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Were you able to get the photos/video together for a 79 writeup? Please feel free to post here, or start a new thread for 79s. I think the biggest differences between the two years are the tail-light socket installation angle, and the cornering lights.
Yes, I put together a .pdf with photos of the installation process that I will PM to you. I welcome your feedback before I post. I also have some videos that I hope to put together on YouTube. I'll dropbox you the link to download all via PM.
FWIW, here's my 79 with 1157 white/amber switchback LEDs. It's getting a whole new wiring harness, so no point documenting that until it is done. Hopefully I'll just tack it onto @G-Sting's 79 thread.
FWIW, here's my 79 with 1157 white/amber switchback LEDs. It's getting a whole new wiring harness, so no point documenting that until it is done. Hopefully I'll just tack it onto @G-Sting's 79 thread.
ICYMI, the ability to easily run DRLs is probably the biggest takeaway from the LED mods in this thread.
GM saw the need for our low-slung cars to have them in 1997. My 79 is apparently invisible without them, and I've narrowly avoided several accidents where heavy braking and/or dodging have made the difference.
I put the White/Amber LED Switchbacks on the front, LED's in all of the Side Marker Lights, Red LED's in the rear Tail Light/Turn Signal/ Brake Lights, White LED's in the Back-up Lights. The only thing I had to do was change the flasher in the fuse block to the LED Flasher with a ground, and I added a Accessory Hot wire running to the hot wire for the front parking lights with a Dioad behind it so the rear lights are not feed off of it. Now when the key is turned on the front lights come on white like a Daytime Running Light should but the only other lights to come on are the front side marker lights (I'm not sure if I could have tapped into it further down the line to keep the side markers off but I'm okay with it) and the turn signals still flash normal and Amber. I just wanted White DRL's that come on automaticly when the car starts and make it more visable coming down the road.
I did also change our all of the front and rear sockets, that darn ground wire broke on the rear ones so I just did them all.
All bought from Amazon:
Auxbeam XD000182-US 1157 Switchback LED Bulbs
Auxbeam FG5E677F 1157 Red Superbright LED Bulbs
United Pacific 90652 LED Flasher with the Polairty Reversing Base
RVZONE RVZONEBAY15S 1156 White LED Bulbs (for back-up)
Bikespace thank you very much for posting this info . geeze , i have been racking my brain for the past few weeks trying to figure out what is going on with my 1980 VETTE i converted my 1980 a few weeks ago everything worked perfect , as shown in the video below , , now when the headlights are on the turn signals do not work . but if i pull the bulbs from the side turn signals , the front and rear signals work with the when the headlights are on . i replaced both FLASHERS with the ELECTRONIC flashers w/ the reverse polarity . i used 194 LED bulbs in the side turn signals should they be a different type ?
Bikespace thank you very much for posting this info . geeze , i have been racking my brain for the past few weeks trying to figure out what is going on with my 1980 VETTE i converted my 1980 a few weeks ago everything worked perfect , as shown in the video below , , now when the headlights are on the turn signals do not work . but if i pull the bulbs from the side turn signals , the front and rear signals work with the when the headlights are on . i replaced both FLASHERS with the ELECTRONIC flashers w/ the reverse polarity . i used 194 LED bulbs in the side turn signals should they be a different type ? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vvDEPqhDgEs
Welcome to the Forum, and thank you for posting a video! That always helps.
I realized I did not do the best job explaining the reason, but the problem with the front side marker lights is that when the headlights are on, current needs to be able to flow in both directions as the turn signals operate. That can't happen with most LED bulbs. You may be able to find bi-directional LEDs (basically two LEDs sandwiched together), but I didn't pursue that when I made the modifications to my car, so I went with the Blinker Genie solution as shown around post #19.
The simplest thing to do is to replace those 194 LED bulbs with 194 incandescent bulbs. That should fix your problem.
If you're stubborn lilke me, and insist on LEDs absolutely everywhere, you'll likely need to implement the Blinker Genies, bi-directional LEDs, or a DIY solution with two LED bulbs in one holder.
yes i put the old 194 back in and same result . its odd that everything worked perfectly at first then a week or so later the turn signals no longer work with the headlights on
"I'd buy a set of red/white switchbacks to play with. If you separate the running lights into separate halos, you could get 4 brake lights and amber turn signals. You still might need separate LEDs for backup lights, though."
I found these little gems- going to mess with them- look like a lot of potential-
I could order a pair and try them without the Blinker Genies in my other C3.
That doesn't help you, though. With the incandescent 194 front side marker lights, LED compatible flahsers, and any 1157 bulbs, it should just work. Those Lasfit bulbs are not switchbacks, as far as I can tell, but do claim to be bi-directional, which shouldn't matter in that position.
Perhaps switch to incandescent 1157s in the front, too, just for the test. If that still doesn't work, Id look for loose wires in the sockets, or in the front harness. I think there is somewhere in the front harness where the ground is connected to the chassis, but I'm not sure where.
I could order a pair and try them without the Blinker Genies in my other C3.
That doesn't help you, though. With the incandescent 194 front side marker lights, LED compatible flahsers, and any 1157 bulbs, it should just work. Those Lasfit bulbs are not switchbacks, as far as I can tell, but do claim to be bi-directional, which shouldn't matter in that position.
Perhaps switch to incandescent 1157s in the front, too, just for the test. If that still doesn't work, Id look for loose wires in the sockets, or in the front harness. I think there is somewhere in the front harness where the ground is connected to the chassis, but I'm not sure where.
I could order a pair and try them without the Blinker Genies in my other C3.
That doesn't help you, though. With the incandescent 194 front side marker lights, LED compatible flahsers, and any 1157 bulbs, it should just work. Those Lasfit bulbs are not switchbacks, as far as I can tell, but do claim to be bi-directional, which shouldn't matter in that position.
Perhaps switch to incandescent 1157s in the front, too, just for the test. If that still doesn't work, Id look for loose wires in the sockets, or in the front harness. I think there is somewhere in the front harness where the ground is connected to the chassis, but I'm not sure where.
I'd 100% suspect those front 1157s at this point. Can you swap in the old bulbs to test?
Perhaps I just got lucky with the 1157 switchbacks I used.
i will try the old bulbs again and see what happens . did you see in the video that with the lights on and left turn signal the right front was blinking and nothing worked innnnnnn the back
