LED Upgrade to Rear Rectangular Lights

[RodKnock]

I think making them (the lights) sequential like the old T-birds would be even better. Absent that, stringing Christmas lights around both roll bars would work too.

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by RodKnock

I think making them (the lights) sequential like the old T-birds would be even better. Absent that, stringing Christmas lights around both roll bars would work too.

Well let me just take a crack at it and if it looks like crap I'll just toss it in the trash. I have the extra trunk light fixture, and the LEDs are only $2, so it's not that big of a deal. Sheeesh, you guys are awful hard....

[dcdoug]

Originally Posted by patrickt

But I think I can make them invisible to the eye when you are not touching your brakes -- maybe by even dropping down to the 3mm. Would you still they were unattractive if you could not see them when they were not lit?


EDIT -- now mind you that each of those little clear domes would be only 3mm in diameter and peek out less that 1mm!!

If you can't see it, then it would look fine when not lit, and probably odd, but safer when you hit the brakes. Possibly it could look cool when you hit the brakes, but I'm skeptical. Happy for you to show us though!

It would give RodKnock another reason to use his raceramps.

[patrickt]

I've been kind of paying attention to the middle light of the cars in front of me. It seems a lot of them now have LEDs in a short row. The other day, and I think it was something like an Audi, SAAB, or the like, seemed to have six or seven LEDs in a line and it looked pretty good. So I thought to myself, "Self, that might look really good if properly embedded in your plate light on the Cobra." I'm sure if done properly it could be absolutely undetectable and look good when it came on to boot. It's just a question of whether I can do it or not. If I screw up this one extra light fixture that I have I'm not buying a second.

[RodKnock]

I think research has shown that the 3rd brake light located that low won't be effective, or at least as much as if it were mounted in a higher location.

Personally, I think your time would be better spent driving around, stopping every 10 minutes, and opening your radiator's petcock to drain the old radiator anti-freeze, while pouring in new stuff each stop.

[spfcobra2567]

I was considering LEDs that do the quick 3 flashes and then go solid. These are just a replacement bulb with all circuitry built in. Saw them on etrailer.com with part number P235157W for $80 a pair. Then I wondered if they would be synchronized, being separate circuitry.
I mentioned my interest to Dennis Olthoff before he was done with my install, but he said LEDs get hot and he has had to replace plastic housings for people that have installed LEDs. I was always with the belief that LEDs were cooler than filament bulbs.

[SF_SN888KE]

I also thought about brake light on top and turn signal on lower (rectangle tail lights) but seems to me that you would have to cut the reflective lens out and replace it.

I know that are some newer CLEAR 3rd brake light license plate frames using LEDs.
Some interesting LED frames and light bars:
http://www.rodworx.com/products.php?scatid=4
http://www.customdynamics.com/Light_bars.htm

If the christmas tree lights around the rollbar don't work ....


how about a wireless 3rd brake light on the back of your baseball cap?



http://www.webbikeworld.com/r2/riderlight/

[RodKnock]

It's hard to gauge the scale with the pics, but you could blind drivers with that 3rd brake light.

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by RodKnock

It's hard to gauge the scale with the pics, but you could blind drivers with that 3rd brake light.

I don't think so, but I'll try and figure that out as well. The trunk light is almost exactly 24" off the ground. OK, here's a decent shot of the six LEDs that are glued together. This will give you a feel for the size. Of course, if I screw up the drilling of the six 3mm holes, or if it looks like crap, then I'll just trash the project. These LEDs are only about twenty five cents each.

[tkb289]

Patrick,

Been following your trunk mounted LED experiment, have a suggestion for assembly.

That is to drill the holes in the housing with a center to center distance slightly further apart than the width of one LED. Once the holes are all done, then install the LEDs one at a time, this might be easier in the long run, than trying to line up a pre glued block of LEDs with the holes. Then wire it up and if it works and looks good, pot the whole thing with silicone glue or hot melt glue.

