Building LED tailights, turn signals, ect...

[3XBrownCutty]

kinda reurecting this thread. The I commented that I bought some led clusters for my front signals and said I would post results... they are horrible, the stock bulb is brighter than them...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/e..._trkparms=algo=LVI&its=I&otn=1&category=33713

 

[2fit661ca]

...maybe LEDs are just not worth the hassle on our older cars...

I've now got 1000 yellow LEDs with no use... I'm going to try to make intierior lights out of them... or maybe indicator lights. i don't really know yet, I just know that I paid $30 for them so I'm not going to let them go to waste. If anyone wants to experiment with them, I'm going to post 100 yellow LEDs and 2 boards on Pay-It-Forward.

 

[Veltboy618]

...maybe LEDs are just not worth the hassle on our older cars...

I've now got 1000 yellow LEDs with no use... I'm going to try to make intierior lights out of them... or maybe indicator lights. i don't really know yet, I just know that I paid $30 for them so I'm not going to let them go to waste. If anyone wants to experiment with them, I'm going to post 100 yellow LEDs and 2 boards on Pay-It-Forward.

You can get it to work. You have to get the voltages right & a whole lot of wiring & soldering resistors. Online LED calculaters helped me out a whole lot when doing my lights. I'll be doing my front turn signals, all of my side markers & my interior lights too.

 

[FE3X CLONE]

http://www.watsons-streetworks.com/leds_taillights.html

Scroll to the very bottom and they have DIY setups with the LED's already prewired. Looks like you more or less just need to make them work/fit the housing of your choice and then wire them into the vehicle's wiring.

I'm looking at going this route for some sort of custom built in third brake light that runs the entire width of my trunk lid. I just installed a 60" LED tailgate light bar on my GMC and LOVE it! Now the Olds needs one. 😉

 

[FE3X CLONE]

I know using these isn't nearly as complicated or "cool" as building your own LED lenses but have any of you considered them?

I've been curious how they would actually look and work compared to stock bulbs and here's a good example:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WXswBsQ6 ... r_embedded

 

[RELL88SS]

The LED's that replace the bulb are not very useful. I bought a pair for my 2nd cutlass and because they were red and so bright the light was kinda concentrated. So there ended up being a very bright light in the top reflector. It did not fill up the entire area. Especially compared to the regular bulb i had on the bottom. The entire circuit board is interesting, i may get on this project with you. But there is also this website. http://www.V-LEDS.com

All you gotta do is scuff up the top of the bulb.

 

[3XBrownCutty]

little off topic, but i'm looking into cuttoing up the back of my turn signals and putting in a rectangular board with amber LEDs in because the cluster bulbs were junk. i cant seem to find a source for LED boards, or is there anything premade out there?

 

[FE3X CLONE]

little off topic, but i'm looking into cuttoing up the back of my turn signals and putting in a rectangular board with amber LEDs in because the cluster bulbs were junk. i cant seem to find a source for LED boards, or is there anything premade out there?

What was junk about them? What color did you have?

 

[3XBrownCutty]

they didn't send me the right bulbs in the first place. the studs that go into the grooves were in different places than the factory style bulbs. but i did push them all the way in place and they werent even brighter than a normal bulb. they were amber...

 

[FE3X CLONE]

Right, LED's aren't brighter than a standard bulb.