danno12345

I have always thought that it would be nice to have a 3rd brake light on the vette, but wasn’t sure how to do it. I saw someone that had a rear bumper with one built into it, kinda like a C5, but I’m not that ambitious…

I was perusing the Harbor Freight flyer the other day and saw that they have 12V 9.5” LED strips for sale. They are advertised as accent lighting and come in blue or red. I thought that if the red one was small enough, it wouldn’t be much trouble to wire it into the brake system.

So next time I was near the store, I swung in and looked at it. It’s about ¼” tall, and maybe ½” deep, by 9.5” long. I figured for $8, I couldn’t go wrong.

Here’s a picture & a link:

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=98408



I did a dry fit before disassembling anything, and it slid right into the space between the T-top interior trim piece and the rear window. Very unobtrusive.

So, on to removing the interior pieces. I decided to run the wire along the T-top center bar, then along the top of the windshield & down the driver side pillar. Then I could tie right into the plug at the brake pedal switch.

Here are some pictures of the in progress. Unfortunately, the car (Fiberglass) is very thin at the place I want to mount the light, so I couldn’t use the included mounting clips – the screws would come through the top of the car… So I just put it up with some clear adhesive caulk, and held it in place with masking tape until it cured. I figured this would still be removable if needed with a minimum of fuss.







First I used some 2 conductor speaker wire to run all the way down to the brake pedal, but then wasn’t sure where to ground the thing. Then I realized I’d passed several screws that went right into the birdcage (grounded) on the way down, so I put a spade terminal on the negative lead from the light strip & attached it to the nearest screw. In this case, it was one above the windshield that holds on the silver trim piece. Then I ran a single wire from the positive lead, and soldered it to the plug that runs the brake lights (The white wire is the power for the brake light circuit).



















The light strip only draws ~100mA, and the brake lights draw ~4.2A, so I didn’t feel real bad about piggy backing it on the same circuit/fuse.

Works great, looks great. I was a little concerned about the brightness, but it matches pretty well with the other brake lights – maybe just a hair dimmer, but definitely noticeable.

I’m really happy with how it turned out. In the dark, you do get some reflection off the rear deck, but it’s not too bad, I might try to black out the bottom of the light to reduce the amount of red light coming into the car, but it really hasn’t bothered me yet, so I may not get around to it.

Another project on the research list is how to make the front parking lights turn on with the ignition – also like the C5s. It gives me something to do in the evenings…

Just thought I’d share!
Dan

Daves76

That looks sweeet. Great job!

Dave

bluthundr

JimT

Summit sells a product called "LiteNbolts" or something along that line. They are leds embedded in the top of a bolt. They come in various colors: red, blue, clear). I used two of these as backup lights on my C3. I have the bubble tail lights on my car (thus no backup light) so I used these bolts to secure my car tag. Works great and a neat product.

rcread

An NHTSA study found that the third rear brake light reduced rear end collisions by 4.3%, so you are now a bit less likely to be rear ended. Granted, the NHTSA is extremely corrupt, but this study seems legit.

burners

Nice job. I like how it turned out. I've been thinking about something like this for a little while. Your solution is great. Thanks for the project documentation.

rcread, seriously? Only 4.3%? I'm surprised. If you want another eye opener just read their report on airbags...cliffs notes version, wear a seat belt. You are more safe at a wider range of speeds and there is no data on seat belts killing people but documented cases of airbags doing so.

glassman74

Danno,
Looks good buddy.
This is the bow tie I made for my 74.

RMS73

Nice job. I have been thinking about a 3rd light for my 73, just never found a light I thought looked right. May go by the local Harbor Freight this weekend and check out the light.

Roger

TheSkunkWorks

Nicely done Danno.

VegasJen

found mine in the autozone clearance bin for $11.

1nicecorvette

making the parking lights turn on with the igniton can be accomplished with a simple relay and maybe a resistor to stop any feeedback fom the headlight switch when activated. but why would you want that? just pull the switch halfway out.

reelthing

Thanks for the details and pics.

68/70Vette

For a C3, I'd guess the probability of being rear ended is higher than the NHTSA's 4.3%. My 70 has been rear ended at least once, my 68 has been rear ended at least twice. I was driving when one rear end collision happened (it was a mild collision). I was once in a Corvette club and it seemed to me that there were a lot of stories about being rear ended, I'd think more than you'd think was normal.

Here's some reasons I think C3's, and other Corvettes, might be susceptible to being rear ended.

1) Pushers. Sometimes driving I've had people right on my tail. I think they are just trying to goad me into speeding up. Sort of like someone driving a dorky car wants to let me know that they want to drive faster than me.

2) Railroad tracks, pot holes. I've got really stiff springs and a lot of body flex. I slow down for rough sections in the road much moreso than when driving my DD. So, putting on the brakes unexpectedly creates a rear end collision risk.

3) A Corvette can just stop faster than most cars, so once again a rear end collision risk.

4) Big SUV's and big Pick-up trucks. These drivers sit so high up that they low brake lights of a C3 aren't that noticeable.

I think the LED third brake light is a really great idea.

Paul L

Nice project. Thanks for sharing. I wish I had such an option for my convertible.

shaggyvette

Thanks Dan! You have just made my 1st winter project a whole lot easier. I've been looking for a strip of red lights, 1 in. X 5 in. for 3 months, and now I'm going to scrap my plan and go to Harbor Freight. Nice job and your car looks great.

Dave

danno12345

Thanks for all the responses! I'm really happy with the results.

I may look into this, I like the 4 tail lights look too, but didn't want to lose the reverse lights. Thanks!

Mainly laziness, don't want to have to think . Also, I'd like only the front lights to come on, when you use the switch you get front & rear.

I figured something like a relay, just haven't stared at the circuit diagrams enough yet.


Glad I could provide some inspiration!

Dan

Backstop

I think people are so used to third brake lights that cars without them are more likely to get hit.

my72vette454

Here is how we did a third brake light for a car we are building for one of my kids. I got the led setup from a street rod vendor, it has a thick lens and you mount it, then you can fill in around it, then sand the face down to fit the contour of whats around it. Its nice and bright.

danno12345

Nicely done. Mine's a little less labor intensive (remember, I'm lazy?), but I like yours too.

Dan

CoolvetteC3

I´d like to remove the key swich to the alarm and to put in a LED with a wide spreading lens, to avoid cutting anything out of my rear end.




What is the size of the hole where the key swich is placed?
3/4"?

Can anyone advice me on where to find such a LED?
I´m not looking for a LED like the ones on mashines or so, I wan´t it to be real intense and wide.

Do you think it will work or will it just look silly with a single LED?