I NEED BETTER TAIL LIGHTS

I used the ring from the blue dots to add an accent to the lenses. They are plastic and though the shape is awesome they looked a little cheap to me. I also sprayed the inside of the lenses with transparent red taillight paint by VHT.
Now they have an appearance more to my liking and look even more “Ford” like.
it is hard to take good pictures with the lights on but you cannot make out the LEDs thanks to the beveled in the lenses.

I wanted bright, I got that and then some.
Tradition may say 6volt bulb but then again tradition would also be one brake light and arm signals. I’m good with this.

 

HORN BROKEN, WATCH FOR FINGER

 

For third brake light I removed the chrome license light and used a reproduction vintage motorcycle taillight.

 

That is a good look.

 

Damn at first glance , I was thinkin you were speaking of traffic light in image above the front cowl . Silly me

 

Any one ever determine if Mr Billy’s LED suggestion will work in 50 Pontiac lights ? Thanks and great work on trying to keep the Hot Rods as safe as possible

 

You can darken up the lense by painting them with the dye that is used for "stained glass" artwork. The dye is thin, lays out flat, and you can vary the darkness by how many coats you apply. It will 'tone down' the chintzy platinic look. Lasts a long time.... my '46 Chev plastic lense have held up great for 20+ years.

 

You get it. That pinkish, plastic look is nasty. Dark red is the look of glass lenses. Good tip

 

Just keep in mind that the average SUV driver on the road is used to that chintzy, platinic, pinkish, plastic look.
Their minds may not comprehend what the bright, dark red, look of real glass means until the hit you. When we drive among them, our rides almost needs to fit into what they are used to.

I had a moron almost hit the back end of my truck that has big ugly LED lights on it, mounted above the bumper, because, according to him "You don't have a 3rd brake light!" He told me he only watches for the 3rd brake light! I doubt my well expressed words of wisdom is going to make much difference with him, but I sure felt better.

 

Good point. Tragic...but good point.

 

Do they put off much heat?

 

No.... basically none. They produce light through some kind of sorcery but NOT by heating up an element to glowing red like a filament bulb does.

 

LEDS don't put off any heat, nor do they have much resistance. Often they need special flashers for the turn signal flasher to function, and they don't melt snow off of themselves in the winter (just in case that happens where you drive).

 

No heat at all. They have such little resistance that they have trouble with some flasher units. Always purchase LEDs that are pre-loaded with resistors or look for CANBUS software in the description. They will work with your electrical system. Plug n play and so much brighter!

 

I bought a pair of the Bob Drake advertised led bulbs when they were first offered but they were too large a diameter for my 32 taillights without some mods, also read some may require a compatible flasher, is that still the case with the H.D. Amazon offering ?

 

In the early days of LED bulbs this was an issue, the resistance is sooo low that the flasher thinks there is a bulb out so it stops flashing. People added resistors to trick the flashers or changed flasher units as you described. Today's bulbs are smaller, brighter and have built in resistance. There is a day coming that you won't buy 1157's at the auto parts store. If you think I'm smoking the good stuff, you aren't wrong but also consider that 2 years ago you could still buy conventional bulbs for your house then visit your local ACE hardware store.

 

All the turn signal lights on my 49 Dodge truck are LED, and all were purchased in about 2021. I had to buy a flasher unit designed for LED lights (I think it was under $15). The original flasher would flash once or twice and stop.
The LED flasher works great, and is louder then the original non-LED flasher was, which is a plus in my book (I know when the turn signal didn't turn off).

 

Billy I have LEDs in the 48 Chevy lights on my roadster. I was worried about not being seen as well. Because my trunk lid is louvered I ran 2 LED strips inside the trunk lid in line with a row of louvers on each side. Now with everything hooked up my tail lights pulse and the LED strips pulse as well. If you run into the ass end of me now you have to be frigging blind! You can barely see them in the first pic.

 

Oh I like that!

 

Clever idea!

 

Thanks Bandit Billy for this thread! This is a good summer 2025 project for both of our convertibles, especially the Mrs. 1970 MGB. That car is so small and low to the ground it is comical when I take it out shopping and park in the lot. I have taken to running the headlamps during the day to help seeing it from the front.

Keep adding links to your light setups as that makes it easier to find something to fit everyone’s different cars. I do like the flashing brake lights now used on Amazon semi trailers. They don’t have any qualms about reducing accidents into the back of those big things.

 

To that end I will post the 3rd brake light I added to my wife's PU I built for her. It is packing a super bright bulb behind its lens. If you miss that one, you and Mr. Magoo have a lot in common. When I'm driving the truck, I like watching the cars behind me light up red when I hit the brake pedal.

I can't take credit for it, I stole the idea from @Hotrodmyk

 

^^^Yeah buddy!

 

You guys still grab a burger once in a while at the Bigfoot?

 

I’m curious if you can run led and normal bulbs on the same chain, like if your tail lights are led and the third brake light is incandescent is there an issue daisy chaining them together?

And this is going to sound pretty simple brained but I’m not 100% so I’ll just ask. If you have led tails and incandescent front turn singles you would just need a led flasher for the back and a standard for the front. Am I thinking about that correctly?

 

@Tim If you get the LEDs with resistors, they should work fine in the old school system, so should work fine mix n match.
I'd try hard to go that way rather than rewire with separate circuits and flashers!

I will mention I've followed behind more than a few big trucks that have a mix of LED and incandescent.
It's funny to see the LEDs come on, pause for warm up, then the incandescents. It's pretty obvious. It will make you consider going all LED.

 

Yeah, what he said ^^^. If you make it a habit of buying LEDs that are pre-loaded with resistors (and the majority of them are out there other than the silly cheap ones), you won't have an issue mixing and matching. I get more concerned with color, brightness and appearance. I mean I want to be seen but I don't like the look that many LEDs give off. For example this 40 ford tail light. Dude!

That is in yer face nasty. It is bright but not cool. I used super brights behind the taillight lenses on the 41 PU and they look correct, light up the blue dot and can be seen.

 

Every Tuesday!

 

I had same problem, in need of better taillights, bought these from Amazon, for me they work perfect, got a glass bulb protecting from dirt and moist.
For me Led is a big no no if you could se it is Led, those Led dots doesnt belong on any classic, but when I mounted these its almost impossible to tell its Led

 

Like noon or 1:00? Give me a time and I'll cruise out that way and burger up.