Ferrari Mailing List: LED lamps

[Rick Lindsay (richardolindsay]

Hello Friends, 

They say when you can't answer a question, answer another one. (Or is it, ...ask another one...? ) Anyway, here's my other answer to my Volvo friend, Doug Crooms' question about using LED lamps in tail light fixtures. Thought you might need a useless Saturday morning read...if mildly applicable to those of you restoring an F-car.

When I reassembled my Volvo 1800ES's front and rear lighting I used good quality (Sylvania) lamps in cleaned sockets with re-silvered reflectors (as required), covered by cleaned or replaced lenses. The results are bright and crisp without need for upgraded lamps. Here are the details, if intrigued.

Headlights - Premium Sylvania blue-white sealed beam lamps. Not visibly 'blue'. Just not yellow.

Front parking/turn signals - I removed the fixtures and carefully cleaned the sockets with a glass scratch brush.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0019V18D2?cache=4fbe8c6ea16c7f46a44ea29a0d3a1df1&pi=AC_SX110_SY165_QL70&qid=1409485111&sr=8-5#ref=mp_s_a_1_5 

I first used one of these tools in about 1970 while working for General Telephone. One has been an indispensable part of my toolbox every since. Anyway, the sockets came up fresh and clean, with excellent connectivity. BTW; Don't get the glass fibers on your fingers. They go right into skin something terrible!

I also used the scratch brush to remove rust sports on the reflectors. I then put a wad of paper towel in the sockets before respraying a thin coat of aluminum paint on the dull and discolored reflectors. Once dry, they were installed on new rubber and with new lenses. The new, correct Sylvania lamps made for quite bright turn signals and subtle parking lights.

Rear lighting - I used the same clean-up and refinishing procedure as before on the front, but the rear reflectors were rusty. I was concerned that the now rough surface, even when bright silver again, would scatter the reflected light too much. They didn't. And with 20/20 hindsight, I realized that the lenses were designed to scatter light so they could be seen at oblique angles. All was fine.

I used the correct lamps, Sylvania again, but this time I could re-use the lenses (installed on new rubber seals made from hardware store weatherstrip). 

I cleaned the inside of the lenses with a 1" paintbrush with the bristles cut shorter so as to be stiff. Ten minutes of brushing with Dawn dishwashing liquid and repeated rinsing got all the angular nooks and crannies nice and clean - inside. I also used the short bristle brush to clean dirt from the raised lettering on the outside of the lens. Fortunately, neither of my 1800ES's rear lenses were broken ... but they were dull from 40 years of exposure to the elements. 

I next polished the outside of the lenses with headlight cleaning polish, finishing each with motorcycle helmet (plastic) face plate polish. I used great care while polishing, not to crack the old brittle plastic. The lenses came out beautifully. I then installed them with new chrome screws from Ace Hardware using only enought tightening to slightly compress the seals.

Sidemarkers - I considered three options when I repainted my car.

1. Having the bodyshop guy just weld the openings closed and refinish without sidemarkers.

2. Install small round sidemarkers like on my later model F-car.

3. Repair, refinish and install the original sidemarkers.

Considering the increasing value of these cars, I chose to use the 'correct', if bulky sidemarkers. I cleaned and polished the lenses, just as with the rear lights lenses. The fixtures are more lamp holder than reflector but I sprayed them silver anyway, after cleaning the bulb sockets. The hard rubber bit that fits between the fixture and body got cleaned and a coat of low-gloss black paint. Everything then got assembled with new lamps. Testing indicated that I had used overly strong lamps (too high wattage) and the sidemarkers were way too bright. Not only was this unattractive,  there was also considerable risk of melting the lenses. So I removed all four lamps and installed correct, lower wattage bulbs, returning the correct and safe appearance of sidemarkers.

Yea, I know the original 1800ES sidemarkers are big and klunky, as taken from some sedan, almost as an afterthought, but they are correct and when in good condition with sparkling-fresh lenses, they look fine.

So that's the story. I didn't alter the license plate lights. I just cleaned and reinstalled them on the new bumper, using new lamps. 

So back on topic; LEDs are very directional. That's why the replacement 'bulbs' have LEDs around the edges. In some applications they work quite well, although they often do not utilize the reflector. They also can be quite bright and that's a plus with older cars that don't typically light up like a Hollywood grand opening. Personally, I have never seen need for the expense ... but I'm a cheap ba$+ard.

Now, with all that said, LED lamps used in dash lights are a great idea for many older cars. Older British and Italian cars in particular, have pathetically anemic gauge lighting and benefit greatly from LED upgrades. This is a much better option than using higher wattage incandescent lamps because of the heat the stronger lamps produce.

So for Doug, that was my six pounds and two pence worth of comment. I hope some of it was of value. Otherwise, I just hope he enjoyed the casual Saturday morning read.

I'd like to say I'm off to the garage now but in reality, I'm off to the upstairs to continue preparation for the carpet change. Sigh...

-rick