1955 center HUD light

C

cdgray899

Junior Member
Has anyone experimented with adding a center brake light in the deck of their classic? I have a 1955 Customline I'm looking to daily in the summer and want to make the experience a bit safer, but I don't want something too unnatural to the car
 
I used a license plate frame with a built in led. It appears chrome when it's off. It's too low to have the full effect, but it's pretty good at night. I've got a 55 bird with both tops, so mounting to the rear window is a problem on the soft top, and nothing with the top off.

I did a rear window brake light on a couple OT cars and I used "box" style that sealed to the rear window. Otherwise I got a lot of reflection off the window. Very distracting after dark.

If you Google third brake light a lot of styles come up.


http://www.taillightking.com/

Go down to the license plate section.
 
I used an LED row of lights glued to a chunk of aluminum bolted to the top of the rear window. It lit up the whole inside of the car, reflecting off the inside of the rear window. I added another piece of aluminum under it, to reflect the light outside. That worked great.
 
There are a lot of aftermarket brake lights out there, just look up on ebay or Amazon. As was noted above, any inside unit should be right next to the rear window
 
I went to junk yard and checked out 3rd. lights. Settled on a Toyota or Nissan as it was about correct height and angle to match my rear window.about $5
 
Ole Don said:
I used an LED row of lights glued to a chunk of aluminum bolted to the top of the rear window. It lit up the whole inside of the car, reflecting off the inside of the rear window. I added another piece of aluminum under it, to reflect the light outside. That worked great.
Click to expand...

Do you have photos? That sounds like it could have a very neat effect
 
fordor41 said:
I went to junk yard and checked out 3rd. lights. Settled on a Toyota or Nissan as it was about correct height and angle to match my rear window.about $5
Click to expand...

I'm seriously considering doing that. I'll be getting a wire head kit and a ton of wires, I'm sure I could connect a generic connector to the brake wiring harness.

The fun part will be tagging, organizing, And running wires properly. No way I'm going to have a rats nest like some of the cars I looked at before picking up my own!
 
Even if it's not original, I'm running one in the back window on my '38 Ford pickup and my '55 Fairlane 4 door. I don't even remember what the one in my '55 came out of. It was a couple of bucks at the pick-a-part place. It's mounted on the package tray up against the back glass. It came out of a small 4 door car, maybe a Toyoya, Nissan, or Honda. The black plastic housing is neutral and works with the black interior. Everything from '86 on has them, so the driver behind you is used to seeing them, reduces your risk of getting rear-ended and damaging hard to replace sheet metal.
 
cdgray899 said:
I'm seriously considering doing that. I'll be getting a wire head kit and a ton of wires, I'm sure I could connect a generic connector to the brake wiring harness.

The fun part will be tagging, organizing, And running wires properly. No way I'm going to have a rats nest like some of the cars I looked at before picking up my own!
Click to expand...
just remember that the 3rd light gets power directly from the brake switch, not thru the turn signal, otherwise the 3rd light will blink with the turn signals
 
I installed vintage 3rd brake lights that I've found at garage/estate sales. I installed the one in my 58 Chevy wagon near the top of the rear window, and in the 63 Galaxie, it's on the package shelf. They are both mounted against the glass.
 
My 58 Edsel.....
 

Attachments

  • 100Edsel 018.jpg
    100Edsel 018.jpg
    48.8 KB · Views: 10
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top