LED bulb conversions

vernw · #1 February 17th, 2010, 01:58 PM

I was asked at our meet Saturday to post up where I got all my LED bulbs: http://www.autolumination.com/

FWIW - The bulbs I'm using are:

Red Tower II 20 LED 1157 bulbs
Amber Tower II 20 LED 1157 bulbs
White Eagle Eye Tower II 1156 bulbs

I didn't change out my side marker lights, though you certainly can. Once I replaced the front turn signals I had to add a load resistor (got it at Autozone) to get everything to blink properly.

I'm also currently using a sequencer from www.foxthundercats.com, their model TCSF-03, but I'm looking hard at the ones the guy on TGO offers as well.

Let me know if I missed answering any questions.....

Ward · #2 February 18th, 2010, 11:05 AM

Instead of the load resistors, you can also get a turn signal flasher made for LED bulbs. You can get one at Autozone/O'Reilly's for about 9 bucks. Instead of working off resistance, it has a small timer circuit in it - so no matter what the load, it always blinks at the same rate. I put one in my car when I replaced my tail light bulbs with LEDs. I wound up going back to bulbs anyway though, the LED bulbs were just not bright enough in daylight.

Lo-Z · #3 February 18th, 2010, 12:12 PM

I've got the same flasher in mine too.

vernw · #4 February 19th, 2010, 09:34 AM

That didn't do the trick for me, so I just added the load resistor. No big deal.

Ward · #5 February 22nd, 2010, 06:56 PM

I just finished converting my gauge lights to LED. The digital dash takes 6x 194 bulbs for the backlights, and 7x 74 mini bulbs for the indicator lights. For the 194 backlights (and also my license plate light), I used these type:

For the 74 type indicator bulbs, I used these type:

The backlight bulbs are "SMD" leds, meaning they are the tiny surface-mount type. They have a much wider beam than normal LEDs, and don't produce much of a "spotlight" pattern. They work very well for backlight applications. The indicator LEDs are just standard T5 LEDs and have a narrow beam, but they don't need to light up a large area so they work great. I got everything off ebay for dirt cheap, I think I gave less than 10 bucks each for 10 of each type. The only downside to ordering LEDs off ebay is that most of them ship from china, so it might take a week or two for them to arrive. I wasn't in a hurry, so I didn't mind.

Here's how they look installed. The DIC module (above the trip computer) backlights mount facing upwards, instead of pointing straight at the panel like the others, which is why it's so much dimmer. I'm going to try some different bulbs that have LEDs facing sideways, which should fix it. I also still need to do the HVAC controls, and the backlights for all the dash buttons and switches.

haz161 · #6 March 1st, 2010, 11:17 PM

Do you guys know if they make any hid headlights for my 1982 camaro?

Chezoom · #7 March 1st, 2010, 11:30 PM

yea, i got the housing of ebay. i think its a 9006 or 7 bulb

vernw · #8 March 2nd, 2010, 08:35 AM

Yep - they do!

Probably need to look for an H4 HID conversion. You only have to swap two wires going into the headlight for that to work. It's what I did on my 91 Firebird....

kd5icr · #9 March 14th, 2010, 09:43 PM

I saw a few of you have these hid headlight in your rides. So, Were can I get the stuff to do it? And what all do I need to get in order to do it right the first time. I looked on ebay and didnt see anything for 3rd gen. So can anyone point me to were I need to look? The ebay add posted here is no longer up.
Thanks.
Bill

EROC · #10 March 15th, 2010, 07:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ward

I just finished converting my gauge lights to LED. The digital dash takes 6x 194 bulbs for the backlights, and 7x 74 mini bulbs for the indicator lights. For the 194 backlights (and also my license plate light), I used these type:

For the 74 type indicator bulbs, I used these type:

The backlight bulbs are "SMD" leds, meaning they are the tiny surface-mount type. They have a much wider beam than normal LEDs, and don't produce much of a "spotlight" pattern. They work very well for backlight applications. The indicator LEDs are just standard T5 LEDs and have a narrow beam, but they don't need to light up a large area so they work great. I got everything off ebay for dirt cheap, I think I gave less than 10 bucks each for 10 of each type. The only downside to ordering LEDs off ebay is that most of them ship from china, so it might take a week or two for them to arrive. I wasn't in a hurry, so I didn't mind.

Here's how they look installed. The DIC module (above the trip computer) backlights mount facing upwards, instead of pointing straight at the panel like the others, which is why it's so much dimmer. I'm going to try some different bulbs that have LEDs facing sideways, which should fix it. I also still need to do the HVAC controls, and the backlights for all the dash buttons and switches.

Excellent addition Ward!!! Thx for sharing!