So as the title suggests, I've been scheming about a new concept for my TA. I want to create a fresh/high-end look by reversing how the light escapes the tail lights, and would love it to be LED and sequential for blinkers.

Here's how I envision the light escaping...




I'd love some feedback :p
also if anyone has a line on someone who sells LED boards that fit stock 02 housings, please holla'.

 

yeah, I had this exact idea when 6LE was developing the clear tails.

 

Yes! its their lenses I plan on purchasing too. im just worried about daytime visibility, i can mist the red paint so the lines will glow well, its just less surface area is all, thats why i want the LED board for that extra pop.

 

I think with enough LED light inside the housing daytime visibility wont be an issue

but I love this premise, Looks like a great twist for an updated set of tails, but still subtle

I think I would prefer to buy the blank lens and do it myself though

 

That's the plan, purchase a set of blank lenses and a set of used housings from eBay then go to town painting. It won't be super soon but I will post up when I do, my 6.0 needs to go in first haha.

 

That looks pretty sweet! It might take a few attempts to get it to the desired effect but I think it could work.

I've been wanting to try different tail light designs for awhile now, but I've never actually done anything. Only played with a few other ideas in this thread.

Getting LED's behind it should be the easy part, getting it to look right will be the trick.

 

I'd be more than happy to cover the shell, family owned collision repair shop with wall of Spies paint. Need someone to cover leds!!!!!!

 

Seems like a cool concept, Ill keep an eye out for updates

 

Looks really rough around the edges. Waiting to see a Photoshop idea that solves the lens edge and reverse light edge problem.

 

yeah it would still need the standard black border on the solid black areas.

I did a real rough markup of the passenger taillight using paint.

 

Really liking the look of these. I'm interested to see how everything turns out.

 

Thanks it does give a bit better perception. I'm thinking 1" to 1.5" black border. I'd like to keep the hexagons 1" wide as well, seems to be just the right size.

 

what you need is a bunch of leds on a custom board that then gets diffused like how the backlight in a TV (or laptop screen) works, what you want is something that gives you the smoothness of an Electroluminescent panels but with 2 stages of brightness.

 

You want to look into the LED projector styled ones. They usually have a single diode with a round clear piece. They are much brighter then the regular led that have a bunch of small diodes soldered together on a board.

 

There are some new "hybrid" LEDs now with a few bright LEDs on top under a projector-style lens and some other bright LEDs aimed back at a cone reflector to better fill the housing.

Like these (although these aren't the right size for a Firebird):
This pic also has a comparison to the "plasma" style



I haven't tried those yet, but I'm considering them. I just need to get them in 3157.

Those popped up in this thread:
http://www.hidplanet.com/forums/show...nal-LED-Review
That thread is 38+ pages and growing talking about a few hybrid designs and that company reviewing them and picking which ones to sell.

 

very helpful with that hybrid led post. that would definitly be an easy way out for just making the lenses and no board. i want to see some visibility test results

 

Those are the right size for a Firebird. 7443 and 3157 work identically and have identical if not nearly identical sockets - the only major difference is wattage, which isn't an issue with LEDs. I have used 7443 LED bulbs in my Firebirds 3157 sockets many times. I was running 7443 halogen bulbs years ago, until they started to melt the front DRL housings due to the higher wattage.

 

I didn't realize that the 7443 could fit in place of a 3157. I don't think it works in the opposite direction though. I accidentally bought 3157 Amber LEDs for my Mustang's front Turn signals (I saw an incorrect listing somewhere) but they are 7444NA and the LEDs didn't fit. I wonder if its just that the GM sockets are more forgiving than other sockets or there is a slight difference in a tab? Maybe some trimming will get the 3157 LEDs I bought to fit the Mustang..... or I can just install them in the front turn signals of the Firebird.

 

damn that looks sick.

 

I've been following these on hidplanet, they look very promising. About time someone started making replacement led bulbs that aren't junk. I'm going to be trying these in my Camaro tail lights and then reverse lights.