Jantonb

I'm considering changing out ALL of my bulbs to LEDs, including headlights and tail lights to give it an overall brighter look.....what do the experts say? Yea or Na?

Janton
1981 C3

Jebbysan

I like the deal for the dash lights............but the rest I would leave alone.......

Jebby

The13Bats

Pros and cons,
No one right answer for all, ive been messing with leds longer than some even knew of them and love them for some things but not classic cars unless a modern resto mod look it what you desire at the cost of loosing some heart and soul of a classic,
Leds are not always brighter,
Brighter can be had with old filiment style lamps,
You have to deside if they are what you really want,
Also turn signal leds are not plug and play unless you are careful and get the ones made for it and swap to the led flashers,

joewill

I have purchased LED bulbs before and a third of the LEDs did not work... cheap foreign parts.
beware of that..
specially consider those in the dash that take some level of disassembly and tiny pretzel hands to swap them out...

ddawson

LED in headlights can be an issue with pattern. I think the best setup is Hella housing and H4 bulbs.

Rewire with a relay and get all the juice they need to be bright and clear.

The13Bats

And you know what really sux is it doesnt matter if you pay extra from some big name they get them from the same Asian importer 95% of them come from,
Some flake out where they flicker and random flash great to use in the license lamp to attach undesirable attention from LEOs

ignatz

What's not to like? Brighter, faster brake illumination, less current draw, haven't seen one burn out yet. With all the touch labor involved (especially given the pain of replacing incandescents behind the gauges), why try to save a few bucks by buying on eBay? Or, duh, not testing the bulb first. That's also an opportunity to put better sockets in, and collecting all the bulbs that have fallen out into the bottom of the canisters.

All of the bulbs I got from SuperBright are working fine six years later. I am in the process of switching over to four red rear lights on my 69 and relocating the backup light with dual 5 LED strips that have law enforcement level brightness and timing modes.

v2racing

When I was Performance Division Manager for Kuryakyn we worked with Truck-Lite to develop a new LED headlight and spotlights for Harleys. Truck-Lite developed LED lights for the military and was the first company to make LED headlights. Kuryakyn had been making LED tail lights for a long time, so when the new headlights and spotlights came out, I put them all on my Harley. It was night and day difference and I was going from halogen bulbs. It was great. I could see at night and be seen. I could never go back. If you want to see and be seen, there is nothing better!

I put all LED in my Vette, headlights, tail lights, dash lights and courtesy lights. They take far less power to run, so are a lot easier on the old lightweight wiring and switches in these cars. I accidently left the courtesy lights on overnight and it didn't run my battery down at all. My Vette still had incandescent headlights so the difference is stark!

They are an awesome safety feature. There are a lot of deer around here and I can see them way out there now whereas before I couldn't see anything until I was right on top of it. My tailights are waaaay brighter so people will maybe see the bright tail lights and look up from their phone before they hit me now. As I said, I'll never go back!

Mike

The13Bats

If you want leds or any aftermarket headlight upgrade i fully support and respect that,
But be sure you aim them carefully, too many inconsiderate dbags install aftermarket headlights and they kill oncoming traffic,
I dont recall it on a vette mostly inport tuner cars i believe.

Gold Dragon

New LED bulbs in an old Corvette.? Kinda like puttin an elevator in an outhouse. Doesn't belong IMO. I prefer the subtle look of the originals. While the technology is cool, the bulbs are all you see. Almost too bright and look out of place on an old ride.

John 65

I changed out my bulbs in the drivers dash and center cluster gauges to LED's, simply because I was having problems reading
them even after I tried all new old style bulbs.

What a huge improvement, I wish I did years ago, and they can still be turned down like the originals with the HL light switch if I want them to.

flyingbunnys

Just a few thoughts from my led bulb swap in doing on one of my older vehicles From a simular time period.

1. Some of my wiring that was questionably ground has picked up interferance from the electronics on the Led lights. Noticed it with the radio I get static when the Led lights are on.

2. Sometime you need an extra peice for regulating the power going to the lights because you will get a flickering from the Led lights. Though this seems to primarily be an issue with cheaper Leds that I have used.

3. They are brite and have less power draw.

4. They come in more colors than regular lights. If you want say all your interior lights to match the paint on your car you can.

ignatz

I can agree with part of this sentiment as I dislike the discrete LED's on so many cars. As to the vintage, I am not sure where to source photons from 1969. They seem to have all vanished.

v2racing

The Corvette headlights are so low to the ground that if they are aimed properly they are not an issue whatsoever. I have not had anyone flash their brights at me when I was on low beam.

Trucks and SUVs with LED or HID headlights are quite a different matter with their lights up so high off the ground. I am light sensitive and some of them just plain blind me.

I feel safety far outways style. Being able to see everything in front of you and in the ditches is way more important to me than having the correct bulb in my Vette. Being seen from the rear so you don't get hit is a pretty big deal to me too. Being able to read my gauges at a glance is a lot safer than having to stare at them and squint my eyes instead of looking at the road.

Mike

Street Rat

I am no expert. I just went through this on my '81. Dash and all interior and exterior lamps. I love them.

Craig

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...that-fits.html

sstonebreaker

Those are usually from a-holes installing HID bulbs in halogen housings - they spray light everywhere. These days you can buy LED headlight bulbs specifically designed for the stock housings, meaning they will not blind oncoming traffic. And period correct or not, they make a WORLD of difference when driving! They're not as effective as HID's, but they sure beat the crap out of the halogens.

The13Bats

I am very light sensitive, i am seldom seen without sunglasses and in daylight i wear brazing lenses,
i get optical migrains i see fluorescence tubes flowing and some home led bulbs flicker most cant see,
White led light is worthless as worklight to me,
I use led for other things, and while i havent had a vette blind me i havent seen an uncoming c3 in about a decade,
Lionelhutz has posted some great info headlight bulb uogrades, its not plug and play.

kansas123

I switched to halogen headlights a few months ago and maybe it's just me, but the change was unbelievable; I can see soooo much better, I'm not thinking of going any further on a headlight upgrade for the '72. I may, however, look into relays for what I've got. I will do some testing to see how much power is actually getting to the headlights and go from there. I am very happy with the led's I put in the dash, gauge panel and console. Me like-um lotsa bright lights.

Richard454

Exactly!!!

The13Bats

Halogens are great i love them too
I highly recommend you add relays, it gets the load off the switch and gets more power to the lights, well worth it.
I had halogens and relays on my modded 66 very pleased with it.