There was a third brake light in my 84 when I got it. It's a "Lucas Rear
Guard" and works very well and makes me feel more visible, especially
considering how low a Vanagon's brake lights are.

I'm currently trying to find the right LED strip to mount from the outside
on the pop top of the Westy. I have one, but I think a wrecking yard stroll
is in order. It would be very visible way up there, as long as we didn't get
our feet tangled in the wiring!

On 2/13/06, Mike Collum <collum@verizon.net> wrote:
>
> John Lavery wrote:
>
> <snip>
> > I've seen a 3rd brake light mounted in the area behind the A/C.  In my
> > case, the light would have to be bright enough to be easily visible
> > through the dark tinted window on my rear hatch.
> <snip>
>
> I installed a "HogLite" (intended for a Harley Davidson) in my '85 Westy
> which has limo dark window tinting.  You can find these a bit cheaper
> than the site below or you can find suitable alternatives including some
> at J.C. Whitney.
>
>   ( http://www.hoglite.com/ )
>
> The tinting was done on my Westy before I got it so I wasn't aware that
> there was actually more than one layer on the rear glass.  The tinting
> was too dark for the light to be effective in daylight so I decided to
> cut an opening in the tinting for the light to show through.
>
> I cut a length of vinyl window blind to act as a template and carefully
> made a cut around it at the appropriate location.  To my surprise, I
> easily peeled away the first layer of tinting which was enough for the
> light to shine through the other layer brightly.  When the light is off,
> one is hard pressed to even see that there is a strip with one layer
> removed.  That's because it's directly behind the shelf at the rear of
> the air conditioning cabinet and that area is dark.
>
> Anyway, I'm really happy with the results!
>
> Mike
> Houlton, Maine
>

--
Jake
1984 Vanagon GL
1986 Westy Weekender "Dixie"
www.crescentbeachguitar.com