Brake lights are out of the car.

I am so tired of the brake light problem in the Sloppy Jalopy that I have arbitrarily removed the entire assembly from each corner.
When the new ones from John Weyland get here, these guys will be modified or available for remanufacture by anyone who'd like them.
TC, you've got dibs.
If he declines, lowest bidder gets them. Except Ricardo, 'cuz he's not a cheap bastard (like me!). Or Lambros, 'cuz he doesn't have a car anymore, and nobody should start from the tail lights and work their way forward. Alan, you can't have them either, on account of your car is in too many peices already. I won't send them to Gordon, since his car's too pretty and he maybe wouldn't like them. ... Mickey, maybe they'd look good on the kart? Uh ... no.
Or that Bagger guy. He doesn't get them either, 'cuz they're repros and obviously cheap.

Maybe Steve-O could put them on the Mazda.

(I feel better. I love this cathartic opportunity; mash a few buttons, get a laugh. Feels good. I've been futzing over those frigging lights for more than ten hours today. I finally gave up -- and if the assemblies aren't the answer, I'm taking them to a "guy.")

Sounds like you need another vacation (West Coast, SoCal?).

Daytime driving and hand signals it is. Brake lights still out after deep cleansing, rewiring and installation. Short somewhere in the detachable rear section of the chassis, I'm afraid.
Taking it to "a guy" tomorrow for a better troubleshooting effort and hopefully a fix. Meanwhile the fuel cell is in perfect working order.
And now that the car's officially up for sale to the Speedster-buying public, it's busy telling me it doesn't want to go. How do you like that?
Frustration is at its peak ...

Maybe a vacation would be a good idea. ... Can you take two in a month?

Post a pic when you get them installed I'd like to see what you came up with. as a permenate fix.

I was temped to go with the bee hives But my fix worked fine I got lucky I found some early hi end quality brass sockets that were a perfect fix.

Cory, that sounds weird. As you found out, probably the tailight assemblies are not the culprit. They're so simple that apart from cleaning up, tightening all contacts and some dielectric grease in the bulb sockets there's really not much else you can do. I hope it's just a minor problem like a loose or broken wire. One final thought; have you checked the brake light switches in the master cylinder?

Ditto that. VW brake light switches are notorious - at least in the MG world where they're a common replacement for Lucas.

Cory, Do the rear tail lights work? If they do the problem may be the brake pressure switch ...that's if you have one. It took a lot of effort for me to get my brake lights to work with the pressure switch. I really never knew if my lights were working. To solve that problem , I installed a mechanical contact switch. No problems now. No more do I fear the little ol ladies behind me.

I know what you mean, Joe. I wired the unused E-Brake indicator in my comb gauge to the brake circuit. When I hit the pedal it lights up with the stop lights.

Quote of the day: "No more do I fear the little ol ladies behind me."

Joe "Bialystock" Soltis

I went with a new 1984 chevy S10 brake light switch. It works perfect and the wiring is now in the cab where its dry and clean.
The vw brake switch CAN ground out I have seen that happen .. It's not a common problem. but it can happen.

BUT for Now Just walk away and take a break. and go play with that girly
I might be the best thing you can do for now.

But NAW I wouldn't sell it its to nice

My MG Midget used a Lucas pressure switch for which the VW switch was a drop-in replacement at a fraction of the cost. Pop the switch out and fill the little hole in the switch with brake fluid. Do the same for the hole in the brake system. Screw it back in and test. It's a little messy this way, but you may escape without having to bleed the system. If you see a little air bubbel in the brake switch after you've put fluid in it, use a pin to puncture it and get the fluid to fill it in. Sounds weird but it works.

I replaced the following, in order:
Brake light switch
Fuses (about 20, during R&D on this problem)
Bulbs
Wire connectors
Wires from the connectors back
Ground wires
...
Leaving only the wires that run through the rear framework and the assemblies themselves as non-replaced items.
The test-light indicates the front two thirds of the brake lights' wires are intact and working just fine, but I think the back section might have a kink in it somewhere and the contact is intermittent. I stuck a fuse in (over and over) while I was trying to troubleshoot this thing, and it would hold for about 1/8 of a second before blowing, no matter what I did. I have now narrowed it to the passenger's side light, meaning it's in the wires betewwn the two holders, in the frame between the corners.
It's the three-foot run that goes left to right, or it's the ground on that side not making good contact -- near as I can figure. I had that light disconnected and tried the brakes, and the left held without blowing a fuse.
I bought a restock on ceramic fuses, and still have three new ones left.
I'm also at work until Sunday morning and the car is here, so I'm open to more thoughts and ideas.
I've been using my running lights as manual brake lights. I'm sure traffic ahead of me is confused, but what the hell. They can be confused, as long as "the little old lady" behind me isn't.

Some humor:

Knock-knock.
Who's there?
Little old lady.
Little old lady who?
I didn't know you could yodel!

And an Icelandic saying: "The traffic jam is most likely caused by an old man with a hat driving in front of everyone else."

A poor ground connection will not cause a fuse to blow. When you disconnected the right rear light, and the rest of the circuit worked without blowing a fuse, I assume that you disconnectd the 3 foot section of wire (leading to the right)light at the left end.

Re-connect that, and disconnect the 3 foot wire at/from the right light. If the fuse still blows, the problem is probably still in the right light assembly. With the light still disconnected, use an ohmeter to measure the resistance from the light assembly wire to ground. Compare this reading to the resistance measured across a spare brake lite bulb. If the assembly is OK, they should provide quite similar readings. If there is a low grade short within the assembly, you will see a much lower resistance reading for the assembly.

Another thought; with both sides wired, remove both bulbs. Without stepping on the brake pedal, measure the resistance from the wire feeding the right side light(I assume that is the furthest point in the wiring)to ground. You should read infinity. Disconnect the battery (to prevent damaging your ohmeter) and measure this again while someone steps on the brake pedal. If the is now some measurable resistance, this could indicate a low grade (partial)short
within the wiring or the switch which, combined with the two lights could be over loading the circuit.

GOOD LUCK

Thanks, Brian! Will do.

Cory - that was EXACTLY the advise I was going to give you....8-)

And If bad come to worse Just run a new wire all thw way back to the switch in with the present loom and say the heck with it. disconect the old one at both ends.

One more wire wont hurt it.

Use a peace of mig wire as a fish to pull it into the hard to get to places. take your time and make sure it does not get dammaged as the first one was.

You have to have it pinching somewhere,, and you may never find it, if its in a tight place.

Yup. That's what I was afraid of. I'll let y'all know what comes of my (wire) fishing trip. The guys at the station say I got a package there today -- it might be the light assemblies form John, or it might be my mirror on its custom stalk from Chris Nichols. Either way, I'm going to be turning more wrenches tonight. Just gotta go get the box and see what's inside ...
WOO-WOO!

I have full confedence in ya, Just do the deed and be done with the problem.

And as Jake would say, Drive it like you stole it.

Cory,

Send me off those two old light assemblies that you pulled from the Hoopty! I'll totally go through them, get 'em working right, clean the bezels, buff and freshen the lenses and get them right back to you.

Remember, with the Coupe on the way, you're eating for two now . . .

My thanks to John for sending the 'new-to-me' assemblies. They're in great shape. The new bezels are going to be off to Hawaii this weekend so Ben can make use of them.
TC, you bet. The Coupe has lenses and bezels for sure, but I don't know about the sockets and housings.
I have to go to the UPS joint Sunday anyhow. I have a small pile of stuff in boxes I've needed to mail to folks here, anyway -- including your trim pieces, John's vents, Angela's coils and now Ben's bezels.
WOO-HOO!