After needing a new 3rd brake light for over a year and a half, I found one . The old one looked like crap with scratches all over it. I could wax it and would look good for a few days but doing this every few days got old Here is a before picture, picture of the new lens and the last picture is the new lens installed.
I was going to do a how to Thread, its too easy to worry about it. The factory lens was made in Mexico and the LED lights made in China. I didn't look to see where the new 3rd brake light was made but I bet probably, China
It looks to me like sun damage and I wonder if you could clear it up like you do cloudy headlights, by fine sanding and polishing the surface. I'de remove it first so you would not damage the paint. $80 is alot of money for a little piece of plastic.
Must be UV damage from the sun. I remember a couple years ago people were complaining about their 3rd brake lens looking like crap. Mine looked like new until a year ago. I guess people on Mustang Forums just tinted them. I searched Ford parts, no replacement part listed . I could make the lens look like new for a month or two. I didn't want to put in an hour of buffing every couple months. After a year of searching here and there I finally found a place that sold a replacement lens
Would have :thumb: The new 3rd light comes with new LED lights sealed in the housing. I didn't try to remove the old LED's to see if they are replaceable or not. They 'might' be because the lens was made in Mexico and the LED's were made in China :blink:
7 years of washing, drying and waxing. For the last year and a half I have tried lens restorer, cleaner compound and cleaner wax with my dual action buffer. Plus UV rays and heat from the sun. Plastic cracks when it gets old too. I 'can' make the old lens look pretty good using the cleaner wax but it was only lasting for 2-4 weeks until it started looking like crap 'again'. I got tired of doing this so I replaced it.
I used a grinder with a cutting disc, then filed down the sharp edges and added some black paint. If your going to do the pony I suggest using a heat gun or hair dryer along with a large can, to make your emblem have a bit of concave if your using the rtr. It will fit so much better. I used a can of beans lol.
My decklid panel by RTR will be here in a couple of hours and I'll test fit the emblem to the panel to check out the curve. The emblem I got is an OEM front grille pony with the installation studs, but no fasteners. Your emblem doesn't seem to have the 4 studs. How did you install your pony emblem on the panel?
RTR is supposed have drill points on the back for the pony emblem. I plan to drill into the panel at the 4 drill points and attach the emblem with glue and/or fasteners. My son-in-law has a Dremel I can use for cutting the hump off, as seen on YouTube. Any advice is most appreciated:thumb:
My Pony was from my stock Oem grill, its basically straight and didn't fit well on the Rtr until I heated and curved it. It just didn't look good without curving to the Rtr decklid, full of gaps. Hope this helps, ask away if u need 2.
Yep, studs came off because the led backing required it, but I still would have removed then anyways.
As for the can I used a large can of chef boyardee. I know high tech right lol.
That's what ya call Yankee ingenuity, one of my favorites! I was thinking a large can of whoopass I been saving might come in right handy for this project, lol.
Since the emblem is hollow, how did you get a flat enough surface for the adhesive to stick to the pony and the panel? I have 3M automotive adhesive tape, but it's not thick enough to fill the pony emblem.
That's a good question. I guess I would fill the hollow part with an epoxy or silicone and then 3m it to the decklid.
Be forewarned, epoxy can make a absolute mess of your decklid very quickly. Be very careful with it.
Its an led backing that the Pony clips onto with some epoxy. They led has a 3M backing that sticks to the decklid, which I wired to the running lights so it comes on when the lights come on and off during the day.
The led is made to fit in the front Oem grill but I used it for the Rtr decklid instead.
The pic below is of the led with no Pony on it yet.
The pic is is a temp location which wasn't centered to see if it would work. The led is a perfect way to mount it and was like 35 usd. They had red and white, and maybe blue.
The red matches the running lights perfectly.
LG G4
OK, now I understand. Since I don't have a backing of any kind, I'll have to use some of that Yankee ingenuity I meantioned earlier. Thanks for all your help, really appreciate it :thumb:
The pony is in the mail, but I got the RTR decklid panel on today. I can't seem to upload a picture from my iPad. When I figure that out I'll post the pic, so far it comes in upside down.
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