Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[Old-Nail]

Using a classic car as everyday transport, especially during winter needs certain modifications to make life easier or more to the point safer.

The majority of old cars have quite puny rear lights that can appear to be 'off' from a few yards away when approached at night.
There used to be a company that sold stop/tail bulbs for classics that were 20% brighter but still legal for use, I can't remember who sold them but they were 'Britelite' of some-such name.

Anyone know of a supplier of slightly brighter 12v tail lights?

[PACresta]

Found this supplier on the net, looks a worthwhile upgrade.

http://shop1.actinicexpress.co.uk/shops/Rat_Sport/index.php?cat=Headlamps

Pete

[Old-Nail]

Thanks PA that's exactly what I was after

[ukdave2002]

Intereting site,
I see you can now get LED replacement bulbs, I might get some for the Stag rear lamps as they are pretty dim by modern standards.

Dave

[PACresta]

The only thing i was concerned about is if there would be any extra heat that could damge the lenses, any thoughts?

Pete

[Old-Nail]

If you go for the LED bulbs they don't produce much heat apparently, much safer than standard without compromising the vehicles original appearance.

[ukdave2002]

There are several advantages of LED's

• As Old-Nail said they produce very little heat.

• They use less current so will remain bright even if there is a voltage drop (common problem with trailers)

• They claim to be brighter although this must depend on the individual led cluster design.

• One big safety advantage for rear brake lamps is the speed at which they light up. If your modern has a led high level brake lamp stand behind it and get some one to hit the brake pedal. You will see the high level light up noticeably before the traditional bulbs.

• Life expectancy is 100,000 hours (I think we would struggle to drive for that amount of time)

• Far more robust than a filament bulb

• And to echo Old-Nail it doesn’t compromise originality, and if you are into show winning stuff it would take seconds to swap back.

Can't see any disadvantages at all really?

Dave

[Old-Nail]

I've ordered a pair for my 2cv and another one for my motorbike!

Just looking through the range of products offered there are various types of LED on offer. There are coloured ones i.e. red for tail amber for flasher etc. or there are plain white which will use the light cover to achieve it's colour as original bulbs do.

There are also bulbs of varying numbers of LED 'heads' on each bulb, anything from 12 to 24 heads I found which presumably indicates the brightnes?

And then there are the direction of the heads. The ones that I have chosen have 24 LEDs, 18 of which point rearward and six point sideways in a circular spread to give a greater distribution of light throughout the lens area.
Given that they do any sort of bulb from sidelight/indicator to single stop-light or stop and tail, it might be worth updating the entire set.

I found mine at a reasonable price on ebay in the end (never thought of looking there!) so I'll let you know my verdict when they arrive and post it here.

[Uncle Joe]

I've only just seen this post, but before you all go out to buy som LED's, check out the following link. Theres some good info on there....

http://superbrightleds.com/carbulb-notes.htm

[ukdave2002]

[Uncle Joe]

I'm a little bit surprised that there hasnt been any comments about the info on the link I posted....some of the info was (for lack of words) interesting.

[Rick]

UJ, I've not really followed this thread so far, but had a look at the link that you posted - food for thought indeed, does this suggest that LED lamps won't work with older-style flasher relays?

R
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[Uncle Joe]

Yes, I think it does. Arent all old style flasher units of the thermal type? I suspect that UK is the person to put us right on this point.

I'm also interested in their comments regarding bulb colour choice

[Old-Nail]

Yes thanks for the info UJ it may 'indicate' (sic) that flashers fitted with LEDs could flash at a different rate than normal due to the lower current drawn.

The brake/stop lamps however, which are the main safety concern for me and are usually the poorest in efficiency on old vehicles do seem to work well.
I think the type that I have ordered with 18 rearward facing LED's and 6 peripheral ones set at a circular 90 degrees should light up my entire lens quite well.

The fact that they also light up red negates any concerns about coloured light being filtered by the lens which in my opinion is nonesense dressed up as psuedo-science, haven't indicator bulbs etc been white light all these years and flashed amber through an orange lens? So why should those physics suddenly change?

Anyhow, I'll fit them when they arrive and do a bit of market research for the forum!

[Uncle Joe]

I'll look forward to the results....

Isnt the 2CV flasher unit a blacksmith hitting an anvil?