LED lighting upgrades FAQ

[skills@eurocarsplus]

I think you're going to hate the pattern at night. they need to "flood" more and the LED's seem to "spot"

at least that was my observation
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[chabanais]

LEDs are great for being 'bright' for someone behind you but as far as being a directed light they may not been ideal for actual illumination.

You could do a light meter or an 'eyeball' test but they tend to have a more focused beam.
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"I spud therefore I yam."

[telford dorr]

Am working on a LED upgrade for the dash instruments. I used Pilot CZ-3143W flexible LED strips (2 to a package, only 1 needed, Pep Boys, etc.). These are silicone rubber encased 12 inch LED strip lights rated for 12 volts. For testing, a junk instrument cluster (courtesy AeroMech) was modified.

Unlit:

Lit up:

Inside:

Details:

Small holes were drilled into the plastic case, and tie wire was used to secure the LED strip. The strip clears the instruments. A little juggling is needed to get them back into the case.

Am working on a dimmer module which uses the original headlight switch dimmer control as a control input. It's working nicely, so far - adjustable from dark to full brightness. Need to do some packaging and in-the-vehicle testing.
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'71 panel, now with FI
'Experience' is the ability to recognize a mistake when you're making it again - Franklin P. Jones
In theory, theory works in practice; in practice, it doesn't - William T. Harbaugh
When you're dead, you don't know you're dead. The pain is only felt by others.
Same thing happens when you're stupid. - Philippe Geluck
More VW electrical at http://telforddorr.com/ (available 9am to 9pm PST)

[Westy_West]

Looks nice telford! I did something similar with my cluster using a strip of red led lights. I suggest putting a little dab of silicone onto the holes where the wires go through to hold your LED strips in place. This will keep out the dust.
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79 Westfalia, 2.0L FI Type 4

@GoneWithTheWesty

[NASkeet]

[Tcash]

To link to this post copy and paste

[Air_Cooled_Nut]

[obnoxiousblue]

What relay are you guys running to convert your turn signals?
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Mike
1964 Beetle
2001 Eurovan Camper

[Tcash]

[Tcash]

VDO LED light

[telford dorr]

FYI: these ^^^ are VDO 600-886 bulbs and are used in the tachometer. See this post for a review of how they actually worked out (hint: less than optimal).

[Somehow there are two threads going on this.]

Another thing: these 194-W4-32 lamps from superbrightleds.com look suspiciously identical to VDO 600-886 bulbs (but at 1/6th the price). Even the labeling printed on the lamps is the same. But the SBL bulbs are labeled "non-dimmable" in the spec sheet while the VDO's dim nicely. Would someone from SBL like to explain this? What exactly makes your lamps "non-dimmable"?
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'71 panel, now with FI
'Experience' is the ability to recognize a mistake when you're making it again - Franklin P. Jones
In theory, theory works in practice; in practice, it doesn't - William T. Harbaugh
When you're dead, you don't know you're dead. The pain is only felt by others.
Same thing happens when you're stupid. - Philippe Geluck
More VW electrical at http://telforddorr.com/ (available 9am to 9pm PST)

[NASkeet]

[telford dorr]

[chabanais]

Something like this:

https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/car-insta...r/784/838/

[obnoxiousblue]

Chanabis, did that one work for you?
I'm in a 77 bus and would love to upgrade all the lights to LED (stop/turn/tail/sidemarkers) but obviously need to figure out which relay is going to allow everything to work at a normal flash rate.
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Mike
1964 Beetle
2001 Eurovan Camper

[scrivyscriv]

As far as the instrument panel goes, I have a few comments...

1) If you change the indicator lamps to LED.. after a few night drives, you'll really regret it. They are uncomfortably bright. I'm talking specifically about the high beam lamp and both blinkers.

2) the ambient lighting in the cluster itself is a great LED upgrade, with flexible LED strips. You get much better illumination. However, the stock dimmer rheostat may not work well with LEDs, so adding a PWM controller is a good standby option.

3) you will get uneven illumination of the gauges if you wrap the LED tape around the inner oval area. The outside edges are all illuminated directly, but the inside edges only get whatever ambient light is bouncing around the cluster. There is a noticeable light falloff.
I put a center strip on the metal backing plate but it is an imperfect solution:

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Robert in Memphis
Dünkelgrügen 1967 Java Green bug thread
Engine rebuild thread
If you're ever in the Memphis area, you are welcome to stop by for advice and help.

[scrivyscriv]

[lintbrush]

[chabanais]

It just pops in and you're good.

Did back side lights:

Under dash lights:

Gauge lights:

Head lights:

Rear turn signals:

[zaidigonzo]

Did all the lights in my 79 westy.
Everything works except turn signals.
With ignition on, they light up and stay on when just hit the turn signal lever to either side/ no flash.
Emergency flashers work all 4 corners only if ignition off. Really fast but they work.
If you turn ignition to on, the rapid flashing stops and lights go off...on the hazzards

I used all superbrightleds bulbs.
Any ideas to get my turn signals to work / i dont care if they flash fast. I just want the turn signals to flash with ignition on
And hazzards to flash with ignition on.