If you have access to a mill, that would make getting the holes accurately placed a lot easier and it would look better too if the spacing and alignment was right on.

Not that you can't achieve excellent results with a punch, drill and a steady hand.

Will be interested to see how it looks!

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by tkb289

That is to drill the holes in the housing with a center to center distance slightly further apart than the width of one LED. Once the holes are all done, then install the LEDs one at a time, this might be easier in the long run, than trying to line up a pre glued block of LEDs with the holes. Then wire it up and if it works and looks good, pot the whole thing with silicone glue or hot melt glue.

I bet that would look better. OK, "next guy" take note and do it that way. Actually, I've already determined that the six 3mm LEDs, at least while outside the license plate light assembly, look really, really, good. I wasn't even sure how they would look until I glued them all together, soldered their backs, and fired them up. I'll set up a little template for drilling the six holes to try and make it easier on myself. I'll practice on something else before I use my one and only extra light fixture. I'm already sure though that if you had someone skilled doing this that it would come out perfectly. I don't think you'll even be able to see the little LEDs unless you squat down on your knees at the back of the car.

[patrickt]

Here's a pic with them installed in the light fixture. If you didn't know those six holes weren't supposed to be there, you wouldn't notice them. All of the "innards" of the light are now installed as well. All that was needed was to use the Dremel cutting wheel to cut a piece out of the inner plastic lining.

[patrickt]

It's tough capturing a shot of lit LEDs, but this is what it looks like. I guess the next step to seeing whether it's really any good is to go ahead and install it on my car. I'll have to put my thinking cap on as to where to wire it in since there are no pure brake signals at the rear of an ERA.

[tkb289]

Patrick ... You do nice work, looks good!

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by tkb289

Patrick ... You do nice work, looks good!

Maybe Bob P. will offer me a job.

[ERA Chas]

Thanks for covering the ugly parts.

[RodKnock]

Gee, it looks like termites ate your license plate light fixture. Man, I don't know.

It's kinda pointless w/o seeing lights, camera, action. I'm just saying.

[patrickt]

Originally Posted by RodKnock

Gee, it looks like termites ate your license plate light fixture. Man, I don't know.

It's kinda pointless w/o seeing lights, camera, action. I'm just saying.

I picked the shot that showed the lights in the worst possible fashion. Most of the shots (and my eyes) had both before and after looking very much the same. Honestly, if you didn't know they were there and weren't looking for them, you'd never really notice them. But before I wire it up permanently to the brake circuit, I'll wire it up with just a 12v feed and get some shots of what it looks like on the car lit up. I think it will work well though. In order to wire it up to the 14.6v feed voltage of a running car I need to add a resistor in to the circuit, otherwise it'll blow. If this was a dual light car that had a pure brake feed going to the rear of the car the wiring would be much easier. As it is, I'll have to tap in to the line coming off the brake switch, that comes out of the box, runs up the frame, goes up the fenderwell to the under-the-hood runs, and then through the firewall to the circuitry that is above the driver's ankles. I think it's probably easiest to tap in to right after the brake box. But running a nice clean, hidden wire will be a small PITA. Not a huge one, but one nonetheless.

Originally Posted by ERA Chas

Thanks for covering the ugly parts.

I know by that remark that you are suitably impressed. Thank you for the compliment.

[patrickt]

I haven't hooked up the wiring at 14.6v yet, but I'm pretty convinced that six holes are way too many. I think it's going to be too bright. Even at 12v, which is under-powering the array, it's really, really bright. What I will do once I have it fully wired is to just put little circular punch outs of shiny HVAC tape over each outside light until the overall effect looks even, or maybe slightly brighter, than the regular corner brake lights. That will let me assess it properly -- and I think having an odd number, so that one is centered, would look better. If I dropped it down to three lights, instead of the six. and centered the middle light, it would look like this photoshopped pic. Now you have to admit, three holes looks pretty innocuous.

[RodKnock]

Rudolph the red nosed reindeer, had a very shiny....nose? I mean hind end?