Solving the problem you didnt realise you had!
I have curtains on the back window and you always had to manoeuvre the curtain around the 3rd brake light. Not that complicated but I was looking at swapping the curtains to the Van-X ones, which are stretch curtains. A quick measure up suggested that the 3rd brake light was going to be a real issue with the Van-X curtains.
I have been doing a bit of 3d printing recently, so after doing a bit of examining of the brake light unit, I realised that if I could put a LED board where the Hella reflector board clips in, I could make the curtains fit.
First off I found a 3rd bake light LED replacement that had an LED board the right size. Using an off the shelf module just seems so much easier as I know it meets all the right brightness requirements. I found a “GSRECY Red Lens Rear High Level Centre Stop Tail Third Brake Stop Llight Lamp For Transit MK7 2006-2013” on amazon.
I then designed a 3d printed backplate to mount as the Hella reflector board does and to accept the new board. It had a raised section to allow the board to mount without the cables getting in the way. I designed clips to hold the board in place (but the top ones hit the red perspex so I had to remove them and glue the board. There is a cable access hole with a cover on the back side (to make the cables exit flat against the panel) and some loops for zip ties.
Its all printed using MJF printing.
The board clips in nicely and makes the 3rd brake light just the right depth for the curtains. It is attached just with butt splices, would rather have incorporated some form of connector but couldnt think of a way to make that work.
