Another third brake light

[toast]

I had the headliner and the whole rear of the interior out of the car for a couple weeks installing sound deadening along with a shark fin antenna and I figured I would finally get rid of the UFO brake light.

Wound up with an 18" red led light bar held in place with 3m double sided tape used for body molding.




For the housing I had some 6" wide carbon plate laying around in the garage. At the base it is 1/4" wider on each side than the bar and flares out 2" on each side. The uprights were made with some measurements and trial and error and bonded to the base with epoxy.




Figured out where I wanted to make 2 support arms, marked and drilled holes and then installed Rivet-nuts.



Test fit of support bars. I added a couple degrees of bend upwards starting at the sharpie line and once it was good (sealing the housing to the window) I powdercoated them satin black.



Result. Still have to paint the inside flat black and install a thin strip of 1mm thick felt along the edge to seal against any light bleeding.




View looking up from between the front seats. The rear of the headline is cut down about 1/2" to seal against the housing. Have to take a pic from the rear view mirror, you absolutely cannot see anything blocking your view.



Since I had the carbon, total cost was the light bar, I think that came in at under $20 with shipping.

[Leonardo]

Nice work! I did the same thing! I also wrapped the rear dash to match the leather seats.

[toast]

That is the last part, I filled in the various holes and have the alcantara to do it I just need to get some 1/8" foam from a fabric store to lay down first.

[Leonardo]

Originally Posted by toast

That is the last part, I filled in the various holes and have the alcantara to do it I just need to get some 1/8" foam from a fabric store to lay down first.

When I wrapped the rear deck, I added foam too. I wrapped the foam all the way around, which I later realized is not ideal. The foam added a little bit of size to the edge of the deck next the rear window. The small gap that was there, allowed air flow that helped keep the rear window defogged. The deck now touches the rear window and it takes longer to de-fog. I have to use the rear defrost and blast the heater. If I was going to do it again, I now would trim the foam to the edge of the back and just wrap the top material around the edge. I hope that makes sense.

[churchx]

Leonardo: but shouldn't that also add more noise insulation from trunk, having any gaps more closed?

[Leonardo]

Originally Posted by churchx

Leonardo: but shouldn't that also add more noise insulation from trunk, having any gaps more closed?

I guess so, but having the window stay fogged up is lame. Anyway, running the defrost and heater will eventually clear it up, it just takes a few more minutes.


It's funny to me that when I originally posted the wrapped rear deck, a few peoples criticism was that the material I used was shiny. They were sure it would glare in the sun, which doesn't happen. The problem is kinda opposite.