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By Danny - 2 Years Ago
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I am getting ready to rewire my 1956 Ford Crown Victoria with a NOS original under dash to engine harness and a new reproduction headlight crossover harness and taillight harness. I would like to upgrade the dash instrument lighting and taillights with brighter LED bulbs. Looking for recommendations for these types of bulbs, Looking for bulbs that would just plug into existing sockets with no modifications,
Thanks
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By DANIEL TINDER - 2 Years Ago
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Likely a good idea for dash lighting, as LEDs last so much longer. After 25 yrs./100K miles, my 6V bulbs are starting to burn out, so will be spending a lot of painful time under the dash soon. Any replacement LEDs would probably need to be the dimmable type though (unless you never leave a streetlamp-lit city).
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By paul2748 - 2 Years Ago
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This is what I used in my 54 Ford (converted to 12V). The dash lights are really nice but you may lose the dimming.
Taillight - iBrightstar 9 - 30V Super Bright LED - Brilliant red (Amazon)
Dash Lights - LED BA9S 5050S-SMD (ebay)
You may find the signals work a little slower. I used the same bulbs in the rear of my 56 Bird and this happened. I didn't notice a difference in the 54. I did not do the dash signal lights and the high beam indicator
Both plug and play.
If the signals are slower, you can get a special flasher for LED's.
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By miker - 2 Years Ago
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Paul, I’ve read that some LED’s can be bright from behind, but dimmer at a shallow angle. You happy with the “angle” view on the tail lights? I’d love to have something brighter. In the home location of M soft and A zon, half the population seems to think they can drive by looking at their phone. And with their modern bright LED headlights stuck on high, I never need to dim the dash lights.
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By DryLakesRacer - 2 Years Ago
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I’m using halogen bulbs front and rear and find them excellent with no changes to the system or speed with the flasher. I personally don’t like bright instrument lights but it’s a personal choice. Ours is a 56 and I’ve lit up the top red reflectors above the backup lights with the same wattage as the backup lamps.
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By 55blacktie - 2 Years Ago
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I considered replacing the bulb in my 55 Tbird radio with an LED during the Aurora conversion. However, Justin (Sierra Classic Car Sound) said that due to the angle/position of the bulb, an LED would not be as bright. On the other hand, I do intend to replace the bulbs in my Autometer gauges with LEDs after seeing a gauge that had been melted by the incandescent bulb.
It's a pain to work under a 55-57 Tbird dash, even with the seat, steering column, etc. removed. I replaced all of the 6v incandescent bulbs with 12v bulbs, and I don't plan on doing much, if any, night driving. Hopefully, the incandescent bulbs will last until the car and I part company (one way or another).
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By charliemccraney - 2 Years Ago
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LEDs do emit light in a cone shape. This does mean that they can be significantly dimmer when viewed off center and may not illuminate things properly. They also cannot take advantage of reflectors like incandescents because all of the light goes forward, in that cone pattern whereas incandescent is closer to a spherical emission of light. A light designed from the start for LEDs can work very well but results can be less than ideal for a light that was intended to use incandescent bulbs.
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By stuey - 2 Years Ago
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Hi
first I am no expert and I am in the UK. ( a limey?)
I looked at doing this to the dash lights in a 56 f100.
LED Ba15s (s single contact) is what to look for. Ba15d is a double contact version. be careful as some have offset bayonet pins.
I gave up as I could not find a dimmable version. My dash lights (2 bulbs) are powered from a variable resistor in the headlight switch.
purchased a pack of filament bulbs for the price of one LED
I would love to get a pair of Holley Retro light head lights but they only do them for LHD.
less current draw I thought I could work them without relatys
stuey
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By 55blacktie - 2 Years Ago
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The previous owner of my motorcycle had replaced the taillight/brake light bulb with an LED. Although I never had to replace it, it wasn't very bright.
