers the back of the trunk. From there just undo the 3 or 4 nuts for each taillight and they each pull right out. Then unhook the wiring harness, be careful not to break it.

For me it takes about 2 minutes to take one of them off, it's easy as soon as you figure it out.

 

Vintage. P.S. what year is your Lex? Mine has 144,000 mi, the coolant pump failed on the freeway at about 110,000 so I had to have the head gasket replaced. My bad, I didn't bring it in at 100K; the mechanic said, "yeah if you had, we would have recommended replacing that pump...." Otherwise only maintenance. It has a manual tranny and despite its idiosyncracies, I love it. Plan to keep it forever (until my daughter inherits it).

 

A previous poster discussed the removal of the tail lights. He is correct that this is very easy.

The headlights are also easy IF the 92 model has the same headlight assembly as our 94 ES has, and I would bet that it has.

There is a black plastic cover that covers the gap between the grill assembly and the radiator area. Pull up this cover (it is held in place with plastic clips). You will then see several bolts which hold the headlight assembly in place. It has been a long time since I removed the headlights, but I believe there are three bolts. After removing the bolts, remove the wiring connector, and then pull forward on the light assembly. It should pull right out.

 

My Lexus is a 1992 same as yours. I know exactly what you mean when you say you wanna keep it forever, my dad bought ours brand new and I wanted it since I was a kid. Gonna keep it forever too, mine is all options except CD player and it's and automatic. I always wondered how it would be to have it as a manual but this one will stay an auto just for originality's sake :-) We have an old manual bmw so I can get my fill of manual fun-ness there lol

 

CUMan: thanks for the info. Did you need to re-align the beams after re-assembly? Vintagelex: my manual does not shift smoothly into reverse (while stopped), nor into 4th from 5th at speed: you must double clutch for either operation. But my old TR3 taught me well how to do that, so I don't mind.

 

I don't remember having to do any alignment after swapping out a headlight assembly. As I recall, there is a pin which fits into a hole in the back of the assembly. This probably serves as an alignment aid. There are also bubble-type alignment guides built into the assembly, although I have found these to be inaccurate. Centering the bubble on our car makes the headlight beam too low.

 

I have removed my headlights probably a total of 5 times and they have never needed realigned. But your car may be different as mine is a 2001.