[DeTomaso] Group IV Taillight recommendation/ BRIGHTNESS
-Speedometer and Tach LED Indicator Lights
Chris Difani
cdifani at pacbell.net
Sun Jul 2 15:35:12 EDT 2006
Dave:
I've recently changed my speedo and tach to the AutoMeter Ultra Lite II
instruments. While doing so, I installed indicator lights (Gen, Turn Signal,
etc.), and used LEDs for the actual light source. Part of this process was
finding a solution to that very unique and peculiar "turn signal grounding
filament" issue.
Fortunately there's enough electronically intelligent people on this list,
and others, that were able to develop a solution for the problem, and now my
turn signal indicator LED works.
If you would like the details on that conversion, email me off list and I'll
send you what I have.
Chris
Chris Difani
'73 L #5829 "LITNNG"
Sacramento, CA
Email: cdifani at pacbell.net
----- Original Message -----
From: "David Bell" <davidabell at worldnet.att.net>
To: "Detomaso at Realbig. Com" <detomaso at realbig.com>
Sent: Sunday, July 02, 2006 8:01 AM
Subject: FW: [DeTomaso] Group IV Taillight recommendation/ BRIGHTNESS.
> I've tried several variations of LED replacements for 1157 and 1156
> incadescent bulbs. The first set I purchased off the shelf at AutoZone
> for
> ~ $7 each. They provided what I and other impartial observers viewed as
> clearly a higher intensity light. The downside was that the LED bulbs
> were
> mounted in a central cluster in the bulb housing and focused the light
> pretty much in a single direction. As Ron mentioned, these LED bulbs
> didn't
> really use the broad shape of the reflector. Still, I continued to use
> the
> LED bulbs vs the old incadescent bulbs because they were brighter and more
> importantly the LEDs also produce almost zero heat and current draw - good
> for 30 year old electrical systems.
>
> But after a little internet searching, I was able to locate some
> alternative
> LED bulbs. The latest set have 18 LED pointing out and six more aimed in
> the opposite direction (24 LEDs total per bulb) with the rear LED light
> passing through the clear plastic housing and on to the reflector. These
> LEDs are even brighter and also do a much better job of spreading light
> across the surface of the reflector. I've also replaced the side marker
> lights with high intensity LED bulbs with very good results. I'm planning
> to replace the instrument light bulbs with LEDs also but haven't quite
> gotten around to that yet.
>
> There are a couple of glitches involved in using LED bulbs exclusively,
> however. First, the LED bulbs use so little current (almost zero) that
> the
> stock turn signal relay may not function. If this happens, you'll need to
> replace the original flasher relay with an electronic version. Second, my
> Pantera (and everyone else's too I suspect) has an odd grounding circuit
> between the turn signal bulbs. If I replace all four 1157 bulbs (the
> front
> and rear dual filament bulbs) with 1157 equivalent LEDs, the LED bulbs on
> all four corners flash in unison when the turn signal lever is activated.
> So at the moment, I'm only running LED bulbs in the rear and the original
> incadescent bulbs in the front.
>
> I've been meaning to pose the turn signal flashing issue to one of the
> electon gurus on the list who can tell me how to get around it, but until
> now had neglected to. So SOBill, any insite here?
>
> If you're planning to swap to LEDs, be sure that you buy LED bulbs that
> are
> the same color as the lense that the light must pass through. Any other
> color (including white) will result in the lense blocking a significant
> amount of the LED light generated. Red LEDs go with red lenses and amber
> LEDs go with amber lenses. Also, be aware that the LED bulbs are much
> more
> expensive than traditional incadescent bulbs. Personally I was motivated
> to
> reduce the current and heat load on my electrical system without loosing
> any
> night time visiblity, so the expense was worth it to me. And after all
> we're all mostly driving around $35k cars, so 60 bucks for light bulbs is
> a
> small piece in the overall scheme of things - especially if I can reduce
> the
> wear and tear on my electrical system.
>
> If you're interested, the LED parts list is below. I purchased the LED
> bulbs online from www.superbrightleds.com, though there are other LED
> vendors out there as well.
>
> Front
> 2 each of 1157-A24-12V-WV (24 LED amber, wide angle, bayonette mount)
>
> Rear Turn, Brake, Tail
> 2 each of 1157-R24-12V-WV (24 LED red, wide angle, bayonette mount)
> 2 each of 1156-R24-WV (24 LED red, wide angle, bayonette mount)
>
> Side Marker Lights
> WLED-A6 (6 LED amber, wedge base)
> WLED-R6 (6 LED red, wedge base)
>
> Electronic Flasher
> CF13 GL-02
>
>
> Dave Bell
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: detomaso-bounces at realbig.com
> [mailto:detomaso-bounces at realbig.com]On Behalf Of
> pantera3641 at azballistics.com
> Sent: Sunday, July 02, 2006 9:03 AM
> To: detomaso; Dickruzzindesign at aol.com
> Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] Group IV Taillight recommendation/ BRIGHTNESS.
>
>
> I have purchased and tried numerous LED bulbs that are direct replacements
> for the 1157 and 1156 regular filament bulbs that the car is equipped
> with.
> Some were 24 LEDs, and some were 36 LEDs per bulb. In my opinion they
> were
> not as bright as the regular bulbs. This is because our tail lamps are
> designed to reflect off the chrome finish of the interior of the bucket
> while LEDs project straight out. You can get LEDs that will reflect
> other
> than straight out but they do not provide enough light to reflect off the
> bucket interior chrome.
>
> In my case I have the low profile Amerisport rear wing which has a third
> taillight of LEDs and is quite visible.
>
> Others have put a third taillight just below the roof line in the rear.
>
> The other reason LEDs do not appear as bright on the Pantera as they do on
> modern cars is due either to the thickness of the red lens, and/or the
> lenses are not designed for use with LED bulbs.
>
> To increase the brightness of my filament bulbs, I removed the lenses and
> lined the interior of the taillight bucket with chrome vinyl and the
> increase in brightness is not substantial, but it is better.
>
> Ron Scott
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Dickruzzindesign at aol.com
> To: detomaso at realbig.com
> Sent: Sunday, July 02, 2006 6:09 AM
> Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] Group IV Taillight recommendation/ BRIGHTNESS.
>
>
> There was some discussion a while back about LED and other new
> technologies
> to improve the brightness of tailamps in Panteras.
>
> I feel increasingly that this is a real safety issue as modern cars with
> larger tailamps have defined an expectation for lighting that is not
> fulfilled by
> older ones.
>
> A Mangusta or Pantera is enough of a distraction on the road to other
> drivers
> without considering the handicap of small tail and brake lamps. I do
> not
> want to be rear-ended.
>
> I think the addition of one or two LED high level stop lamps would be a
> real
> improvement, but upgrading the brightness of the tail and stop lamps, I
> feel
> is a must as well.
>
> Has anyone done that successfully?
>
> The parabolas of lamps of all kinds are designed around the lamp filament
> to
> meet required standards of brightness. That means that halogen
> conversions
> probably have the best chance for lighting the entire lamp as the
> original
> bulb
> does. I see now that some LED lamps claim to do that.
>
> I would like to see this group arrive at a recommendation based on the
> experiences of the members.
>
> Dick Ruzzin
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