Customs 3rd brakelight

i wish i could find one of those,when i get my car running zip tie him to the grill at shows, bill always looked like an eighteen wheeler just ran over him anyway.

 

just seen this on ebay.looking for tail lights.

 

seen the same one local a while back at autozone, it was cheap plastic.

 

i saw one in tex's book "how to build custom cars"...it's on the roof tapered in,like for impalas and such...looked ok for those kind of cars,59's and such

 

Hey look, it's the ShamWow guy!

 

Aargh. That's where you lose me. I don't think LED's belong on older cars. Conventional bulbs provide a warmer light. LEDs look too 'modern car' or 'billet' IMHO.

 

ok this has gone way to far, what difference does it make what color the light is when you step on the brake? the point of led brake lights is they light up faster creating a better reaction time, that is if the person behind you is paying atention. if the light is off no one can tell the difference between it and a standard bulb. whats next traditional air?

 

yea bill the cat does remind me of vince and would probably be doing some heavy drugs today if he were around, dam i miss bloom county, no good cartoons anymore, at least nothing good and twisted like that.

 

Very funny! X2

 

Stop !

 

...AMEN, brother. I'm gettin' sick of the "TRAD NAZI's." I don't remember stuffed rats, spider webs, Maltese Crosses, skulls, frames draggin' the ground and etc back in the 50's/60's.

People should only ask advice on "how to's" and not ask for an opinion.

...another $.02 (I'm probably up to $1.18 by now. This **** is getting 'spensive)

 

I have one off of a Gulfstream G550 I thought about using but instead I'm using an A model "STOP" light mounted inside the car.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/WINKY-CATS-EYES...hash=item270371224083&_trksid=p3286.m20.l1116

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1950...ptZMotorsQ5fCarQ5fTruckQ5fPartsQ5fAccessories

 

Safety is traditional. It's a no-brainer.
I wonder sometimes where some people were taught to drive, or even if they actually have a car. If they sit in the car, focused on the car ahead, waiting to react before making a conscious decision to put on the brakes when a brake light ahead comes on, then we all know now, what causes rear end collisions. Reaction to a brake light with the appropriate action to slow the car down is a automatic habit developed from the ac***ulated experience of driving. To rationalize every action before taking it along the way they must be a nervous wreck after only a few miles of driving!

I learned defensive driving before they called it defensive driving. It was called paying attention, to view the overall scene ahead, not focusing on any particular thing. Maybe because that four-horse-hitch required general attention instead of specific attention, I don't know. I don't look at any specific stuff, including license plates, or where the brake light is mounted. Not just on that one car immediately ahead of me, but on all of those cars generally ahead of me, those beside me, and those behind me.

If brake lights and turn signals are truly visable and relatively bright, when applied, my vision will register it and I will react automatically. I don't have to think about it.

Itty-bitty-dim lights way down on the ground, way lower than they were when the car was at normal ride-height are out of the field of vision for a normal driver. The dim ones are hardly visable at night with the shadow of the car highlighted by its own headlights, with that being the only indication to someone following that there's something in front of them.

Because of my theory on the purpose of a third, I mounted mine up higher than the other two, to increase the overall visibility of my car, giving a bigger picture to those following. After all, they're textin' messages, reading their GPS, talking on cellphone to one with another on hold, whilst scratchin their ***, and I don't know what'all!

Thinkin' abot a fourth?

 

I doubt it.

 

Is tradition so important that you risk being killed because of it? what about the innocent person who slams into the back of you because they can't see your dark car with the lights 3 inches off of the ground? if you don't put in a third light at least put the lights where people can actually see them. nothing traditional about having the back of your rod bent up. we all have to watch out for the latte swigging, kid screaming at, conference call on the cell phone,fax machine, printer, book reading,lunch fixing,drive with their knees idiot. and i'm sure there's some woman in a mini van driving around doing it right now. all of it,at one time. seat belts are n't traditional eithier, but ask anyone who's wrecked their rod, if they are glad they had them.there is no way a rod is going to be as safe as some 2009 volvo, nor should it be, but there's nothing wrong with doing the small stuff to protect your life and keep all your hard work in one piece. remember the line in Spaceballs? I'm surrounded by ***holes! well remember today every time you drive your rod,you probably are.

