My New COB LED Rear Lights


L/H = Original. R/H = New Style - side lights on

L/H = Original. R/H = New Style - brake lights on

L/H = New Style. R/H = New Style - brake lights on


As some will testify I'm not a big fan of LED rear lights.
I'm just not keen on the "fairy light" look of the single LED's in a row, it reminds me of Land Rover Defender lights (sorry if this upsets, it's just my personal opinion ). But I am a fan of LEDs. So having been browsing the Bay a little while back I stumbled upon these. And a cunning plan formed in my head.

Having ordered and received quite promptly the pair of red COB LED rings. I set about a spare set of rear lights I've had for a while.
There is a very slight gap between the red lens and the black reflector, just enough to get a hack saw in and guide round. If you're careful and you have a nice new sharp blade a stiff hack saw, this job is not too difficult, just take your time (I found it best to rest the light on a bag of bubble wrap to stop it from wobbling whilst cutting). The more time you take now the less sanding you have to do later.

This is a teaser..............
more later, suffice to say, the inner reflective surface of the lense in the new lights is different too, this can be seen in the increased light output from the standard brakelight bulb.

That looks really smart, well done, good work.

Nice! Are they still made up of single LEDs or are they a solid ring like the CFL angel eyes?

they are single led rings James but just loads on the ring so makes it look like a ccfl ring , its what i'll be using when I redo my angel eye rings

oh and good work ross , you just need to do the bottom set of lights now .

Maybe, I quite like the single set for the moment I'll end up being divorced if I spend any more time on the cars this month!

James, they are 105 micro COB LEDs set into a solid ring. They look even better in the flesh. A real rich red and very bright. I tried a double set up bonded together facing forwards and backwards, but found that the brake light bulb was brighter than the inward facing LED ring. So I stayed with the single ring set-up. This explains why most manufacturers have reverted back to bulbs for main indicators and side/brake lights, brighter, easier to change and cost saving of course.

Look great, good job

Looks good

They look awesome, good work :-)

I like a lot. Good thinking young man

Nice one Ross

Ross,

Very tasty! Did you use a 5W Cree for the brake light? The one good thing to come out of this is that everybody will be looking at your lights and not my bonnet shut lines on Monday!!

Looks very nice that pal, job well done

As expressed above, nice and bright

Nice job,well done!!

Personally I like the strip LED look

JG

Cheers all,
Looking forward to showing them tomorrow

Chris, no, they aren't Crees, they are the standard stop/tail bulbs with the tail circuit by-passed and fed to the LED ring instead. More build your own pics to follow soon

Nice and bright indeed, yeah take that, Merc/BMW/Audi drivers see how YOU like it!

And didn't you just show them off yesterday You were like a child with a new toy

Thanks mate, I don't get many new toys at my age, especially ones of my own making
After spending an hour putting together the post Piazza thread pics last night, the continuation of the rear light build photos will have to wait a little longer. They will come, just in a few more days time. That is if people are interested?

Yes more pics. Some internal ones too please.

there is a how too already for this mod nissansteve but just use Pondmans link for the rings -

http://www.fiatcoupeclub.org/forum/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=1214112#Post1214112

Thanks ta

L/H = Original. R/H = New Style - brake lights on

My build process was slightly different as I added a highly reflective coating to the inside of the black reflector piece. The increased light levels can clearly be seen in the pic above. Both bulbs are identical in the picture. The only difference is the inner coating. So whichever brake light bulb you choose to use, you will get a much greater light output with the new coating; thus better safety
And we all know that even a light shunt on the rear is enough to write off a Coupe. This was half the reason for doing this project

What was the highly reflective coating?

I have the Cree lamps. They are very spotty as LED's tend to be. So this will flesh then out.

Chrome paint?

No, far to envolved: rub down, primer, black base coat, 2-3 top coat for a good finish.
I'll try and get the rest of the pics up today

This stuff: Self adhesive chrome foil.

Oh thank goodness for the reply, we've been waiting over 2 years for that

Thought I'd leave you all hanging........!
What a cliff hanger that was!!!