This is my first thread on these forums, so try not to be too harsh!

I'm sort of 'adopting' my boyfriend's Del Sol, which suffered a life of rice until a few months ago when he decided to resurrect it from his grandfather's farm. It has an aftermarket wing on it (which actually doesn't look too bad) that already has a third brake light .. so I'm trying to figure out how to disable/disconnect the stock third brake light. Because two third brake lights are just stupid.

I did a lot of searching and couldn't seem to come up with a concrete solution to this problem, so I decided to go out to the car and see what I could figure out for myself.

I removed the third brake light until it was hanging by those wires that disappear into the 'roof'. As seen here:

(Not my picture, but illustrates perfectly.)

I also tried removing the interior panel that's over the rear window, that also goes around the interior light. I managed to get it loose on the driver's side, but I was afraid to pull any harder on the passenger side -- the car's old, plastic's brittle, and I thought I'd wind up snapping tabs.

Is there any simple, straightforward way to disable/disconnect that third brake light? I don't want to resort to cutting any wires!

Thanks in advance!

 

why not just unplug the bulb? if you remove it completely you are going to have that huge open space where the lense use to sit.

 

The Del Sol third brake light doesn't have a bulb -- it's an LED strip. I would've removed the bulb first thing if it was that simple!

And I asked how to remove it .. because I figure that, in order to remove it, you have to unplug/unclip the wires from somewhere. Same result in the end, I just want it to not work!

 

sorry i should have been more clear. right behind the black rubber there should be a gray connector that you can unplug.

 

Try popping out the rubber grommet in the picture there. I would think that there should be a plug behind it.

 

Yeah theres a grey 2 pin connector behind the rubber grommet just pry off the grommet pull the wires a little and there you'll find the connector...

 

Why get rid of a stock 3rd brake light?! Get rid of the wing.

Bam! /thread

 

Awesome, thanks! I'll try that first thing tomorrow morning.

LOL, I would .. but remember, this isn't MY car. I'd have to get 'clearance' from the boyfriend to remove the wing. And I already asked. And he doesn't wanna spend the money to remove the wing and patch the holes and blah-blah-blah. This Del Sol is our mutual beater car -- so I'm not looking to spend a bunch of money making it gorgeous, I'm just trying to make it a little more un-embarrassing to drive.

 

so a good OEM light is more embarrassing than a doofy *** wing? Rip that damn wing off and toss some ghetto *** silicone on the holes till you can afford to get the trunk fixed. Post some pics of the wing so we can tell you how bad it looks

 

i'm jealous you have two 3rd brake lights (umm might be 1 3rd and a 4th hmm) and i don't even have one . I put an aftermarket ctr wing on my 96 hatch and now i'm makeing a 4 led light to mount in the back window so i don't get run over by some redneck in his jacked up pickup . also jealous of your boyfriend wish my girl was more into cars.

 

WOW ... why waste your time. Not only could you get pulled over for having a non working taillight but why mess with something that works fine. If its not broke, don't fix it.

 

As I already said once, I don't own this car myself, and I'm only interested in doing so much work (and subsequently spending so much money) on a car that's driven as a beater. The aftermarket wing doesn't bother me. I've seen much, much worse.

Who's talking about a tail light? I'm talking about a brake light, which is a completely different part. And I also said that the car has TWO functioning third brake lights at the moment. And last I checked, most cars only have one. Please read a bit more before snapping at someone, kthx.

 

And just to give everyone an idea of what I'm talking about ..

First two shots are kinda old, they were taken back when I still had my Mazda, before I got my G35.





Since those shots were taken .. I've taken off that ridiculous rear bumper and replaced it with an OEM one and rebuilt the exhaust back to something close to stock. This is the most recent shot I have, but it was taken in the middle of those effin' snowstorms.



Anyway, I don't think the wing is horrible. Is it on the laughable side? Sure. But is it SO bad that I'm gonna bother paying to pull the wing and patch the holes and repaint and blah-blaaaah-blah? Nah. And now you can see what I mean when I say that I have two functioning third brake lights. Simply unplugging the OEM one is much easier than hacking wires to the aftermarket one, IMO.

I'm hoping to replace the headlights, realign the front bumper, replace the badges, repaint some interior pieces that he painted white (for God only knows what reason), ditch the indiglo gauges that don't even mesh right with the stock cluster, and dig out a set of 16" wheels that my boyfriend left laying around on the infamous farm and put some rubber on 'em so that I can get rid of those steelies. To start.

 

Personally I like the wing, if you were closer I would trade you for my si trunk with si wing.

 

WOW...someone didnt read the thread.



OP, I agreee the wing isnt horrible and props to you for staying mature and not letting H-T idiots frustrate you. Its good to see someone using logic and experience to ask and respond to questions.

Any luck on disconnecting the wiring?

 

^^ Thanks! I've been around forums long enough to know that there are always people who are too lazy to read thoroughly, cause they just enjoy jumping to conclusions and then bashing people needlessly. But meh, whatever.

I did pull out that rubber grommet and found the clip just behind it! Unfastened it -- but taped the two ends together (without them being connected, of course) so that I wouldn't 'lose' the one end of the clip inside the roof rail, roof bar, whatever that thing's called.

Car definitely looks better without the extra third brake light. And I'm planning on having the OEM third brake light heavily tinted by my tint shop, just so it 'blends in' more.

Have some other stuff for the car that should be arriving this week. New badging -- the ones on the car were fake carbon fiber (which I hate, buy real carbon fiber or don't buy any at all). OEM sideskirts -- the aftermarket ones currently on the car are in awful shape, and they don't match now that the front and rear bumpers are stock again. And replacement tabs for the OEM third brake light -- since I broke the original tabs disabling the LED strip, LOL.

New one-piece headlights and repainting of some interior pieces should be happening within a couple weeks. I should make a 'Rehabilitation of my BF's Del Sol' thread or something, heh.

 

you sound hot. wanna go to dinner sometime?


EDIT: go to advance and buy "nightshades." it's like $7 a can and a couple light coats will tint your third brake light faster and cheaper than your "tint shop." it also comes off easily with nail polish remover.

 

All wings are. They serve no purpose on street cars. Might as will put airplane wings on it.. that will make it look cool!

 

Agreed, Useless on a FWD car. But it does flow nicely with the lines of the car.

 

U should send me the side skirts.

 

I know all about Nite Shades. I've never used 'em -- my Mazda had tint overlays, and my G has tint overlays. And considering my tint shop said they'd do a tint overlay on the Del Sol for free .. I think that's the cheapest route.

If they're still in one piece after they're taken off the car .. you're more than welcome to the aftermarket side skirts! I'll have no use for 'em.

 

If you were anywhere near ks i woulda traded my stock skirts for them. Shipping would probably be crazy though