third brake light help!!

essmekk · November 20th, 2011, 09:49 PM

so just today i noticed the owner before me did a horrible job at trying to smoke out the high mount third brake light.
does anyone have any tips on how to bring it back to original state.
or have one laying around

6ER THEN I 8ER! · November 21st, 2011, 02:48 AM

honestly i'd paint it....it's super easy and looks great.

first sand off the vht (i'm guessing that what they used)....then take some pinstripe tape and make a pinstripe down the light....paint the light with gloss black paint (even light coats) until it's fully covered...remove the tape...after it dries hit it with a clear coat...after that dries wet sand to beauty....

i did this on my old v6 when it started to see better days...

or if you just want it stockish again...just sand it off progressively with a lighter sand paper each round until it's red again...i'd start with a 600, then 1000, then 1500...finally a plastic rubbing compound to get the finish shiny again...

hope those two ideas help you out

Rich J · November 21st, 2011, 03:29 AM

Goof off, or laquer thinner. If you go with the thinner make sure you take the third brake light off the car first. I have heard gas removes it to. This of course is assuming it's spray and not vinyl.

6ER THEN I 8ER! · November 21st, 2011, 03:30 AM

Originally Posted by Rich J

Goof off, or laquer thinner. If you go with the thinner make sure you take the third brake light off the car first. I have heard gas removes it to. This of course is assuming it's spray and not vinyl.

i would hope that if the previous owner had used vinyl it would look half decent lol. but who knows with todays idiots

Rich J · November 21st, 2011, 03:34 AM

Originally Posted by 6ER THEN I 8ER!

i would hope that if the previous owner had used vinyl it would look half decent lol. but who knows with todays idiots

Uhhh... I VHT'ed my 3rd brake light.....

6ER THEN I 8ER! · November 21st, 2011, 04:10 AM

Originally Posted by Rich J

Uhhh... I VHT'ed my 3rd brake light.....

And?....we were talking about vinyl :p

essmekk · November 21st, 2011, 01:20 PM

i dont think they used VHT.
looks to me like they just used black spray paint. took a 1/2 inch by 4 inch piece of tape to tape off the middle and painted it black.
but im guessing whether its VHT or not, still use the same technique right?

xtreme 2 · November 21st, 2011, 02:35 PM

yea, only VHT is mostly clear, so you can still see thru it.

mustangmike! · November 21st, 2011, 03:12 PM

LED from AM FTW

mustangmike! · November 21st, 2011, 03:13 PM

Jaa1456 · November 21st, 2011, 04:04 PM

Yea, I just went with the LED from AM as well, looks really nice and is already smoked. My 3rd brake light had been waxed so it turned almost white. Takes about 15 mins to swap them out.

essmekk · November 21st, 2011, 04:36 PM

No offense but Id rather keep it OEM. I dont really like how leds look when you can see all 12 little dots. Which is kind of ironic because I work with LED's and HID's and that kind off stuff.
The housing itself looks good though.
I'm just going to buy some vht locally and finish what the previous owner started. :p

goren813 · November 21st, 2011, 06:38 PM

^Agreed, LED doesn't fit right with these cars to me, that goes for any and all the lights. To each their own, I have an extra third brake light I'm about to go through this process to paint the top black to prevent this sun damage nonsense.

mustangmike! · November 21st, 2011, 07:51 PM

The 3rd brake light is about the only thing I like in LED, the tail light LED's do not look good IMO.

essmekk · November 21st, 2011, 08:07 PM

If you throw a 3156 led bulb in the reverse light tho that looks sick!!
And license plate led's too.
That's as far as I'd go with led's on any car.
Just my .02 cents

roth515 · November 21st, 2011, 08:19 PM

You could always shave down the crappy job, and grab this from AM to cover it up.

essmekk · November 21st, 2011, 09:47 PM

Originally Posted by roth515

You could always shave down the crappy job, and grab this from AM to cover it up.

that looks dope dude.
if i didnt have the decal that says "mustang" on the side skirts i would def. do this.

Jaa1456 · November 21st, 2011, 09:55 PM

The led 3rd light looks good. You only see the leds when the brakes are applied. But the actual smoked fixture looks 10x better than stock

mustangmike! · November 21st, 2011, 10:33 PM

On the reverse lights and license plate lights I am doing that soon

I meant things other then that like aftermarket tail lights and head lights w/ leds in them ..

Im gonna make my order on the reverse lights and license plate lights this week sometime ... had a plate bulb go out a couple weeks ago.

6ER THEN I 8ER! · November 21st, 2011, 11:10 PM

Originally Posted by essmekk

that looks dope dude.
if i didnt have the decal that says "mustang" on the side skirts i would def. do this.

the 90's called...they want their phrase back

November 20th, 2011, 09:49 PM	#1
essmekk 50,000th MM Member 02 Mustang v6 idk Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: San Diego CA. Posts: 171 iTrader: 0 reviews	third brake light help!! so just today i noticed the owner before me did a horrible job at trying to smoke out the high mount third brake light. does anyone have any tips on how to bring it back to original state. or have one laying around

November 21st, 2011, 03:29 AM	#3
Rich J I'm doing it wrong 04 Grand Cherokee Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: South Eastern, Mass Posts: 5,211 iTrader: 0 reviews	Goof off, or laquer thinner. If you go with the thinner make sure you take the third brake light off the car first. I have heard gas removes it to. This of course is assuming it's spray and not vinyl. __________________ Formerly known as Demon_54 "I feel the same way about disco as I do about herpes." - Hunter S. Thompson

November 21st, 2011, 02:35 PM	#8
xtreme 2 Hardcore Enthusiast 2001 v6 premium Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Tulsa, OK Posts: 1,340 Blog Entries: 1 iTrader: 0 reviews	yea, only VHT is mostly clear, so you can still see thru it. __________________ Screw it, coming to play with the big boys... 5.4L Vortech COMING SOON!

