Blurred Talon
15+ Year Contributor
- 2,307
- 43
- Jan 2, 2004
-
Paradise,
NL_Canada
I've been playing with doing this for a while now and finally got of my lazy arse and learn/do it.
I'll start buy saying I'm not doing anything super crazy like strobe effects or anything similar to what azdave has done on his Eclipse. I simply like the look of LEDs over regular bulbs plus they'll be brighter. I will have sequential turn signals though.
I currently have the Tarantula mod done to my center section.
It's lit up with a 72 LED string. It looks ok but when you get close you can see I need to fix the lettering a bit plus the light shining through the key hole bugs me. Lastly the whole thing is coming apart. On my move across the country I stopped to eat at one point and found the center section holding on by a #### hair. The tabs that I cut hold the section in place, I guess with the summer heat the glue softened enough for it to start coming apart, I need to think of something to replace said tabs, silicone of some sort should do.
I'd also like the light output to be more even, to achieve this I think that an LED board/array is the only way to go. To do that I will likely have to space the LEDs further away from the lens but we'll see once I start playing around. Some day this week I'll get some perf board and play around with the LEDs I've got on hand. Lastly I'd like to light up the lower red part on the center section, either as running/marker lights or as running/marker and brake lights. However there are some MAJOR space issues down there so we'll see.
My driver side tail light had part of the trim broken so I decided it would be a good candidate for attempting to open the tails. Again all the tabs had to be cut and after an hour with a heat gun, a putty knife and exacto knife I got the lens off. The plastic is thin so you need to use low heat and work slow plus the glue is strong so if your not careful you WILL crack the lens, I did in one spot but I need to replace this light anyhow.
Tails are all apart. I'm looking for a driver side housing since the one on my car is messed up.
I used some sand paper and Easy Off Oven cleaner to strip the VHT Nite Shades off. I've never been too happy with how the Nite Shades looked. I'm looking around for a local shop that will be willing to try painting them for me, mid coat like a Candy color.
Before stripping:
Oven cleaner on the lens:
Stripped:
Comparison between the 2 lenses, bottom is still tinted (not for long):
I also started to order my LEDs. I ordered 8 tubes (60 per tube times 7 equals 480 so I'll have lots to play with) of Phillips LumiLED Red/Orange DH-00 bin code, you need Red/Orange with a red lens because red won't be bright enough and look odd.
I'm still trying to find Amber LEDs for the turn signals. I was going to use Cree P4s but everywhere is sold out. For LumiLED all I can find are 100* viewing angle which is too wide I think.
For my reverse lights I'm going to order 3 tubes (180) Nichia White LEDs (p/n NSPWR70CSS C0 color bin). I'll use 38 per reverse light (38 will equal 1200 lumins times 2 sides equals 2400 lumins, I'm sure people will see me back up). The remaining will be used for plate lights and to light up the Talon lettering in the center section.
I've got to order some perf board, sadly the only local place only carries small boards and I need something much bigger.
I still need to figure out my PWM, voltage regulation and Sequential circuit (for the turns).
I've got some white Cree P4s that I was going to use for another project, I'll use them for interior lighting now instead. However I decided to have some fun, they are running at 50mA so they aren't as bright as they could be.
Regular bulb.
30 Cree P4 LEDs.
LEDs outside of the housing.
It might not look very bright but trust me it is, my camera is not the greatest so it has trouble capturing the difference plus red/orange needs to be used behind the red lens for proper light output and color with the white some light is blocked. Now imagine it at 70mA (brighter) with a lot more LEDs
I'm also playing with the idea of clear housings. VanIsleDSM did it with his but I haven't seen updates in ages. I've got a spare lens so I might try it to see what I think.
I'll start buy saying I'm not doing anything super crazy like strobe effects or anything similar to what azdave has done on his Eclipse. I simply like the look of LEDs over regular bulbs plus they'll be brighter. I will have sequential turn signals though.
I currently have the Tarantula mod done to my center section.
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It's lit up with a 72 LED string. It looks ok but when you get close you can see I need to fix the lettering a bit plus the light shining through the key hole bugs me. Lastly the whole thing is coming apart. On my move across the country I stopped to eat at one point and found the center section holding on by a #### hair. The tabs that I cut hold the section in place, I guess with the summer heat the glue softened enough for it to start coming apart, I need to think of something to replace said tabs, silicone of some sort should do.
I'd also like the light output to be more even, to achieve this I think that an LED board/array is the only way to go. To do that I will likely have to space the LEDs further away from the lens but we'll see once I start playing around. Some day this week I'll get some perf board and play around with the LEDs I've got on hand. Lastly I'd like to light up the lower red part on the center section, either as running/marker lights or as running/marker and brake lights. However there are some MAJOR space issues down there so we'll see.
My driver side tail light had part of the trim broken so I decided it would be a good candidate for attempting to open the tails. Again all the tabs had to be cut and after an hour with a heat gun, a putty knife and exacto knife I got the lens off. The plastic is thin so you need to use low heat and work slow plus the glue is strong so if your not careful you WILL crack the lens, I did in one spot but I need to replace this light anyhow.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
Tails are all apart. I'm looking for a driver side housing since the one on my car is messed up.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
I used some sand paper and Easy Off Oven cleaner to strip the VHT Nite Shades off. I've never been too happy with how the Nite Shades looked. I'm looking around for a local shop that will be willing to try painting them for me, mid coat like a Candy color.
Before stripping:
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Oven cleaner on the lens:
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Stripped:
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Comparison between the 2 lenses, bottom is still tinted (not for long):
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
I also started to order my LEDs. I ordered 8 tubes (60 per tube times 7 equals 480 so I'll have lots to play with) of Phillips LumiLED Red/Orange DH-00 bin code, you need Red/Orange with a red lens because red won't be bright enough and look odd.
I'm still trying to find Amber LEDs for the turn signals. I was going to use Cree P4s but everywhere is sold out. For LumiLED all I can find are 100* viewing angle which is too wide I think.
For my reverse lights I'm going to order 3 tubes (180) Nichia White LEDs (p/n NSPWR70CSS C0 color bin). I'll use 38 per reverse light (38 will equal 1200 lumins times 2 sides equals 2400 lumins, I'm sure people will see me back up). The remaining will be used for plate lights and to light up the Talon lettering in the center section.
I've got to order some perf board, sadly the only local place only carries small boards and I need something much bigger.
I still need to figure out my PWM, voltage regulation and Sequential circuit (for the turns).
I've got some white Cree P4s that I was going to use for another project, I'll use them for interior lighting now instead. However I decided to have some fun, they are running at 50mA so they aren't as bright as they could be.
Regular bulb.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
30 Cree P4 LEDs.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
LEDs outside of the housing.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.
It might not look very bright but trust me it is, my camera is not the greatest so it has trouble capturing the difference plus red/orange needs to be used behind the red lens for proper light output and color with the white some light is blocked. Now imagine it at 70mA (brighter) with a lot more LEDs
I'm also playing with the idea of clear housings. VanIsleDSM did it with his but I haven't seen updates in ages. I've got a spare lens so I might try it to see what I think.
You must be logged in to view this image or video.