Rear mounted auxillary stop light

[124spiderman]

Hi.
I'm wondering if any of you have had any success with mounting an auxillary rear brake/stop light on spiders.
I don't want to upset the overall look of the car, maybe just a small LED one perhaps. And I don't want to drill holes. I quite like the way the Mazda MX5 has it mounted.

[htchevyii]

I just ordered one from this place, I'm still waiting for it to arrive. Mine will be mounted to my roll bar. I think just about any light will work, since the Spider has seperate brake lights you don't have to mess with logic modules and such.
http://vehiclelight.com/ledstli.html

[opus10583]

I want to rig a European-style rear-facing red fog light to work as, well, as a switched rear-facing red fog/rain light and as a full-time (low-mounted, perforce) third brake light, with minimal intrusion into my '78 CS1's wiring harness: Does anyone with more car electrical savvy than I, and that would be damned near anybody, have a thought as to how I might proceed?

TIA,
Mark

[burgandy81]

I have been thinking about this for a little while.

My current thinking is to mount a long thin strip of LED between the top and the body, centered on the trunk. Basically the same concept as above. I think the strip could be mounted to a piece of metal that is formed to follow the lip of the body that the top attaches to. If I did it well, I imagine that the bracket would not interfere with the top installation.

Wiring would be relatively easy as it would all be run inside the car and small wires for the light itself run though the metal top retaining strip.

My latest thought is that it would be nice to have a quick flash of the light (fire trucks now have this in my area and it is really eye catching. Dos anyone know how this is done? I have not even googled it yet. I assume it is a function of the LED driver?

keep us posted with your progress!

Jordan

[Danq]

From the street rod world:
http://www.watsons-streetworks.com/led3 ... ights.html
Look for AM-01 or AM-03. I haven't used these parts but I have used other parts from these guys.

[bulldog4444]

Years and years ago I mounted a third brake light just so as not to get hit in LA traffic. I did get slightly rear ended (Please no funnys here) and the guy said he couldn't see me. Anyway, I ordered from J.C. Whittney, they had a nice variety and the quality was/is good. It's been on my car since 1985.


I didn't want to drill any holes so I used a slim rubber bonding material (kind of an industrial strength sticky tape) so that I could remove it in the future if I wanted. It came with it's own logic module (as I think they all do) and the wiring took about 10 minutes. I just wrapped the wire with some electrical tape, routed the wire to above the battery area and tucked it around the trunk gasget. It has worked great for the last 26 years. It is paintable and looks as though it was OE. At least I think it does. I also have the confidence of being seen a tad bit better.

Let me know if you need any pics of how I routed out of the trunk.
Good luck,
Bull

[baltobernie]

Nice looking job, Bull. A roll bar would be the perfect place for a CHMSL, along with a switch to defeat it when the top was up. For the trunk-mount type, I'd probably tilt that sucker well up from horizontal, with all the SUVs and 4x4s out there. Somebody somewhere once talked about mounting one above the inside mirror, to get it high enough for goobers to see. There were comments about the legality of such an installation, as well as nighttime issues. There's always a concern in designing these about the following driver concentrating on the CHMSL and plowing into you, because the CHMSL is too far forward of your rear bumper. You guys modifying the rear of your cars could incorporate the LED strip into the trunk lid, on the upward part of the radius

Spiderman, if you're fortunate enough to have the older style tail lamps like Bull, you should know that clean bulbs, shiny reflectors, good lenses and 13V will result in very bright rear lamps. I've followed such a Spider on the road, and saw no difference in visibility vs. modern cars.

Later-model spiders with the PC boards and teardrop housings would benefit from replacing those lamps with identical halogen ones to be better seen. The halogen 1157 tail/stop bulb produces 107 candlepower vs 32 of the stock bulb.

[wikkid]

I would use one of these brake light modulator units from amazon or elsewhere, and attach it to your retro-fitted 3rd brake light. Check out the 11 second video in this link, with the Volvo. Should work well. I found these when researching for my motorcycles. I get sick of pumping the brakes to get drivers' attention behind me.

Great thread, by the way.

[opus10583]

I would use one of these brake light modulator units from amazon or elsewhere, and attach it to your retro-fitted 3rd brake light. Check out the 11 second video in this link, with the Volvo. Should work well. I found these when researching for my motorcycles. I get sick of pumping the brakes to get drivers' attention behind me.

Great thread, by the way.

That is perfect for my intention!

Thanks,
Mark

[wikkid]

Bulldog, I guess the unit you used from JC Whitney must no longer be available. I am not so convinced about their current offerings; nor am I finding much else out there on the web that would look as nice as your set-up.

Maybe the piece you bought was not specifically marketed as a third brake light?

[bulldog4444]

Good afternoon Wikkid,
Well at J.C. Whittney I found this one which sanded down and painted would look nice with a slight upward angle for the large vehicles behind. http://www.jcwhitney.com/stick-on-roof- ... 03589.jcwx#

I also found this one for you at Command Electronics, Inc. and here is its link. http://www.commandelectronics.com/third ... 0group.jpg

I know you want that OEM look and I think with proper modding, these might be the ticket, specially the unit from Command Electronics.

Hope my links work and good luck on the porject.

Bull

[wikkid]

Thanks - I had seen the JC Whitney option, but I like the idea of LED's better. I'm keeping this in "the file."