tail lite bulbs
- Thread starter rer_239
- Start date
1931 flamingo
Well-known member
Paint the inside of the housings white, go to LED bulbs. Run seperate lights for signals.
Paul in CT
Paul in CT
Jack Shaft
BANNED
LED's..they are very bright,unlike the driver that passed you.Im afraid lumens wont save you from those people,its hard out there,folks have no patience or courtesy.
Jim/GA
Well-known member
The stock Model A tail light bulb was 3 cp. The stop light bulb was 20 cp. You can go to a 32 cp stop light bulb, if you want.
Better to go with LEDs, the style where you have a flat board covered in small LEDs, not an LED bulb that looks like the stock bulb it replaces.
I have separate turn signal light housings in the back on my Town Sedan, separate from the brake lights. Back when I could get them, I put 50 cp halogen bulbs (I'm 12 volts in that car) in those turn signal housings. They are really bright! They draw a lot of power and get hot but they are not on that much. I noticed that when I started driving at night with them in Houston, when I turned on the signal to change lanes, people actually moved out of the way.
I also have the 3rd brake light so that people see that I am stopped to turn left. I'm concerned about them hitting me because they did not realize I am stopped.
There is not much you can do with today's impatient drivers. I had a lady cross a double-yellow centerline to pass me a few months ago when I was running within 5 MPH of the speed limit on the road in an A.
Just be alert and drive defensively. That's all you can do.
30 Closed Cab PU
Well-known member
If you do not mind that they are not original looking, consider adding the commercial 3rd brake/tail light. I have one mounted on my CCPU tailgate and have noticed a definite improvement in people keeping their distance when I am stopping or slowing down for a turn.
Personally I never use hand signals anymore.
They think that you are waving at them
Or if they are behind they think you are waving them to go around.
After all ... EVERYTHING is ALL about THEM, don't you know?
If something does not appear on their TWIT phone screen it is not important because it is likely that they are using their Twit Phone instead of looking at the road ahead anyway.
Note: I do know that it is called TWEET (pun intended)
They think that you are waving at them
Or if they are behind they think you are waving them to go around.
After all ... EVERYTHING is ALL about THEM, don't you know?
If something does not appear on their TWIT phone screen it is not important because it is likely that they are using their Twit Phone instead of looking at the road ahead anyway.
Note: I do know that it is called TWEET (pun intended)
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30 Closed Cab PU
Well-known member
Another thing I do I learned living in the country. To keep people from attempting to pass while turning left. On two lane roads move over and straddle both your lane and the oncoming lane so they physically can not pass. I got smacked and pushed into a ditch once in a Corvair from a farmer in his pickup not paying attention. The Corvair blinker is not very bright and he did not see it. My dad told me about this tip.
Patrick L.
Well-known member
LEDs will help.
But, idiots passing on the left with your arm out, signal on, brake lites with third light on, vehicle sitting on the center line is common. Just happened again the other day, would have turned into her if I hadn't been looking. It was nice and warm, top down, her windows open when I called out Thanks Sweetheart. I think you know what her response was. Ladies never said that word back in the day.
But, idiots passing on the left with your arm out, signal on, brake lites with third light on, vehicle sitting on the center line is common. Just happened again the other day, would have turned into her if I hadn't been looking. It was nice and warm, top down, her windows open when I called out Thanks Sweetheart. I think you know what her response was. Ladies never said that word back in the day.
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Strongly recommend LED bulbs in the tail/brake lights. Use the soft/warm white for tails, high bright red (30 SMD) for brakes. The red ones shine red even through amber lenses. Tailgaters consider amber only as "caution" instead of "danger".
The generator is rated at 12 amps, which is a bit of a stretch even with the original complement of 21 CP headlamps and single 3 CP in back. Adding 50 CP in front and dual taillights nearly doubles that. LEDs save a lot of current, but personally I don't care for the light pattern of the headlight bulb replacements.
The generator is rated at 12 amps, which is a bit of a stretch even with the original complement of 21 CP headlamps and single 3 CP in back. Adding 50 CP in front and dual taillights nearly doubles that. LEDs save a lot of current, but personally I don't care for the light pattern of the headlight bulb replacements.
Patrick L.
Well-known member
Synchro909
Well-known member
If you scan about the web, I'm sure you will find LED lights in either red or amber (take your pick) which are BRIGHT. I have a 3rd brake light on the back of my Phaeton like that and I sometimes get complaints from other who were following that they had black spots in front of their eyes for an hour after I stopped. Well, they certainly knew I was stopping - mission accomplished.
Red turn signals are not legal here so I have a pair of BRIGHT LED amber lights at the back for turn signals. No one ever misses those either.
