Cannon's 71 Super Beetle.

3rd Eye Brake Light -Home

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(Ten Dollar) Third Eye Brake Light

I really got tired of people trying to smash my VW. As bright as my car is, people don't seem to "see" me.
My solution is the $10 Third Eye Brake Light!

I'm by no means, an artist.....

The Bracket was bought at the hardware store in the deck building section. The bracket is galvanized, paintable, and won't rust. The bracket also has 2 holes in the flat sections, these holes allow the light's wires to be passed through. I also found the wire and connectors at the hardware store.. The light is a tail light/brake light combo light, that I found at the local FLAPS, it uses a dual filament bulb and comes with a gasket to keep water out.......

I borrowed, my 4 yr old's crayon's for these technical drawings..

STEPS:
(A,B,C) Surface mount the light to the bracket, using the light (cover) screws provided.
D. Loosen the turtle shell's bolts, slide the shell out and then slide the bracket in between the deck lid and the turtle shell.
E. The order should be, decklid, bracket, gasket, turtle shell. Tighten the turtle shell's bolts.
F. Pull the Bracket Lights wires through the decklid grill.

Here's the light from the side.......

STEPS:
1. Twist both of the Bracket Lights wires together and crimp a female end to it. Attach the male end to the 5ft wire. Connect the female and male ends together and route the 5 ft wire (jumper) through the engine compartment, to the left rear tail light. Note: The 5ft. jumper wire can be fed through the same grommet that the left rear tail light already uses.
2. Remove the left rear tail light lense.

Hum, Wall of VOODOO's song, "Mexican Radio"  here........

I hope the wiring instructions aren't confusing.

STEPS:
3. Remove the center bulb. Inside you'll see two copper tangs. The one on the right is the brake light tang. (71 Super)
4. Remove the silver bulb holder assembly and run the third eye jumper wire to the rear of the brake light tang. You need to use the female connector to connect the jumper wire to the brake light tang. Reinstall the bulb holder assembly.
Install the bulb.
FINAL:
Test the brake lights. Works? Great!
Doesn't work? Read On......
TROUBLE SHOOTING:
If it doesn't work, it's always the connections: Check the tail light bulb to make sure it's properly seated in the socket.
Did you twist the the third eye light's wire together?
(Twisting the wires together allows both filaments of the dual filament bulb to be used at the same time. The third eye light is grounded through the bracket and the tail light ground.)
If the third eye comes on when the park lights are on, you need to switch to the other tang, or to the correct brake light wire.
If the third eye light blinks when the turn signal lights are on: you have the wrong bulb......
If the third eye light comes on, but the brake light does not, it's the bulb socket not connecting firmly to the light bulb.
If no lights light up at all, check the connections and the fuse(s) (Remember the key has to be in the on/run position for the brake lights to work.)
ADDITIONAL NOTE:
If you are using a third eye light with only one filament, do not twist the wires together, instead ground the black wire to a nice clean ground in the engine compartment.
ADDED BENEFIT:
Your results may vary:
After I installed the third eye light, I noticed ALL of my rear lights were immediately brighter. I can only attribute this to the added (new) ground from the third eye light.