November 21st, 2011, 03:12 PM	#9
mustangmike! I Post Entirely Way Too Much 2004,1994,1967 14.37 @ 96 Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Texas Posts: 6,018 iTrader: 1 reviews	LED from AM FTW __________________ 227whp N/A V6 Now w/ 8th Mile 8s ! How To Jmod Your Late Model 4R70W

November 21st, 2011, 03:13 PM	#10
mustangmike! I Post Entirely Way Too Much 2004,1994,1967 14.37 @ 96 Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Texas Posts: 6,018 iTrader: 1 reviews	__________________ 227whp N/A V6 Now w/ 8th Mile 8s ! How To Jmod Your Late Model 4R70W

November 21st, 2011, 02:48 AM	#2
6ER THEN I 8ER! Banned Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Portland, TN Posts: 17,515 iTrader: 3 reviews	honestly i'd paint it....it's super easy and looks great. first sand off the vht (i'm guessing that what they used)....then take some pinstripe tape and make a pinstripe down the light....paint the light with gloss black paint (even light coats) until it's fully covered...remove the tape...after it dries hit it with a clear coat...after that dries wet sand to beauty.... i did this on my old v6 when it started to see better days... or if you just want it stockish again...just sand it off progressively with a lighter sand paper each round until it's red again...i'd start with a 600, then 1000, then 1500...finally a plastic rubbing compound to get the finish shiny again... hope those two ideas help you out

November 21st, 2011, 01:20 PM	#7
essmekk 50,000th MM Member 02 Mustang v6 idk Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: San Diego CA. Posts: 171 iTrader: 0 reviews	i dont think they used VHT. looks to me like they just used black spray paint. took a 1/2 inch by 4 inch piece of tape to tape off the middle and painted it black. but im guessing whether its VHT or not, still use the same technique right?

November 21st, 2011, 04:04 PM	#11
Jaa1456 Enthusiast 2000 GT Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Central NJ Posts: 840 iTrader: 3 reviews	Yea, I just went with the LED from AM as well, looks really nice and is already smoked. My 3rd brake light had been waxed so it turned almost white. Takes about 15 mins to swap them out.

November 21st, 2011, 04:36 PM	#12
essmekk 50,000th MM Member 02 Mustang v6 idk Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: San Diego CA. Posts: 171 iTrader: 0 reviews	No offense but Id rather keep it OEM. I dont really like how leds look when you can see all 12 little dots. Which is kind of ironic because I work with LED's and HID's and that kind off stuff. The housing itself looks good though. I'm just going to buy some vht locally and finish what the previous owner started. :p __________________

November 21st, 2011, 06:38 PM	#13
goren813 MM's Official Lucifer '00 3.8L & '05 4.6L Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Odessa, FL Posts: 3,620 iTrader: 0 reviews	^Agreed, LED doesn't fit right with these cars to me, that goes for any and all the lights. To each their own, I have an extra third brake light I'm about to go through this process to paint the top black to prevent this sun damage nonsense. __________________ "Fast she goes...in the city of Overdose"

November 21st, 2011, 07:51 PM	#14
mustangmike! I Post Entirely Way Too Much 2004,1994,1967 14.37 @ 96 Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Texas Posts: 6,018 iTrader: 1 reviews	The 3rd brake light is about the only thing I like in LED, the tail light LED's do not look good IMO. __________________ 227whp N/A V6 Now w/ 8th Mile 8s ! How To Jmod Your Late Model 4R70W

November 21st, 2011, 08:07 PM	#15
essmekk 50,000th MM Member 02 Mustang v6 idk Join Date: Nov 2011 Location: San Diego CA. Posts: 171 iTrader: 0 reviews	If you throw a 3156 led bulb in the reverse light tho that looks sick!! And license plate led's too. That's as far as I'd go with led's on any car. Just my .02 cents __________________

November 21st, 2011, 08:19 PM	#16
roth515 Regular 2004 v6 mustang Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 127 iTrader: 0 reviews	You could always shave down the crappy job, and grab this from AM to cover it up.

November 21st, 2011, 09:55 PM	#18
Jaa1456 Enthusiast 2000 GT Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Central NJ Posts: 840 iTrader: 3 reviews	The led 3rd light looks good. You only see the leds when the brakes are applied. But the actual smoked fixture looks 10x better than stock

November 21st, 2011, 10:33 PM	#19
mustangmike! I Post Entirely Way Too Much 2004,1994,1967 14.37 @ 96 Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Texas Posts: 6,018 iTrader: 1 reviews	On the reverse lights and license plate lights I am doing that soon I meant things other then that like aftermarket tail lights and head lights w/ leds in them .. Im gonna make my order on the reverse lights and license plate lights this week sometime ... had a plate bulb go out a couple weeks ago. __________________ 227whp N/A V6 Now w/ 8th Mile 8s ! How To Jmod Your Late Model 4R70W

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