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Interior 3rd brake light

 

Plan-

what I want to do

I have never liked the look of the box hanging under the rear spoiler on the 87 Supra turbo.  With my 87 Supra parts car I have an interior brake light and I plan to install it and remove the exterior one.

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Project-

what I did

The connector for the outside brake light in under the hatch cover panel.  As it turns out, it is the same connector for the interior one.  Also, all the mounting holes are there for the interior brake light.  Since almost everything is black and interchangeable, the only things I had to do was paint the light cover gray, cut the hatch cover panel like the one from my n/a, and plug the holes in the spoiler with gray RTV. 

I put a piece of paper on the n/a hatch cover and drew a line along the indent.  Then I transferred this to my turbo one and cut it out using the dremel. 

I also had to repair one of the hatch cover panel tabs using 60 second epoxy.  It says 60 seconds, and it means 60 seconds, so work quick.

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Difficulty-

things that made it hard

1- Having to cut the panel is all that makes this hard.  Once its cut, there is no easy way back.  Try to find a donor car with the same interior color and you can swap the light and the hatch cover, no cutting and no painting.

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Problems-

with the product/install or that came up later

1- I have been rear ended in this car, but that was before this mod.  My only concern is that this interior brake light is hard to see by other drivers during the day since it's behind the wing.  Truthfully, I wouldn't really care whether I had one or not if it weren't for the law.

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Payoff-

what I felt the "bang for the buck" was

The payoff is purely subjective as not all will dislike the box brake light like I did.  I think that this was a great, simple, and inexpensive mod.  I really would like an LED module instead.

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Stock-

specs/info on the stock item

In my year of car the 3rb brake light is this square box that hangs under the rear wing.  It doesn't even try to give the appearance of stream lining.  In 89 (I think) the light was angled a little bit.

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Upgrade-

benefits of the new item

I like the look of not having the light on the exterior of the car.  Again it's an esthetic thing.

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Brake light in

Another view

Hatch cover panel cut, notice is just off center

Tab repair

Hatch cover panel installed

Light cover painted

Last updated: Freitag Oktober 21, 2005

Copyright © 1997-2005 Duane Smith

Time

2 hours

Total costs

$5.00

Difficulty

1

2

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Problems

12

3

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Payoffs

1234

5

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Materials & parts

Interior brake light- on hand

Grey spray paint- $4.00

800 grit sand paper- $1.00

Tube of RTV- on hand

Tools

Ratchet and sockets

Phillips head screwdriver

Dremel tool and cutting wheel

Ruler

Paper

Pencil