My tail light/ brake light bulbs on my 66 aren't the brightest. Has anyone tried those replacement LED bubs that just fit in the old sockets just like the 1157. Seems pretty simple change at $8 a throw. Thanks.

The good thing about LED's are they dont use anywhere near the current that a standard incandescent uses and the average life on most LED's is 40,000 hours.

Sent you a PM...

IMHO on a '66 Coupe/Sedan you'll not be impressed with the results you get with the LED replacement "bulbs". They may not even fit in the narrow housings on a '66 - they flare out larger than an 1157.

The other difficulty is most of them have the LED's arranged to shoot straight back in a tight cluster. This will translate to a hot-spot of light, with little dispersion.

Check the link in my sig.

For a small bump on the brake/turn signals you can go with the 2357 bulbs instead of the standard 1157. You go from a 3/32 CP to a 3/40 CP with a very modest current increase.

But you can get a lot more if you follow John's example/setup :thumbsup:

I replaced my 1157 brake light bulbs with Eurolite 1157 LED bulbs. The LED bulb has twelve LEDs on it yet it draws a very small current (< 0.5 A each). The LEDs are not as bright as incandescent bulbs. As John D said, the typical LED layout focuses the light in a circle instead of filling the entire brake lense.

http://i58.photobucket.com/albums/g244/f1970chevelle/Chevelle/IncandescentvsLED.jpg

For a while I've been looking for better rear tail lights too. This past weekend I popped in a set of LED lights from a company called Shiny-Hiney. They installed pretty easily and fit fairly snug within the housing. If you do get them, be sure to use threadlocker on the main retaining nut. You'll understand why when you see it. You can't torque the computer board down very hard (within the housing) or it will crack.

They work very well and are VERY bright compared to the small LED Autoz 'bulb' I was using before. These new lights have a 3 flash feature when you step on the brakes. They flash super quick 3 times, and then stay on. It visually gets your attention fast and should be good for safety. Anyway, check it out over at www.shiny-hiney.com

I don't have any pics of them but I can tell you that this new LED board puts out about 4 times the amount of light as compared to the single LED light I had before. :thumbsup:

I need to get on the stick and design/build something for '70's...No I won't be cheaper, and don't have access to off-shore $.50 per hour labor, but my stuff will kick-*ss on this almost fits stuff, and it'll be guaranteed 2 years no questions asked.

"Threadlocker... overtorque... " BS! Those look like the same units "Techno-stalgia" offers... just reboxed under a different name.

What happens if/when one of these units takes a dump? How long and what tools are needed to go back to a bulb when "Johnny Law-man" is breathing down your neck?

I need to get on the stick and design/build something for '70's...

John,
Please do!!
Put me down as first in line to purchase a LED setup for a '70.

Dadgum son, why the angst? :confused: Sounds like you got a chip on your shoulder or something there John...are your sales a little slow? ;) Competiton hurtin the biz? Maybe you're not eating a balanced breakfast or something. :rolleyes:

Just trying to share my good experience so far with a different product is all. I think I see your point but your 'positive' styled feedback isn't necessary so take it somewhere else. Do you run around bashing other people's decisions on a regular basis? Man if so, you must be a real fun guy to hang with.

Yea, go make a HIGHER quality set of '70 LED lights. Oh, and you had better give it a lifetime warranty...your competitor does.

Actually John, if you read towards the bottom of their page it does say "by Technostalgia".

I note they do not do *anything* for El Caminos...

I installed the Technostalgia LED boards on my 68 about 3 years ago. At that time they were distributed by CoolLEDS.com. Anyway, they are much brighter, the array has very good dispertion, it illuminates the side of the light better than the bulb did. They fit perfectly, and I have had no problems with them at all. I'd recommend them for any '68. :thumbsup:
BillL

Naw, I'm OK now... Was just a little punchy. I meant nothing personal. I just think that there should be a better/different way to mount the units - without an inherant possibility of breakage or need for a toolkit to swap one out if it goes bad.

I don't mind the competition - it's good for keeping me on my toes, and I'm not worried about my volume. This is a hobby business where the profits go right back into my El Camino. :clonk: If it gets to the point of where it could sustain a living I'd probably sell the rights to build and find something else to start up! ;)

(I am a fun guy to hang out with, just ask any of my friends (if I had any......) :p ) Sorry for any feathers ruffled...