I know they don't look right when they are not on but they are very right when they are alight and seen!
Red turn signals are not legal here so I have a pair of BRIGHT LED amber lights at the back for turn signals. No one ever misses those either.
I know they don't look right when they are not on but they are very right when they are alight and seen!
Bob Bidonde
Well-known member
Bob Johnson
Well-known member
Custom LED "Bulbs"
[FONT="]I made my own LED tail/brake lights. I used 10W Red LEDs, two for the brake light and one for the tail light. I also installed a 1W white LED for the license plate light. The standard incandescent bulbs put out 3 cp for tail light and 21 cp for brake light. Each red LED light puts out 36 cp. So that is 72 cp vs 21 cp for the brake light and 36 cp vs 3 cp for the tail light. The 1W white LED puts out 9 cp. Finally note, the 10W LEDs put out only red light unlike the incandescent bulbs which put out white light. The white light is filtered by the red lens reducing the intensity of the light.[/FONT]
I also put Custom LED "bulbs" in my cowl lights. I have some LED "Beads" that are rated at 3.2 volts and 1 watt. I removed the glass and filament from the burned out bulb. Since the LED is rated for 3.2 volts it requires a resistor to work with the 6 volt Model A battery. LEDs do not act linear with respect to voltage, amperage so I had to experiment to get the right resistor for this LED. It turned out the 10 ohms worked out. The 10 ohm resistor allowed the LED to draw 0.8 watts. If I had cranked it up to the full 1.0 watts it might run too hot and burn out. Below are pictures of the modified light bulb and the cowl light on. Can you tell which cowl light has the LED?
[FONT="]I made my own LED tail/brake lights. I used 10W Red LEDs, two for the brake light and one for the tail light. I also installed a 1W white LED for the license plate light. The standard incandescent bulbs put out 3 cp for tail light and 21 cp for brake light. Each red LED light puts out 36 cp. So that is 72 cp vs 21 cp for the brake light and 36 cp vs 3 cp for the tail light. The 1W white LED puts out 9 cp. Finally note, the 10W LEDs put out only red light unlike the incandescent bulbs which put out white light. The white light is filtered by the red lens reducing the intensity of the light.[/FONT]
I also put Custom LED "bulbs" in my cowl lights. I have some LED "Beads" that are rated at 3.2 volts and 1 watt. I removed the glass and filament from the burned out bulb. Since the LED is rated for 3.2 volts it requires a resistor to work with the 6 volt Model A battery. LEDs do not act linear with respect to voltage, amperage so I had to experiment to get the right resistor for this LED. It turned out the 10 ohms worked out. The 10 ohm resistor allowed the LED to draw 0.8 watts. If I had cranked it up to the full 1.0 watts it might run too hot and burn out. Below are pictures of the modified light bulb and the cowl light on. Can you tell which cowl light has the LED?
Re: Custom LED "Bulbs"
Nice work. Where did you find those LEDs? BA15S bases can be had from bulb vendors so you don't need to cut your fingers breaking the glass.
Nice work. Where did you find those LEDs? BA15S bases can be had from bulb vendors so you don't need to cut your fingers breaking the glass.
Big hammer
Well-known member
Re: Custom LED "Bulbs"
WOW ! That cowl light is bright, we need you to work on headlights for our A's.............PLEASE !
[FONT="]I made my own LED tail/brake lights. I used 10W Red LEDs, two for the brake light and one for the tail light. I also installed a 1W white LED for the license plate light. The standard incandescent bulbs put out 3 cp for tail light and 21 cp for brake light. Each red LED light puts out 36 cp. So that is 72 cp vs 21 cp for the brake light and 36 cp vs 3 cp for the tail light. The 1W white LED puts out 9 cp. Finally note, the 10W LEDs put out only red light unlike the incandescent bulbs which put out white light. The white light is filtered by the red lens reducing the intensity of the light.[/FONT]
http://www.modelahouse.com/images/tail-light1.png
[IMG]http://www.modelahouse.com/images/tail-light2.png
I also put Custom LED "bulbs" in my cowl lights. I have some LED "Beads" that are rated at 3.2 volts and 1 watt. I removed the glass and filament from the burned out bulb. Since the LED is rated for 3.2 volts it requires a resistor to work with the 6 volt Model A battery. LEDs do not act linear with respect to voltage, amperage so I had to experiment to get the right resistor for this LED. It turned out the 10 ohms worked out. The 10 ohm resistor allowed the LED to draw 0.8 watts. If I had cranked it up to the full 1.0 watts it might run too hot and burn out. Below are pictures of the modified light bulb and the cowl light on. Can you tell which cowl light has the LED?
WOW ! That cowl light is bright, we need you to work on headlights for our A's.............PLEASE !