I appreciate the advice. As far as the legality of it, well, oh well...
I'm not worried with it enough to go look up lighting regulations, but I'm
thinking that as long as it lights up in a manner close enough to the
original, I'll be okay.

It sure can't be worse than all of the imports/ricers/etc running around
with blue/green/red/amber LEDs and those funky "Altezza" tail lamps they
think is "so cool."


-Steve



"Ken Weitzel" wrote in message
news:McS8f.338861$1i.173284@pd7tw2no...


Steve TR wrote:
I've got a 1971 Ford LTD Convertible. These cars have eight 1157 style
bulbs in the rear to give full width tail and brake lights. That's a
LOT of current going through 30+ year old wiring, switches, and corroded
sockets when you hit the brakes.

This is what the rear end looks like: http://216.110.197.146/ltdrear.jpg

I want to install LEDs to do a couple of things. The first is to give
the "instant on" look for safety and the second is to reduce the current
draw going to the rear of the car when the tail lights are on and you
have your foot on the brakes.

I've seen the cheap bayonet replacement LED based 1157s and they suck.
Yeah, they are bright and give the LED look, but only in a single spot.
You don't have soft diffusion like you do with a filament bulb.

So, I drew up a little blueprint of what I'd like to find for my LTD.
Look at my design and tell me if such a board already exists in mass
production. (Just don't laugh at the drawings... I'm no architect! lol)
If it doesn't exist, I'd be willing to pay someone with soldering skills
to create four of these.

http://216.110.197.146/led_design.gif

The drawing is not perfect and the device doesn't need to be exactly like
this, but just a flat panel around 3 to 4" high and roughly 6-10" long.
I can disassemble my tail lamp housings and fit these panels in there
with the LED's facing the diffuser lense and I think it would give an
EVENLY DIFFUSED look to both the tail lamp lighting and the lighting when
you hit the brakes.

Ideas???

Thanks,
-Steve

Hi Steve...

I'd strongly urge you to check before you install anything other than
the original incandescents. I'm very sure that most places we can't
change them without "breaking the law"

Take care.

Ken