Melted beehive need LED

flatfourfan posted:

Marty Grzynkowicz posted:

flatfourfan posted:

You mean there are plastic/ cheaper beehives?

 

As far I I know all the repo stuff is plastic.  Are  you saying that Sierra Madre carries glass lenses?   Mine are dark red, I see on their website they have a light red lens but it doesn't indicate that it's glass .   Edit...  they have a sale on the dark red ones like I have, but I think they are also plastic .  http://www.sierramadrecollecti...-356A-T1-p19696.html

 

I saw those this morning and noted that there is actually no mention if lenses are plastic or glass. 

The cheap ones are plastic. 

flatfourfan posted:

Marty Grzynkowicz posted:

flatfourfan posted:

You mean there are plastic/ cheaper beehives?

 

As far I I know all the repo stuff is plastic.  Are  you saying that Sierra Madre carries glass lenses?   Mine are dark red, I see on their website they have a light red lens but it doesn't indicate that it's glass .   Edit...  they have a sale on the dark red ones like I have, but I think they are also plastic .  http://www.sierramadrecollecti...-356A-T1-p19696.html

 

I saw those this morning and noted that there is actually no mention if lenses are plastic or glass. 

Not sure if these are glass or plastic but they are less than SMC:

http://vintagespeedsterparts.c...arly356aredlens.aspx

http://vintagespeedsterparts.c...eturnsignalassy.aspx

Or lenses only:

http://vintagespeedsterparts.com/milkylens.aspx

http://vintagespeedsterparts.com/redlensonly.aspx

@Marty Grzynkowicz , I will get you some side by side and installed pics tonight/ Friday morning if that works for you.  

After work today we have full soccer game night- 430pm daughter 1, 630pm daughter 2, and 9pm - me.... yes, we are a soccer family!  Drives my wife crazy this time of year because all the tournaments, practices, etc.... 

Sorry for the delay.... here you go.  Hope this helps

Now that I'm playing with the lenses and bulbs, I'm going to put back the lighter lenses ( remove the darker ones)

while the darker ones look better when parked, the lighter ones allow more light to shine through... are more visible in these summer/ brighter months. I have had a couple close ones these past few month.  Driving the car almost every day, I'm bound to be rear ended sooner than later.

Heres a side by side... brake lights.  Brake lights off, dark lens on left, light lens on right.

Brake lights on....

Well, dark lenses back on.... I forgot that 2 of my old lighter colored lenses where melted/deformed.   Bummer... after playing with them today I think I like them better.

Why not wire all four to turn on as brake lights?

I tried years ago.. but By having all 4 lights come on when I hit the brakes, I didn't feel comfortable having the blinkers  not "blink" when I hit the brakes and was waiting to make a turn.  People would honk not knowing why I was stopped/waiting.

Seattle drivers- specially in the city ( where I live)  are not the nicest/ most patient drivers... they are always in a rush...  this is why I love this little car as a commuter... I'm never in a rush!  It just slows me down... it's perfect.

Back then..when I was experimenting, i did install a 3rd  9" LED brake light strip - it's hidden in the trunk grill- under the rack... plenty visible when I hit the brakes 

add a Kahtec blinker to the third Eye for more safety and visibility

Left arm out horizontal to the ground for left turn, left arm at 90* for a right turn...F the horny bastards!

IaM-Ray posted:

add a Kahtec blinker to the third Eye for more safety and visibility

 Ray, how's installation done 

I installed the unit only for the 3rd eye..

http://kahtec.com/smart_stop.htm

http://kahtec.com/install_smart_stop.htm

Here are the links on how to install it on the third eye only.   

BTW you can get a unit that will also handle multiple lights so it can flash all your tail lights for a real light show on braking if you so desire. 

"I tried years ago.. but By having all 4 lights come on when I hit the brakes, I didn't feel comfortable having the blinkers not "blink" when I hit the brakes and was waiting to make a turn. People would honk not knowing why I was stopped/waiting."

Luis, it's possible to build a simple circuit using relays that will do what you want. The lights flash normally with no brakes applied, but do an 'interrupted' flash if you apply the brakes with a turn signal on.

I did this years ago on a boat trailer that had only one lamp for both brake and signal functions. I forget the details and would have to work it out again, but it's possible and pretty simple to wire.

I'm guessing some googling would find someone who's already documented how to do it or probably a product that will do this out of the box.

Do you use the same bulbs for the later oval tail light?

