Super Bright LED's

[BuickStreet]

Down here in Australia all cars are required to have amber indicators if the car was made after 1959. I know...bummer.

When I first bought the Electra it had small 'trailer' lights screwed directly into the bumper. I know...bummer.

Fortunately I found some neat looking chrome oval shaped side markers that look fairly decent but the problem is that they only have 3 small LED's which are no where near bright enough for daylight hours and marginal at night.

I'd like to remove all the inside material and keep only the outside shell and clear lense and fit super bright LED's inside with some sort of an epoxy resin bed in which the LED's will be glued.

I have done some research and found some likely candidates but wanted to ask for any opinions first. Have any of you had any experience with Super Bright LED's before, How many will I need to get an very bright amber signal which is more than adequately visible from a correct distance away? What is the best way to mount them all together. I only have a small space to work within (about 2inches wide and 1 inch high). I will have to wait until I get home to attach a decent picture of them but in the meantime you can barely see them in this shot (which is good - I don't want them to stand out until needed) ...any advice?

[dualqwad]

We run LED lights in our trailers and they are PLENTY bright enough.
They are available in different sizes and colors from several sources.
A quick search turned up these units from JC Whitney that just might be something like what your lookin for.
They look like they even come in sizes to mount inside your tail light housings, if that is what you had in mind.
Check 'em out.

http://www.jcwhitney.com/productnoitem.jhtml?CATID=46330&BQ=jcw2

[BuickStreet]

Thanks Robert.

They look like what I need. The long shape will probably fit well running somewhere along my tailight lense. I don't suppose you know if you have the 12, 16 or 20 row units? I also don't suppose you have a picture of one as the picture on their website is pretty lame (more like a drawing). Ideally, I'd like to actually see a real picture of one before I order a set.

[BuickStreet]

Good News!

I just contacted our local road transport authority for the low down and they pointed me to a document that clearly states...and I quote...


Vehicles manufactured prior 1st July 1973 must be fitted with either RED or amber rear
indicator lamps and white or amber front indicator lamps.

For years the accepted norm has been that only cars manufactured before 1959 where allowed to have red indicators. Now I find that any car manufactured before 1st July 1973 can have them.

Lesson:
It always pays to check to see if the rules have changed.

I asked him since when has this been the rule and he said..."yeah we had too many complaints from you old car guys so we changed the law a couple of years ago".

I'm so happy :grin: . Time to get those big ol' brake lights flashing. Now all I need to do is find some small chrome dome bolts to poke through the little holes left behind by the previous lenses...jeez, if it's not one thing, it's your mother.

[dualqwad]

Bill,
I don't know anything about that one from JCW since I was only doing a quickie search.
I do know that the ones we use are DOT approved and are VERY bright.
You can get them in all different configiurations, sizes and colors.
Look here;

http://www.led-r-us.com/lights.shtml

The ones that we use on our trailers are design specific for them.
Here's what they look like.

[BuickStreet]

No that I know that I can run the 'normal' flashing brake light for an indicator I need to work out how to wire it back up.

There is one wire that goes to the LED style indicators. What I need to work out is where to splice that one wire. I suppose I could use trial and error but don't really want to blow anything or overheat any wiring so if anyone's got any advice on which wire might go where, I'd like to hear it. Failing any suggestions I'm going to arm myself with a pair of side cutters and some electrical tape and just start splicing this weekend. Can't wait to restore some personality to the back 'o the ol' girl.