The latest (and greatest) in the LED saga
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The latest (and greatest) in the LED saga
I'm continuing my experimentation with LED head lamps, and this latest go-round is by far the best yet. The technology continues to evolve.
My first set of LEDs was in my '62 and that was 3 years or so ago. They're pretty poor, actually. I wasn't impressed.
The next set was in my turquoise '79. That was a year ago. I ended up buying Hella lamp housings and installing LED bulbs.The LED bulbs did not fit into the Hella housings well at all, and were insanely bright. So much so that I removed the low beams and replaced them with halogen bulbs. Which meant I had to install headlight relays. It was a huge improvement over stock, but a lot of work.
For my '79 Bill Blass car, I ordered a set of LED head lamps from Octane Lighting. They advertised that they are plug-n-play, with no splicing or modifications to the headlight buckets. I installed them today, and they were right. I first aligned the head lamps with my vintage Hoppy alignment kit. Then I popped out the stock sealed beams and popped in the LEDs. It was that simple. No splicing, no relays, no head lamp bucket modifications.
I took the car out tonight, and wow, they are really bright and very white. I was apprehensive that they would be offensive, but with half an hour of driving around town and on the outskirts of town, no one flashed their lights at me. I'm very impressed.
Low beam:
High beam:
There doesn't seem to be much difference in low and high beam, but there is some. The low beams stay on with the high beams, and that may be why there doesn't seem to be much difference. If you drive your car at night, especially out of town, these are a huge improvement. And since they pop in and out so easily, you can put the old, yellow sealed beams in for judging if you're worried about losing points.
Here's the link: https://www.octanelighting.com/product/ ... -gen-led-2
My first set of LEDs was in my '62 and that was 3 years or so ago. They're pretty poor, actually. I wasn't impressed.
The next set was in my turquoise '79. That was a year ago. I ended up buying Hella lamp housings and installing LED bulbs.The LED bulbs did not fit into the Hella housings well at all, and were insanely bright. So much so that I removed the low beams and replaced them with halogen bulbs. Which meant I had to install headlight relays. It was a huge improvement over stock, but a lot of work.
For my '79 Bill Blass car, I ordered a set of LED head lamps from Octane Lighting. They advertised that they are plug-n-play, with no splicing or modifications to the headlight buckets. I installed them today, and they were right. I first aligned the head lamps with my vintage Hoppy alignment kit. Then I popped out the stock sealed beams and popped in the LEDs. It was that simple. No splicing, no relays, no head lamp bucket modifications.
I took the car out tonight, and wow, they are really bright and very white. I was apprehensive that they would be offensive, but with half an hour of driving around town and on the outskirts of town, no one flashed their lights at me. I'm very impressed.
Low beam:
High beam:
There doesn't seem to be much difference in low and high beam, but there is some. The low beams stay on with the high beams, and that may be why there doesn't seem to be much difference. If you drive your car at night, especially out of town, these are a huge improvement. And since they pop in and out so easily, you can put the old, yellow sealed beams in for judging if you're worried about losing points.
Here's the link: https://www.octanelighting.com/product/ ... -gen-led-2
1962 Continental resto-mod
Yeah, it's got a Hemi
1979 Mark V 1 of 1
Triple Turquoise
1979 Mark V Bill Blass Edition
Yeah, it's got a Hemi
1979 Mark V 1 of 1
Triple Turquoise
1979 Mark V Bill Blass Edition
- TonyC
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Re: The latest (and greatest) in the LED saga
Well...that's actually a very interesting conversion. If those bulbs don't require any additional mods to work properly and can be easily replaced if needed, I might consider that as a possible option for Frankenstein in the future. A conversion with no need for extra mods is always worth at least some attention for me--especially if they improve the lighting area and appear not to contribute to cataracts for other drivers. I'm saving that link; one question--from what I saw in the page, those bulbs look like the cores are integrated almost like a sealed beam, is that really the case? If so, then I'll seriously consider them--that's one issue I've had with composite headlights, having to replace the cores every two or three years because they never fully seal against the outside.
---Tony
---Tony
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1966 Continental Sedan, affectionately known as "Frankenstein" until body restoration is done (to be renamed "General Sherman" on that event)
"Question Authority!"
1966 Continental Sedan, affectionately known as "Frankenstein" until body restoration is done (to be renamed "General Sherman" on that event)
Re: The latest (and greatest) in the LED saga
Yes, these are sealed beams, not composite. Completely plug and play with no mods of any kind.
I ordered some headlight shields to put on the low beams to help control the scattered light, but they did not fit. So I dropped the low beams down one turn on the adjustment screws from the perfectly aimed setting and I'm going to run with them that way.
I ordered some headlight shields to put on the low beams to help control the scattered light, but they did not fit. So I dropped the low beams down one turn on the adjustment screws from the perfectly aimed setting and I'm going to run with them that way.
1962 Continental resto-mod
Yeah, it's got a Hemi
1979 Mark V 1 of 1
Triple Turquoise
1979 Mark V Bill Blass Edition
Yeah, it's got a Hemi
1979 Mark V 1 of 1
Triple Turquoise
1979 Mark V Bill Blass Edition
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Re: The latest (and greatest) in the LED saga
Jon,
did you add relays? or not needed due to low amp draw?
did you add relays? or not needed due to low amp draw?
Robert DeFrang
Re: The latest (and greatest) in the LED saga
No relays needed, they draw less than the OEM sealed beams.