Hey, no problem John apology accepted. :) I'm in sales too and know what it's like to jump on the competition's weakness. Likewise, you'll have to accept my apology to you for the snide response I gave ya'. I was in a bit of a mood as well and it showed up in my post...oops! Ah heck, let's give each other a cyber hug. :thumbsup:

I agree, the LED board does need a more secure mounting design. It should work with the threadlocker on it, fingers crossed. If you do one for a '70, add some sort of structural frame around it so that the frame is the support piece and not the board. With as many 70's out there, you should stay busy. Good luck!

Wes Colby, regarding the Shiny-Hiney tail lites, what do you do about turnlites?

Malibu Jimbu, you will need to replace your old thermal turn signal flasher with an electronic flasher. They plug right in, and are available at almost all auto parts stores. Any LED turn signal will not work with a factory thermal flasher. Beyond that, it should work just fine. Hope this helps.

Typically LED tail lights have two circuits: a bright and not bright. Of course the tail lights connect to the not bright and the stop/turn connect to the bright. Now how the two circuits are composed in the LED module is electronic magic...

I wondered about the turn signals because the info at Shiny-Hiney seemed to mention that the LED's for 67 Chevelles were for the tail and stop lite - no mention of turn signals. So where does the LED flasher go in the system? I imagine I keep the stock flasher for the front turn signals, or do I have to replace them with LED's? Do all the LED tail lites from Shiny-Hiney have the 3-flash feature when stopping? I didn't see where they mentioned it on their web site. Do you also get this 3-flash feature when the turn signals are activated? And lastly, are these LED's brighter than the stock bulbs, or just brighter than other LED's (not brighter than stock).

To clarify... your Stop & Turn Signal bulb (more correctly filament) is one & the same. The switching and insertion of the flasher is done up front in the steering column & under the dash.

The stock flasher for "our" cars is a thermally activated type of device. The electrical load for the front, dash, and rear turn signals is routed through it. This load heats up a bi-metal strip in the flasher can.
When sufficient load/heat is generated the metal strip warps and breaks the electrical connection. It cools pretty quickly, un-warps, and then makes contact again.... hence on/off/on/off....flashing lights.

(Ever see a "weekend warrior" on the road.... a car loaded to the gills with stuff & dragging a camper/boat? They hit the turn signals and they go blinkblinkblinkblinkblink instead of the regular on..off..on..off? The extra load of the trailer lights is causing the flasher to heat up too quickly.

On the flip side of this, not enough load on the flasher will cause it to work VERY slowly, or not at all. Installation of LED lighting will cut the electrical load on the flasher by a considerable amount (almost simulating a blown bulb). Many times the stock thermal flasher won't work with LEDs.

An electronic flasher is really just a timing circuit triggering a relay, all inside the little can. When energized it just switches on & off at it's designed timing rate. It is not load dependent to work.

How the LED mfg's change the brightness from Taillight mode to the higher Stop/Turn mode using the same LED elements is electronic wizardry that I cannot divulge..... like asking a magician how they do their illusions :p

Hope this helps explain things! :thumbsup:

Malibu Jimbu, you don't necessarily have to replace your front turn signal lights with LED's for the rear brake/turn LED's to work when using the electronic flasher can. My understanding is that they will still work as normal.

The three flash feature is only when you apply the brakes. It does not 3-flash like that when you are using the turn signals. You'd have to call or email them about that feature being available for all of their LED boards...I'm not 100% sure.

As far as brightness goes, when braking, the new LED lights are at least 2 to 3 times brighter than the standard factory light bulb. :thumbsup:

JohnD, thanks for the explanation on the those flasher cans and how they work. I only knew they were called thermal but knew nothing beyond that. What you said makes total sense and explains why I've seen slow and faster blinkers on cars. I'll be the first to admit that the subject of electronics IS magic to me! :)

If you check further you will find there are two types of thermal flashers as well. One is load sensitive and usually used on turn signals. It was designed to give you an indication of when a light was out.

The other thermal flasher is load independent and is used on the 4-way flashers.

Regarding the three flash then on feature... because this is driven off of a single feed, and this feed is used for both brake and turn indicators, there is no way they can *not* do the three flash and on on turn signals too. The only way to distinguish brake from turn is possibly after the light has been on for a period of time. You cannot delay turn on, so you have to treat every power on the same. Whether it is a brake power on or a turn power on.