aircooled

Hi Nick, please add me to your list for the parts. Checked last night and had several of the standard bulbs out. Many thanks-informative thread!!

Warpig

OK received all my parts and have completed the mod. I decided to try red hi intensity led's and white hi intensity led's both 15000mcd. I myself prefer the result of the white led's over the red. I have 2 white kits left and 3 red kits left. I will order more and build more kits if there is enough interest. The pictures below are not great as my only camera is my cellphone camera. As of yet I have no pictures of it installed on the car. It's the dead of winter here and I have not taken any pics yet with it installed in the car as I live alone and have nobody to freeze ***** off with to activate the brakes for me while I snap away. (maybe I'll get some shots soon)

Here is half the light bar with red led's (not a great angle)


Here is half the light bar with white led's


I chose the white LED's myself. If anyone takes one my 3 inital red LED kits and does not like the results I will send you replacement white LED's if you ask. I am not doing this to make money, but more to help others save money on other solutions that are much more pricey. These parts cost about $3 per light bar. If you don't like the results don't reimburse me for the parts/shipping, if you do... you can pay-pal me whatever you like to cover my costs of parts/shipping.



The kits consist of...

1 piece of heat shrink tubing
a couple feet of solder
1 22 Ohm 5 Watt (7.5mm diameter) current limiting resistor
28 (24 + 4 spare) 5mm Hi Intensity 15000mcd LEDS (Red or White).

My cost in parts (delivered) per light bar kit is ~$3.00
I should be able to ship these anywhere in the US for cheap. I'm not sure about anywhere else.





1. Install is simple. See this thread's post #1 PDF files for light bar removal and instructions on getting the light bar apart.

2. Heat up your soldering iron and remove the bulbs from the light bar's circuit board replacing them with LED's as you go so you can get them at the right height and angle. Make sure the long leg of the LED's go to the circuit board contact that is fed by the black wire (B+). Trim excess leg length off the LED's after soldering them in. Sell your harvested bulbs to someone and get all your money back for this LED mod

3. Since you have your soldering iron heated up anyway, now comes the last part. Cut the black wire feeding the light bar it's B+ and solder the resistor into the cut wire. Loop the resistor ends and the wire and solder them.



Then slide the heat shrink tubing over the resistor and shrink it using a heat source. (heat gun, soldering iron etc) (see my picture) The resistor should be positioned outside the light bar assembly when re-assembled.

NOTE: It IS physically possible to fit the resistor inside the light bar and my first crack at this I did just that. I DO NOT RECOMMEND YOU DO THIS. I have since removed the resistor from inside the light bar casing as the heat generated by the resistor is substantial and it is a tight fit. The heat will start to melt the inside of the casing if you lay on the brakes for a long time as the only place for the heat to dissipate is into the plastic housing. INSTEAD, I SUGGEST YOU PUT THE RESISTOR OUTSIDE THE LIGHT BAR CASING as my pictures show.




4. Plug light bar back into black and brown wires in the car. Test. If nothing works you can reverse the black and brown wires to the light bar as long as you soldered all the LED's in the same way. If some LED's don't work verify they are soldered in correctly and have good solder joints. If they still don't work there are 4 spares. Change out the ones that don't work. Depending on demand I may have a good stock of replacement LED's going forward. If the 4 included spares are not enough, ask, I may be able to send you more led's or at least provide you with links to my supplier so you get the exact right replacements. These should all last a long long time. If not don't fret LED's are VERY CHEAP. I bought these in bulk and they cost $.06 each in a qty of 100

5. When they all work re-assemble the light bar. Re-install light bar and enjoy.

NOTE: When I say "light bar" I mean the encapsulated lighting assembly consisting of the red diffuser and everything within and NOT the basket handle.

Here's the tech specs for anyone interested.

I worked this up with high intensity led's with a forward voltage of 3.2V and a nominal current capacity of 20ma each. This will render the following tech specs.




Here is my finished light bar with the Hi Intensity white LED's



Nick

FlatSix911

Nick, great write up on your mod ...
Please sign me up for a red LED kit ... and let me know your PayPal Id. Thanks!

(I also have any extra third brake light if you want to offer a retrofit service)

jo-hans

I got to do this - how much for shipping to Vancouver, Canada?

Warpig

Check your PM's guys.

Nick

skywachr

Nick, great write up. Thanks.

I'm certainly interested in a white set when you are able to do it. I was a little confused by the wording that refers to the basket handle. Since I have a cab, is this particular mod still workable given the placement of the resistor, etc? Thanks.

Chuck W.

Nick, Nothing but class. It's folks like you that make this such a great place. Thanks for your efforts.

Warpig

PM me with your mailing address and I will send off a set to you.

I have 4 kits ready to go and yours would be 5. Planning on shipping tomorrow.

Nick

Warpig

Dropped some kits in the mail today. Check your PM's guys. Got more parts on order... again...

Nick

David in LA

Hi Nick - If you still have kits available and the offer still stands I would like 3 kits (I assume its the same number of lights whether for a coupe or the basket handle of a cab?). Please PM me with your PayPal ID.

Thanks!
David

Warpig

OK parts have been received and kits made up. Sent out 5 kits today and will be sending one out tomorrow that I forgot about today. Check your PM's

If anyone else wants one I have 8 white kits left bagged up and ready to toss in the mail that are not accounted for. I will be sending more out tomorrow. just pm me your mailing address by 4pm central time if you would like to get a kit sent out tomorrow.

Nick

DanL993

+1 Got my kit and it's one of the first summer projects.

Thanks.

ljugete

When I bought mine I too had to replace a few of these bulbs, I replaced all front & rear deck lid shocks (I put an extra shock in rear for extra support). These are all minor things that should not be a big deal for you to do.

CaptainGSR

Thanks for everything Nick!
These parts worked out great. Replacing the bulbs took a bit longer than I expected, but the result is a perfectly stealth installation. Getting these things aligned and at the right height was tedious.
Good luck not burning nor cutting yourself:-)
I left the Capacitor outside the assembly.
It took me a good 3 hours, making sure I did not break or scratch anything along the way.

aircooled

Hi Nick,

LED installation complete. Really noticed a difference driving back in the fog last night. My gal commented that braking lights (basket handle) was much more visable from a short distance. She was following me.

Like CaptainGSR took a little longer but was in no rush. Tested assembly with a small 9volt battery prior to reinstallation.

Thanks again, Jim