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Why do people keep thinking LED's are an upgrade? No your car wasn't wired for them. Yes it is possible to get dimmable LED's. They'll cost even heaps more! No they do NOT last forever, there failure rate is actually fairly high. They cost many times more dollars than incandescent bulbs.
Have fun.
Why do people keep thinking LED's are an upgrade? No your car wasn't wired for them. Yes it is possible to get dimmable LED's. They'll cost even heaps more! No they do NOT last forever, there failure rate is actually fairly high. They cost many times more dollars than incandescent bulbs.
Have fun.
In fact, I was not doing it for an upgrade. All my lights work fine now. Opinions were not solicited in that manner.
I am looking for ways to possibly reduce total amperage draw on my electrical system since I have added Vintage air and dual electric fans.
Have a good day.
Vintage air and dual fans, start with a 100 plus amp alternator. Upgraded my 60 amp to 95 amp, it still was not enough for the car in my avatar. Electric water pump, fuel pump, MSD Ign. electric fan, NO ac. Racing, I never used any lights. If you already have 140-amp alternator, you should be OK.
DWAVette
It's your car. Do what you want.
I would recommend LED strip lighting. They're dimmable and you can select multiple colors. And, YES, they use a lot less amps and it is quite a bit tidier.
If you use the Forum Search you will find quite a few posts on individual LED lamps. Go for it.
In fact, I was not doing it for an upgrade. All my lights work fine now. Opinions were not solicited in that manner.
I am looking for ways to possibly reduce total amperage draw on my electrical system since I have added Vintage air and dual electric fans.
Have a good day.
Last edited by carriljc; Nov 29, 2024 at 10:48 AM.
Thanks for all the above posts. Good info for thought.
I changed my headlights to LED’s and ran some amperage testing as a comparison.
The original Wagner sealed beams, when adding all four bulbs on high beam draw just over 17 amps.
With the new LED projections, all four on high draw about 6 amps.
I could also see the great improvement to the clarity and light pattern when driving at night.
Less heat, fewer amps, and a better beam = better overall.
As mentioned above, I do not like bright instrument lights. It’s annoying. There are many color choices on the Superbright website. Since changing the bulbs would be pricey, I was hoping someone had done it already and had some experience with the results. I may be able to choose a different color bulb and not need to install a dimmer system.
The dimmable strip lights are interesting. I will look into those.
I am also planning to swap my tail lights to LED.
After all, there’s a reason Nakamura got a Nobel for these things.
I changed mine over to some eBay generic white 194 bulbs about a year and a half ago. No, they’re not dimmable, but I never use them at anything but full bright anyways, which isn’t too harsh.
It’s up to you to decide if it’s an upgrade or not, but I prefer this vibrant blue over the yellow green of the incandescents.
That looks awesome!
Yes. Agreed. Much better than the factory bulbs.
Originally Posted by Piersonpie
I changed mine over to some eBay generic white 194 bulbs about a year and a half ago. No, they’re not dimmable, but I never use them at anything but full bright anyways, which isn’t too harsh.
It’s up to you to decide if it’s an upgrade or not, but I prefer this vibrant blue over the yellow green of the incandescents.
I replaced every bulb with an LED equivalent, except the headlights. Inside the cabin, I used warm LEDs to preserve some of the old-timeyness. I was worried that to high of a color temperature would interfere with my night vision, but tell that to everyone else on the road with their blueish high beams. It seems to work okay, once I got them all oriented correctly (the later cars use a different bulb that isn't keyed to orientation, which the LEDs require). The gauges are brighter, but not annoyingly so.
The dimmer function is reduced, but not completely absent. There are newer LEDs that have some rated dimmer function, or there are more elaborate PWM signals (for example, the strip lights mentioned above) that may work better, depending on how deep you want to go.
LED Instrument Lights
