LED lights

[avi81n]

Hi all,

Thinking about lighting options for the 1750 restoration.

Has anyone got good/bad stories of converting incandescent globe to LED for external lights (other than headlamps of course[emoji12]).

I know I will have to replace the flasher relay with a suitable LED friendly device but other than that any traps?

Any preferred brands of lights, or brands to avoid?

I've converted the interior lights (including dash lamps) to LED and thinking about the exterior as well.

Cheers

Carl

[carlo rossi]

Its sounds good but you lose the essence of the vehicle and probably devalue it
the car was built in era of analogue switches and bulbs
led is a little too precise and harsh for such a beautiful hand made sculpture
thats my 2 cents worth ,sorry they dont them any more hows 5 cents

[jazig.k]

In our gtv we tried led's in the tail lights. We ended up with hot spots and poor distribution of light in the lens (because led's are so directional and the reflectors are silver not chrome). We swapped them straight back out for bulbs, planning to chrome the reflector housing. Never happened because I was rear ended a few weeks later. Picture of almost the exact bulb replacements.

[jazig.k]

Check out the other lighting options like smd's or cob's (probably more options now since I haven't looked for about a year). I replaced all my interior, engine bay and boot lights with cob panels. They spread light at a huge angle compared to led and don't have much of a hotspot issue (one light panel rather than 50 led dots). I have pictures of my little cob project somewhere... Amazing light from the under bonnet light now!

[carlo rossi]

is it a restoration?

if its a resto its real bulbs that use watts and lots of them
your alternator wont know the difference
and you wont see a change in fuel economy
therefore WHY LED ?
why change a classic, next it will be fuel injection ( god forbid)

[jazig.k]

Dear Flying Spaghetti Monster!!!! Did he say restoration?! How dare he even think for himself and suggest such blasphemy! Hung drawn and quartered if you even think SCA brand bulbs will suffice...

[avi81n]

You raise some valid points Carlo. It is a restoration but not necessarily a slave to originality.

There is a trade off between originality and utility/safety. For me, changing the interior lighting is a no brainer, as is any area illumination of the boot and under bonnet. I will admit that I am having second thoughts about the running lights/brakes etc but I am willing to give it a go and see how it looks - they aren't major changes and will only take minutes to reverse.

I suspect the original flasher relay might even work with LED's - is it load sensitive?

Jazig.k - I should have used better terminology! I plan to use smd's but I will also look into cob's and whatever else is available.

Thanks