Easy Third Brake Light Solution

[Phaedrus29]

Removed the annoying third brake light today and installed a new high mount one!



The light we installed comes with the housing and everything...it's ready to go. It's made by Classic Design Concepts for a Ford Mustang, called a High Mount Third Brake Light. I ordered one hoping it would fit, figuring I could return it uninstalled if the fit didn't work. It fits in the BRZ perfectly IMO!





It comes with 3M tape on it already, and attaches to the rear window. Overall, the installation was pretty easy. Here's what we did:

1. Disconnect the third brake light wire (accessible from the trunk) and remove the rear deck.

We did NOT follow the DIY for removing the rear deck, which says to remove all the adjacent trim panels. Instead, we followed the simpler instructions I found here in his Step 1: http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14159

Basically, remove the four black clips exposed once you lower the rear seats. Then, carefully, I fit my hand right under the rear deck where the white clips are, and pushed the deck up, while my friend pitched the clips we could see from underneath with a pair of pliers (I'm not sure if this is necessary). (Sticking a panel clip tool in there might be even safer.) We started with the two white clips near the center of the deck before moving to the clips on the side (there are 4 white clips in total on the deck). The deck comes out without having to remove the other panels...just be careful not to bend it too much.

2. Drill the plastic rivets out that hold the stock third brake light to the rear deck...then open the stock brake light and unhook the stock wires from the LEDs. This thread was very helpful throughout the process, and has good pics for this step: http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=61533

3. With your preferred method, connect the stock third brake light wires to the wires from the new High Mount Light.

The green stock wire is powered and connects to the red wire on the new light. The white stock wire is ground and connects to the black wire on the new light. Once attached, you can just plug the stock wire harness back in.

4. Test that the light works!

5. Clean window with alcohol solution, then affix new light to window.



Not a great pic...we put the new light basically up against the headliner, but not tucked under. Tucking under the headliner might work, but the housing is raised slightly where the wire passes out of it. We chose to mount right outside the headliner to avoid damaging the headliner.

6. Feed/Tuck the wire inside the pillar on the passenger side.

We removed two clips on the headliner...the wire was passed behind the clip on the passenger side...then down the pillar on that side. We put some wrap around the wire connectors under the rear deck, just to avoid any potential future rattles.

Here is how the light looks installed (through my 30% tint):



Light off in this pic:



Here is a pic showing the view from the rear view mirror...as you can see the new light housing is not invisible, but is a huge improvement IMO:



The light does not shine at all into the cabin.

7. Cover the holes in the rear deck, and reinstall.

For a quick fix, I got some black sticky-back felt from Michaels. The color is a close match:



You could potentially wrap the whole deck, but honestly I think it looks fine.

That's it. Let me know if you have any questions...sorry for the crap pics.

[DarkestBuddha]

nice
here the link for other ppl http://www.americanmuscle.com/highmo...ight-9909.html
http://shop.classicdesignconcepts.co...-light-1999-14
only $50

[Phaedrus29]

Originally Posted by DarkestBuddha

nice
here the link for other ppl http://www.americanmuscle.com/highmo...ight-9909.html
http://shop.classicdesignconcepts.co...-light-1999-14
only $50

Ya I forgot to mention the price. I ordered from American Muscle but the light is available from many vendors. American Muscle had the light in stock and it arrived super quick.

[m.box.design]

Very useful thread! I will probably do this when I get around to it!

[Iddoit2er]

Nice, but will there be any problem affixing 3m tape to tint down the road?

[Chen]

curious if this would work with a roof spoiler.

[Phaedrus29]

Took a better pic showing the look from the rear view mirror:



And another showing the light on/installed:

[codesplice]

Yep, adding this to my wishlist. Thanks for taking the risk and letting us know it turned out so well!

[8R6]

thanks for finding the part! i need to do this soon. at first i thought i could deal with the stock 3rd brake light but everyday that passes, it annoys me more and more. lol

[GotBRZ1691]

Awesome! Thanks man. Was about to make my own but for $50 bucks Ill be buying this!

[86-tundra]

Originally Posted by Phaedrus29

Removed the annoying third brake light today and installed a new high mount one!

you are the man OP. next on the list of to-do

[xxBrun0xx]

Love how easy to do, OEM looking, and cheap this is. Can't wait to do this!

[Phaedrus29]

Just a quick note that I realized I didn't reinstall my rear deck correctly...it wasn't as low as it should be and was raised up in the center. I figured out the cause was that there is a part of the plastic under the stock third brake light that is supposed to poke into the trunk and hook on the metal. I tried to take a picture:



The circle part (which is toward the rear of the car) pokes into the trunk and hooks on the metal. So just look out for this when you are reinstalling the deck. Here was the older pic again with the deck messed up:



Here's an updated pic of the rear view with the deck fixed:



I'm not sure you can tell from the pics, but the new view is even better.

[2point0]

So glad I found this! I like it. But more info on that '68!

Found it for a decent price where I get a lot of my pony parts: http://www.cjponyparts.com/catalog/p...t/BL7/id/3114/

I'll be adding this to my next order.