This gizmo below (and available from Walmart) should work if you want everything to blink AND the stop lights to work correctly, but to make everything works the same AND done the easiest way, you might want dual-filament bulbs for both lights on each side, and then just wire them up for tail lights (dim) and stop/blinker (bright)

https://www.walmart.com/ip/Cur...mp;wl13=&veh=sem

These aren't cheap at $100-110 each - but real 356's use them and they are bright.

http://culayer.com/product/ba15-hp/

They also have the assembly for tear drops - for $200 a pair

WOLFGANG posted:

These aren't cheap at $100-110 each - but real 356's use them and they are bright.

http://culayer.com/product/ba15-hp/

They also have the assembly for tear drops - for $200 a pair

I posted these awhile back and think they are the way to go! 

From the archives of the Musbjim School of Simple, I humbly present...

1156 or 1157 LED at Pep Boys or Auto Zone,  $20/pkg of 2

40K miles in previous VS with tear-drop lens...

28K miles in current VS with bee-hive lens...

...with NO issues with plastic lens. ZERO! 

Wolfgang... is your backup light now a brake light?

IaM-Ray posted:

Wolfgang... is your backup light now a brake light?

He does not have anything that works on his car...But, he's full of valuable information that would help him finish building it! 

Here is my brake Iight pictures , including new 3rd brake light ( a COB chip led 6.5" strip mounted under the engine grill), wired in series to the beehive brake lights.  I replaced the standard 5050 LED strip I had been running Since 2014.)

souce of 3rd light strip.. ebay--- 6$ for two  COB chip red LED light strips. ( only one is installed in the car.)  I replaced the 5050 LED strip. (It was about half as bright at the COB... 

www.ebay.com/itm/2x-LED-DRL-Fo...p2057872.m2749.l2649

Cheers,

This was all Marty's fault........

This whole melted lens thing got me thinking (That's always a dangerous thing) and after asking a couple of discreet questions on here I sprang for a set of red LED bulbs (1156 and 1157 short profile) for my Tear drops.  Got 'em at NAPA, same price as Autozone/Advance (Sorry, Jim, no Pep Boys around here), Nice, short form-factor, wicked bright, and that's when the fun began.....

Installed them, tried them out and everything worked just as before - Nice, bright, Red color, same blink rate and everything.  Yay!  An easy score!

Except...not so fast.  The dash lamp didn't blink......  It would blink once and go out and that was it while the outside lights kept blinking away.   I'm running one of those way-over-designed OEM VW Directional Flasher/Emergency Flasher combos found on ONLY 1969 USA Sedans.  It samples the current draw of the lights in the circuit and if a lamp burns out, it causes the dash light not to blink (even though the remaining outside lights still blink the same).    It apparently is LED agnostic, or worse.  It might be downright hostile to LEDs, I don't know.

So off to NAPA I went, and got a pair of LED Flasher Fixup Resistors (from the "HELP!  Make-it-work 5000 collection), which tell the consumer in LARGE BOLD PRINT that in normal operation "This resistor will get hot.  Firmly mount it to a steel surface and keep away from flammable objects.  This part is for OFF-ROAD USE ONLY!"  My "Tim-the-Toolman" side was already grinning.

I found a spot under the dash, on the bottom of my behind the dash, cross-frame member to mount them and then messed around with the wiring rats nest with all of those nasty, snipped ends of tie-wraps that are holding everything together and raking my hand and arm.  Finally, I found the terminals for the left and right lights (up close to the emergency flasher switch which, BTW, is up above the radio where you can't see diddly)  and wired those resistors in.

Finally!  The damn thing works like it's supposed to, AND it won't melt my lenses!  All told, most of an afternoon, including that second trip to NAPA.

This was all Marty's fault for giving me the idea in the first place.  Me and my scratched-up hand and arm hate you.

But my lights look nice.......

...but if you used the recommended Drag-Fast brand, short glass 1157 style bulbs you would have saved money and had much more time to drink beer.

Gordon, I'm still running incandescent bulbs. I'm still in flux.  

Marty Grzynkowicz posted:

Gordon, I'm still running incandescent bulbs. I'm still in flux.  

Waiting to melt another lens. Right on schedule with my timeline above. 

You know......I turned on the brake lights with a stick to the pedal and then went back to feel the 1156 incandescent bulb look-alikes that used to be in there and was surprised that I hadn't melted a lens in 20 years - Those things get HOT!  Guess those plastic lenses are tougher than I thought, as I saw zero distortion in either.

Anyway, job's done, they look great, my arm is healing and now it's time to do a nice long road test up into the hills of central Mass., don't'cha think?  Check out Clara Barton's birthplace or sumthin.......