Is there any way to remove a turn signal bulb (1157) without removal of the taillight lens assembly?

1998 BUICK LESABRE
285,000 MILES • 3.8L • 6 CYL • 4WD • AUTOMATIC
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ALPHAA10
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The taillight on the car listed above is a unified assembly fastened to the trunk lid, not the car body. Metal nuts fasten the assembly housing to the trunk lid and are secured from the back side/interior of the lid.
On other vehicles, marker and navigation bulb replacement was simpler.
Jul 5, 2022 at 6:47 PM
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STRAILER
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Yep, this is a tough one if you could upload images of what you are working on, I can help walk you through the repair. They show almost nothing in AllData and Mitchell 1 if you can believe that one.

Here is a generic guide to help:

https://www.2carpros.com/articles/turn-signal-bulb-replacement

Check out the diagrams (below). Let us know what happens and please upload pictures or videos of the problem.
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Jul 6, 2022 at 12:54 PM
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ALPHAA10
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No problem, yet Ken. However, I wanted to bypass the removal of the entire unified taillight lens assembly, simply to replace a single bulb. (What were the designers thinking?)
Jul 8, 2022 at 6:45 PM
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STRAILER
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Right, sometimes these designs are pretty bad when it comes to servicing them. its only nuts and bolts lol. get started :) please upload pics if you can.
Jul 9, 2022 at 5:27 AM
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ALPHAA10
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Ken, I am still struggling (as I have time) with retrieval from my dumb phone of three photos of the tail-light lens assembly.
Aug 26, 2022 at 4:29 PM
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STRAILER
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Thanks for getting back to me, let me know, I can help walk you through the repair.
Aug 27, 2022 at 4:59 AM
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