Carlisle Show & Tell

On mine the outboard lights are the run signals and running lights (should be brake lights) and the inboard lights are brakes (should be running)  As I said earlier, since I have the european-style lenses with the outboard lights in orange, I moved the brake lights to the inboard position.

Shyt...I'm getting confused. Lane, if I have a "conventional" ( non european ) system, what bulbs ( inboard and outboard ) should be doing what ? Thanks.

Update...my inner bulbs are single filament and function as turn signals. The outer set are dual filament and function as a tail light and brake light.  The brake light is very dim when the headlights are on. Wonder if a relay for them is in order.

I'm going to install the LED's from CarQuest and give the whole setup a good going over. I'll do one side at a time and take pics of the results / improvement.

No problem with either the flasher, tail or brake lights.

I will qualify that by saying the bulb sockets on my bee-hives were too deep (inset) for the LED bulb base to seat properly (couldn't push LED bulb-base far enough into socket to twist bulb-pins into place).

Easy fix was to;

1) disconnect wiring, remove light assembly.

2) Flip light assembly over with wire connection facing up

3) Placed 13mm socket over base of assembly and tapped (with ratchet or small hammer)

4) This pushed the socket up into light assembly enough to twist bulb into position.

Looking forward to seeing what you come up with,

Ted

David, your lights are wired the normal way.  I swapped my brake lights and running lights so that the brake lights would be red.  The two element light is the outer one and on my car that part of the lens is orange rather than red.  I like the way they add a splash of contrasting color to my red car but the idea of orange brake lights seems weird to me.

If you're still confused I'll take some pictures.

Thanks, Laner....I think I've got a grip on it. Just need to put a bit of time under the rear end.

Oops...Lane, just one more question. Earlier in this thread you mention that we need to match the LED with the color of the twilight lens. I'm not familiar with the term twilight lense. Do you mean to say we need a red LED bulb behind the red lens cover?

Jim...what color LED did you put behind what color lenses, pls.

Thanks...

David - as Lane mentioned, bright LEDs in a two-bulb tear-drop lens tend to wash-out each other unless you put an amber or red LED (turn - brake). Since that is not the case with bee-hives I put white LEDs for optimal brightness. 

That was a typo that I went back and corrected (I think).  Should have said "taillight".

Jim and Lane..when you get a chance. With the tear drop style rear lamp assemblies, do / did  your bulbs mount vertically ? Thanks.

David - if you're asking if the bulb position is perpendicular to the light assembly, yes!

So in the case of the bulb position in the light assembly (mounted on the rear of the car), the bulb would be pointing at a 10-15 degree angle (relative to flat road surface). 

Hope that made sense...

The bulbs did but the LEDs are mounted along the plane of the fixture itself.

They say that a picture is worth a thousand dollars so here's $2K worth. :-) My bulbs are pointing at about 75 to 80 degrees relative to the flat road surface. The reason for all the details I ask for is because of the many different styles of LED bulbs available and I want to get it right the first time.

Did your bulbs mount about like this in the teardrop style, Jim ?

And now I see where some of my confusion developed. Lane converted his tail lights to a "flat panel" array of LED's and Jim swapped out his old bulbs for LED bulbs. I'm trying to swap my bulbs out like Jim did.

Thanks.

These (https://www.superbrightleds.co...l-brake-turn/page/5/) are similar to what I used but instead of a plug right on the LEDs mine had a two-wire pigtail running to a plug.  These won't fit in the taillight assembly but those with the pigtail will.

I'll try to remember to look up the vendor and part numbers for the ones I used.  This is as close as I've found without that.  I'll take some pictures this weekend as well.

David - you're right, a picture is worth a 1,000 words. Finally had some time to take these pics...

 Here is a pic of the LED 1156 bulb in my bee-hive tail lights. Also used these in the tear-drop lights of my previous VS.

 With garage door closed, took a pic of the tail-light on (with lens back on). These are many times more visible than the old bulb configuration. The in-board bee-hive is brake light.

NOTE: the license frame is the frame with LED lights incorporated in frame (tail + brake). This supplements the dim lighting provided by the ('56) shine-down license light and additional brake light for better visibility. 

P.S. - if you click on the thumbnail pics below, you will get an enlargement of these pics.

Found the link to where I got my LED lights: http://www.customdynamics.com/...enesis_LED_Clusters_

I need to find the part numbers at home this evening.

Jim, those look great ( and bright)!

LED Color:

Great post, Mike.  The LEDs that I bought emit red (brake) or amber (turn signal) although they look clear when they are off.  This is definitely an important point.  Thanks for the reminder.

Thanks for reminding us of that tech tip, Mike! 

Jim, I was thinking of you when I did it.

I think you said earlier that you have clear LEDs in your tail lights.

The plastic "bubbles" are clear but the LEDs themselves put out red or amber.