1962 Continental resto-mod
Yeah, it's got a Hemi
1979 Mark V 1 of 1
Triple Turquoise
1979 Mark V Bill Blass Edition
Yeah, it's got a Hemi
1979 Mark V 1 of 1
Triple Turquoise
1979 Mark V Bill Blass Edition
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Re: The latest (and greatest) in the LED saga
Jon, love your car man! I've shared pics of your car on my Instagram account @LincolnAddict before! I'm thinking about running Dapper Lighting. https://www.dapperlighting.com
Spoke to a guy Cory in Minn and he loves his. He did say they are pretty expensive but I think I'd be ok as long as they perform really well. I'll def look into what you posted above. Thanks for the link!
This is the guy Cory's car. https://www.instagram.com/p/Br3QV1XAa4D/
Spoke to a guy Cory in Minn and he loves his. He did say they are pretty expensive but I think I'd be ok as long as they perform really well. I'll def look into what you posted above. Thanks for the link!
This is the guy Cory's car. https://www.instagram.com/p/Br3QV1XAa4D/
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Re: The latest (and greatest) in the LED saga
Great! I'm looking forward to your experience with that lighting. LEDs are evolving quickly, and that's a good thing.
1962 Continental resto-mod
Yeah, it's got a Hemi
1979 Mark V 1 of 1
Triple Turquoise
1979 Mark V Bill Blass Edition
Yeah, it's got a Hemi
1979 Mark V 1 of 1
Triple Turquoise
1979 Mark V Bill Blass Edition
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- action
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Re: The latest (and greatest) in the LED saga
It is a four head lamp system. All FLM 4 head lamp systems from 1957 to the late 1970s are the same. (Or all 5 3/4" round sealed beam systems)cartierEdition wrote:Wonder if that will fit a mark iii
And the awesome thing about LEDs is the draw less power and deliver more light. Just what is needed for the tired wiring and head lamp switch. (That has an old circuit breaker inside)
One of the down sides is no heat on the lens. With the lack of heat, snow and ice may stick and stay. However I live in the land void of that stuff. And the one classic I have in the Water Winter Wonderland has never been outside with temps below 50f.
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Phoenix - Yeah, it's hot, however it's a dry heat
2006 Lincoln Navigator Limited 5.4l 3V
1996 Lincoln Mark VIII 2DR Coupe Diamond Anniversary 4.6l DOHC, 4R70W, 3.07
1970 Continental Mark III Triple Black 460 4v, C6, 2.80 (Used for Woodward Dream Cruise or just generally stored in Michigan)
1966 Lincoln Continental 4DR Convertible 462 4v, C6, 3.00
1966 Mercury Park Lane 4DR Breezeway 410 4v, C6, 2.80
2006 Lincoln Navigator Limited 5.4l 3V
1996 Lincoln Mark VIII 2DR Coupe Diamond Anniversary 4.6l DOHC, 4R70W, 3.07
1970 Continental Mark III Triple Black 460 4v, C6, 2.80 (Used for Woodward Dream Cruise or just generally stored in Michigan)
1966 Lincoln Continental 4DR Convertible 462 4v, C6, 3.00
1966 Mercury Park Lane 4DR Breezeway 410 4v, C6, 2.80
Re: The latest (and greatest) in the LED saga
https://www.octanelighting.com/product/ ... -gen-led-2 I also purchased these same light I can't wait to see results ill post when they get installed.
Jessie
- milesofsmiles
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Re: The latest (and greatest) in the LED saga
I watched this recent video on YouTube regarding LED headlights by Nathan Wilson. Really nice video, he always does such a great job.
https://youtu.be/iKZJ97I8bRI
Cheers,
Mike
https://youtu.be/iKZJ97I8bRI
Cheers,
Mike
1967 convertible
Re: The latest (and greatest) in the LED saga
A single component is definitely easier than the approach I took. I used Octane lighting also, but I bought glass lens housings that took an H4 bulb and had a white LED halo, and then added an H4 LED-replacement bulb. I use the halos as my parking lights and turn them on as DRL's because some crazy-how this giant car is invisible to people and doing this resolves that in a manner that fits the otherwise stock aesthetic of the car.
The prices for the halo's have come way down since I got mine a few years ago. If I were to do it now I'd get the color changing ones and have the outer halo's blink orange when the turn signals operated but still be white otherwise.
The prices for the halo's have come way down since I got mine a few years ago. If I were to do it now I'd get the color changing ones and have the outer halo's blink orange when the turn signals operated but still be white otherwise.
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Re: The latest (and greatest) in the LED saga
Thanks to all of you and Pat Teahan (burnski) for leading me to place these LED headlights. Massive improvement. Lower amp draw.
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Robert DeFrang
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Re: The latest (and greatest) in the LED saga
Curious, does anyone know if these bulbs cause any wonkyness with the auto dimmer?
2018 Lincoln Continental
1964 Lincoln Continental Sedan
1948 Mercury Town Sedan,
1959 Mercury Montclair
1964 Lincoln Continental Sedan
1948 Mercury Town Sedan,
1959 Mercury Montclair
- milesofsmiles
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Re: The latest (and greatest) in the LED saga
Did you replace all four headlights with LED, or did you just replace the low beams?defrang wrote:Thanks to all of you and Pat Teahan (burnski) for leading me to place these LED headlights. Massive improvement. Lower amp draw.
I have a 67. I bought H4 LEDs. The outer bulbs have a plug that H4 will plug into but the inner set of lights have a two prong socket, so I just replaced the low beams thus far.
Thanks,
Mike
1967 convertible
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