85/86 lariat tail gate panel reflector removal

[Fryeken]

As I get older I’ve become a little more cautious or look before I leap.

I just got in a lariat tailgate panel with a usable reflector that I plan to swap over to my existing panel that lost the reflector at some point.

Any removal advice to be able to reuse the plastic “buttons” or just grind them off and glue the reflector on the old panel?

The new panel has some character dings that the old panel doesn’t have- otherwise this would be easy.

[kramttocs]

Mine is stored up on a shelf so can't verify but the plastic buttons you are talking about are pins that were melted flat, right? No way to reuse that style that I could imagine.

Still assuming it's that style, I would see about taking a Dremel to the head to remove it, then see if it's big enough to drill and tap. If so you could bolt it on with flat washers. If that doesn't work you could see about epoxying your own head on it. The benefit being that you could do the same grinding to remove it if needed in the future. Or you could always go the adhesive route and forego the pins altogether

Flying blind so disregard if the 'buttons' aren't what I am thinking of

[Fryeken]

Mine is stored up on a shelf so can't verify but the plastic buttons you are talking about are pins that were melted flat, right? No way to reuse that style that I could imagine.

Still assuming it's that style, I would see about taking a Dremel to the head to remove it, then see if it's big enough to drill and tap. If so you could bolt it on with flat washers. If that doesn't work you could see about epoxying your own head on it. The benefit being that you could do the same grinding to remove it if needed in the future. Or you could always go the adhesive route and forego the pins altogether

Flying blind so disregard if the 'buttons' aren't what I am thinking of

Yes, that’s it. It has the plastic tabs that were melted to secure it. I took a picture but it didn’t load.