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DIY: Create 3rd brake light after removing Si spoiler

26K views 23 replies 15 participants last post by  slicknick1 
#1 ·
Hey everyone :haysmiley:

I've noticed alot of questions around what are people doing about a 3rd brake light after removing the Si spoiler (since the Si spoiler has the 3rd brake light on it, as opposed to the non-Si which has it in the interior on a lower deck by the speakers).

Before I even thought about removing the spoiler and getting rid of the 3rd brake light, I made sure I had a solution for a) safety and b) to still be legal.

I found the following LED bars at my local auto part store (Autozone) for about 20 bucks. They come in different colors, but for my project, I need RED.




This is one is nice because it comes with 2 bars. It's meant to be used as accents I suppose, but I re purposed it as my 3rd brake light :]


The hook up of this was rather easy. It has 3 wires. One is the ground, and the other is the power. The 3rd one can be used together with the power but only if you want it to blink. I wanted no blinking when I brake so I didn't hook up the 3rd wire.

I ended up buying these metal clamp-looking things which I believe are supposed to go on glass doors as the "clip" to put on the upper lining of the rear interior. I then glued the 2 LED bars to it so it had a solid place to sit (see pics below)








I used foam in between the metal pieces and my rear windshield since I noticed it would rattle when I would turn my sub up.

I ran the wires through the top lining of the interior and down to the left side, then snuck it into the trunk





As for the wiring into the brake light, I hooked it up to the following 2 wires on my passenger tail-light in the trunk.

Black is ground.
Green is the power source.

Don't mind the patched up red wire. I thought it was the power, but I was wrong :]





And the finished product:






And a crappy shot of the car:






Some quick notes:

I've had this on for about a year and have not had any legal issues. Been pulled over for tints but the brake light was never brought up as an issue EVER.

Hope this helps and at least inspires people to create something similar if you are planning on removing your Si spoiler.


Make sure you also check out my other DIY on creating reverse lights using the same technique when doing red-outs on your tail lights:

http://www.8thcivic.com/forums/do-y...rse-lights-those-red-overlays-taillights.html
 
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#11 ·
I just actually got pulled over for this the other night, since i switched over to a CF trunk. All i did was take the 3rd brake light off the spoiler and ran the old wire back from the trunk through my seat and placed the light above the stock sub in the car. Looks ghetto, but got my ticket away
 
#16 ·
I got me a OEM sedan third brake light, I guess ima have to go mickey mouse with it... mening some 3m double sided tape out of do the job I think... and I'm thinking of placing it in front of the woofer, probably gonna screw it in if it somehow matches at least a littl bit... ill do it soon and post some pics of it when done...
 
#17 · (Edited)
So i got everything done ecept having trouble with wiring the light. The light i got is just like the OP's except it has the red button that was hooked up to it so u could test it out in the store so the red wire runs to the small black and to the button and the red button has a black wire running to the small black box to the actual lights. The wires are also so short the aftermarket light came with. Help with the wireing anyone?????
 
#19 ·
I bought these plastic plugs that worked perfect. Used touch up paint to make them blend into the trunk. There is one large hole in the trunk for the sedan so i bought a good size rubber plug that is really flat. i found at a furniture store. It covers the hole amazingly. It looks good.
 
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