It all started with a strange smell coming from under the dashboard.
Upon inspection I quickly homed in on the culprit: it was the brake switch.
It overheated.
Dayum...
Hey no biggie, maybe it was old, or corroded... So I changed it. Twice! And used quality units.
But one day without warning the switch remained stuck on the ON position and drained the battery overnight.
It also got ridiculously hot. I had similar switch problems with my 1970 Sedan so I know this isn't just a single-specimen issue.
So I started doing some research.
My tail lights as many others, use the popular and inexpensive 1157 bulbs, with dual intensity.
Turns out the brake switch activates no less than TWELVE filaments...
Adding up the power draw from all the filaments with the help of the following chart,
let's see what we get: (2.1 + 0.59) * 6 = 16.14 amps
for a total of (26.88 + 8.26) * 6 = 211 total watts!
No wonder the plastic can melt when it's very hot outside and/or the brake pedal is depressed for long periods, and especially if the contact zone inside the switch strayed ever so slightly, from being perfectly flat... Autopsy of an earlier switch revealed a non-flat contact surface causing tremendous heat.
I already have RE-DONE the wiring that leads to the switch in that area.. It's all 100% good and overdone.
Even used 12-gauge wire close to the switch instead of the standard 14 or 16, and there was no sign of overheating or resistance-inducing corrosion on any of the wires.
The source of heat is undoubtedly that contact point inside the switch, which just isn't large enough in my opinion.
In any case, I decided to switch to LED lights, because they draw so much less power.
Didn't seek a complete LED conversion at this time, just the tail lights.
Once a quality product is found, it should last some 10-12 years or so.
After research, I settled on the Katur brand, whose reviews are among the best.
Of course, there are other choices out there, but most are significantly more expensive.
With the bulk package that contains 10 units, the cost is about 24$, or $2.40 ea.
Rather affordable yes, despite the cost of the right-side bulb being about 10 times less.
33 diodes for each bulb, three of which are at the tip, behind a magnifying glass.
Dual contacts. The quality of these seems quite adequate.
Let's see now... according to the sheet below,
0.30 * 6 = 1.8 amps total;
wow
nearly 10 times less power draw! 
That brake switch sure will have an easy life from now on.
Lumens = 900, instead of 400-ish. So more than twice as bright as the regular 1157s.
The all-around brightness makes really good use of a Lincoln's nice big reflectors.
This is what they look like behind the lens.
Using LEDs of RED color is widely and strongly recommended because if one uses white units, the result behind the lens will be pink-ish!
The LEDs are always brighter than the incandescent bulbs.
Also they light up much quicker, see video here:
https://vimeo.com/230222515
Side-by-side comparison (incandescent on the left side vs LED) here:
https://vimeo.com/230222981
With headlights ON:
https://vimeo.com/230223083
One of the main issues one faces when switching to LEDS, is the blinkers.
OEM blinkers on classic cars are designed to work under a given amount of current,
so these new low-current LED bulbs don't trigger it, especially when the headlights are on.
On the picture below, the top blinker is for Hazard only. But chances are your OEM blinker will still work with LEDS,
just like mine. The bottom blinker is for turn signals, and that's where things can get different.
The OEM turn signal blinker on my setup (C) was one of those that only worked when the headlights were OFF.
But I had a few extra units laying around which I tested, and the middle one (D0VB-13350-A)
just happened to operate flawlessly under all lighting situations...
Edit: This may very well be because there are still three incandescent bulbs on the turn signal circuit (i.e. front & sides)....
Many shops install resistor kits to fool the OEM blinkers into working with LEDs. But because my primary objective was to REDUCE the current in the system, this wasn't an option of course.
Alternatively, I also ordered one of those widely recommended electronic flashers, whose operation is independent of the current load. That was my plan B if none of my blinkers had worked. I shall test the unit when it gets here, and post the results.
Verdict: overall quite satisfied, would highly recommend the same brand.
Is the bulb-out system only supposed to freeze the instrument panel lights?
