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From: ijk@hropus.UUCP (Ihor J. Kinal)
Newsgroups: net.auto
Subject: Third Brake Light (add one yourself for pre-86 cars).
Message-ID: <172@hropus.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 26-Dec-85 15:09:26 EST
Article-I.D.: hropus.172
Posted: Thu Dec 26 15:09:26 1985
Date-Received: Sat, 28-Dec-85 01:06:26 EST
Organization: Bell Labs, Holmdel, NJ
Lines: 34

If you've been at all observant, you may have noticed that 86 cars have
a third brake light, per BIG BROTHER.  Supposedly they significantly
reduce rear-enders, and seem like a very good idea (although, once the
novelty wears off, the effect may diminish; I also don't like the
placement & styling of some, like the Camaro's, but that's another
story).  Even if the novelty does wear off, there remain a couple
of good points: first, the light is frequently seen thru several
cars windshields, which should help in heave traffic; second,
the lights can usually be seen  dimly in the rear-view mirror
(this lets the driver know if he has a blown fuse/ defective brake
switch; honestly, when was the last time YOU checked your brake
light???).  Finally, for cars with integrated turn/signals & brake
light, the emergency flasher will activate this lite as well.

So what can you do about it???  It turns out that it is fairly
simple to add one of these lights yourself (the only major problems
are feeding wires down for a hatchback, or feeding wires thru the rear
deck in a normal sedan).  The cost of various units ranges from
$10-20 bucks in various auto stores, etc (The 10 buck unit was
from a Strauss store in NYC, and had everything the $20 buck unit
did, including control module).  If you have separate (usually 
amber turn signals), then you only need two wires; otherwise
a control module is needed (some sort 'and' gate) if you hook up
to your taillights (if that's not convenient, one can also find
the brake-light switch under the brake pedal and run a wire from
there); that may be more convenient on some cars (that's what I did
on my 75 'Vette); if you need the control model, check to see that
the package comes with one.

I've installed 3 so far, and the average installation time was 30
minutes; I firmly believe that it was well worth the time and money.

Ihor Kinal
houxm!hropus!ijk