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By paul2748 - 2 Years Ago
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I never checked the rear lights at an angle, but the lens' are much brighter so I assume that they still show good
.miker (2/9/2023)
Paul, I’ve read that some LED’s can be bright from behind, but dimmer at a shallow angle. You happy with the “angle” view on the tail lights? I’d love to have something brighter. In the home location of M soft and A zon, half the population seems to think they can drive by looking at their phone. And with their modern bright LED headlights stuck on high, I never need to dim the dash lights.
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By FORD DEARBORN - 2 Years Ago
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What has been most effective with my F100's tail lights are 2357 incandescent bulbs. It's brighter than the standard 1157 12 volt bulb. They draw about the same current but are said to have a shorter life. I haven't replaced one yet. Like stated above, LED's don't broadcast light like an incandescent bulb. Just to mension, our reflectors are 60+ years old and most are not very light reflective any more. I used a roll of "chrome" plastic tape and scissors to cut sections of the chrome tape and reline the reflector bowl which made a significant difference. I tried LED tail lights too but the 2357's and the use of chrome tape was more effective, at least in my case.
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By 55blacktie - 2 Years Ago
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A Tbird club member lined his taillight reflectors/housing with aluminum foil and got the same result. Any concerns about heat melting the tape adhesive?
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By paul2748 - 2 Years Ago
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Painting them white inside gives you a good bright light.
55blacktie (2/10/2023)
A Tbird club member lined his taillight reflectors/housing with aluminum foil and got the same result. Any concerns about heat melting the tape adhesive?
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By Dobie - 2 Years Ago
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You can also use "chrome" rattle can paint. I did this for the tail light and parking light reflectors on my '55 Merc. Works great.
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By DANIEL TINDER - 2 Years Ago
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55blacktie (2/9/2023)
I considered replacing the bulb in my 55 Tbird radio with an LED during the Aurora conversion. However, Justin (Sierra Classic Car Sound) said that due to the angle/position of the bulb, an LED would not be as bright. On the other hand, I do intend to replace the bulbs in my Autometer gauges with LEDs after seeing a gauge that had been melted by the incandescent bulb. It's a pain to work under a 55-57 Tbird dash, even with the seat, steering column, etc. removed. I replaced all of the 6v incandescent bulbs with 12v bulbs, and I don't plan on doing much, if any, night driving. Hopefully, the incandescent bulbs will last until the car and I part company (one way or another).
Funny, the radio bulb was the first to recently fail. Back when I had my clock converted, the new quartz mechanism blocked so much light, I decided to install smaller bulbs everywhere else and run the rheostat full on to balance dash lighting (result is overall very dim, which is fine for me as I live in a rural area). But, I overlooked the radio bulb which thus was way too bright in comparison (just ended up living with it, as pulling the radio again was too much effort). I see now that running the dimmer full on for 25 yrs. has significantly shortened overall bulb life, so will likely be better off in future with a dim clock instead.
BTW: Whatever bulb I have in my aftermarket/under-dash oil pressure gauge, though well balanced with other dash lighting, is really too dim to read. It might be a 12V bulb that came with the gauge (?). I WAS planning to install something brighter, but now your warning has me worried. A very bright LED may not be too hot (?) to melt it, though 6V availability may be a problem (?).
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By FORD DEARBORN - 2 Years Ago
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Someone asked if the plastic chrome tape will withstand the bulb heat. I just removed the lens from one tail light and found the plastic chrome tape I lined the reflector bowl with years ago looks like the day it was applied. I first tried aluminum foil but after about 2 years it began to darken/oxidize. Next I painted one light with white paint and the other with chrome paint, brought both assemblies in the house with a battery charger and my wife and I thought the light painted white was a bit brighter. The light with the chrome paint was then lined with chrome tape, brought in the house and compared to the light with the white paint. The chrome tape was voted the brightest. The difference from one coating to another is very slight. I believe this chrome tape is the same material as a typical snack bag that also has the shiny surface inside the bag. I wrote about this in a past thread. I was almost rear ended and that's when I realized something had to be done with these dismal old tail lights. Because there are cell phones, our tail lights need to be all they can be. Hope this makes sense.....................
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