 

"Brakes are gone, no point in steering now"

 

I put third brakelights on both of my cars because they have minimal bumper protection and there are a lot of cellphone talking, text messaging, idiots out there and I don't want to get rear-ended. If the attached pictures show up, you can see the brakelight on the roadster that I picked up at an antique truck swap meet. Don't know what it's from but I like it and it has a period look. The light in the back window of my tudor was found in a box of old parts. I think it's the front turn signal from a 40 Ford, which I backed up with a HarleyDavidson bullit light.

 

i'll have to hunt the pictures, but i took some of a 1940's ford tow truck,one of those monster size ones. could probably haul a modern tow truck easy, but it had two of those big red stop lamps one on each side of the upper cable cross bar. when i say stop lamps,i mean ones that say stop. dangit i met Mater and didn't even get his autograph someone had even hung a tire tube on it's tow hook

 

I found a small 4" light with patina and a gl*** lenses w/ stop similar to the picture. Paid $10 at a flea market. I added LED and mounted to the package tray inside my traditional '34 Ford Coupe. Safety trumps traditional. I prefer to die in the traditional manner.

 

My 1953 Jet had seatbelts as standard equipment.

 

I'll chime in. While I understand the traditional guys and appreciate their point of view, I also understand the desire to keep other stupid drivers from slamming into the back of your hotrod.

For me, it depends on the car. Example: on my F1, if I get rear-ended, I can easily find used rear fenders and can order up a complete new bed and tailgate, piece of cake. I'm not too worried about a 3rd brakelight.

However...on my '33 Chevy master 5W....well good luck finding quarter panels and a deck lid after the crash. No repops, and originals are rare, rusted, expensive ****. Not only that, it's a LOT of work to replace the back half of a coupe. If I can mount a 3rd brake light that doesn't look too out-of-place, well I think it's worth the effort to reduce the odds of a wreck.

And to argue that 3rd brake lights are a false sense of security is, well, strange. Studies have proved they work.

 

So I guess the ratrods are more traditional than most cars are around here. I also have extra lights tucked into the bed rails which are actually penny sized LED's that light up when my turn signals and brakes are activated. As for my normal S/T/T lights they are mount up high in the back of the cab. Why would you take a chance getting your ride rearended from the *****s on the roads. I guess most of the guys that don't like a 3rd brake light must not drive the cars as much as the rest of us.

 

In all reallity, that is probably true
There probably is a small advantage.

Not as big as the studies suggest, because those studies are usually done before people get desensitized to them.
( same with daytime running lights )

The times I feel most vunerable in my Hot Rod is when I sit at a intersection.
Thats true too...

But more lights wont help, because its a stick.
I'm not on the brakes, I'm in first gear, waiting for the light to change.

Bottom line is, the Centre High Mount Stop Lamp (CHMSL ) is a fairly new addition to cars and to argue that they are somehow Traditional is just as silly to me.

( the good ones look a bit out of place, the bad ones just look like **** )

But that is only a personal opinion.
That shouldnt affect anybody too much, if they have a different opinion....

 

I agree, they surely aren't traditional. The trick for me would be to mount one without it making the car look like a streetrod. I about gag when I see a nice '30s coupe with a frenched-in 3rd brake light above the back window. YEEEACK

Ragtop's looks pretty decent IMHO.

 

I think we should drop this discussion right now!

Before you know it, the billet guys will be making a traditional billet third light with the "STOP" lens.

(395 - One post closer to getting off the grenade list)

 

I did go with the leds but you cant see mine at all untill I hit the brake check out the video

 

Would seem to me that if safety was a no brainer, people wouldn't be pulling their fenders off. Actually we all would be driving a 2009 airbag equipped car.

Thinking about it, airbags and padded dashes are likely to keep you safer yet. Some Ford truck rearview mirrors with turn signals in them would help. You could paint them primer if you wish.

Got drum brakes? Seems almost an oxy***** to me. Got my drums adjusted up and my third brake light installed.

I ride also. I've approached intersections and looked at the driver about to cross my path right direct in the eyes and it's still like they don't see me.

Have you replaced your windshield with modern safety gl***? Running Halogen headlights? Three point safety belts?

I'm one of the last to be a stickler for "traditional". If someone wants to run a third brake light, more power to them. I've seen a few examples that even looked decent. I just sort of get a chuckle out of the concern.

 

Here here.