This may sound dumb, but-how do I change the tail light on my 97 Grand Am?

Hmm.. i dunno about a metal plate unless its different on newer ones. (but i think they are all the same) open your trunk and the trunk liner carpet you need to pull that pack in on the side that the tail light you are going to replace is on. after you pulled that back there should be one or two plastic knobs and you just unscrew those and take em off. Then you should be able to take the whole tail light assembly off the car. and there will be to plastic light housings with the wires going into them. All you have to do is give them like a quarter or a half turn and then they pull out and you can change the light bulb. Hope that helps.

autozone in san antonio does it free, just watch them do it and learn