I’m sure some of you have tried the replacement bulb style LEDs. To me, these just don’t seem to put out enough power to make it worthwhile. I have been working on a project to update my ‘71 to LED lights using the flat panel 5050 LED. A 1157 bulb puts out 32/3 candle power. Each 5050 LED puts out about one CP which is in the whiter spectrum. Currently, I have a 48 LED panel in each of the backup lights. They are 50% brighter with zero modification to the housing. I have worked out using four of the 24 LED panels in the stop light portion to have sequential tail lights again with no modification to the housing and being 2x brighter for the stop/signal and 8x brighter for the running light. The thing that has caused me the most problem has been the front turn signals. I want to use a 48 LED panel for the turn signal and a 24 LED panel as the running light. Unfortunately, the way Ford designed the system is to actually alternate using one of the filaments of the turn signal/running light bulb as a ground for the side marker bulb. LEDs don’t have filaments. To make it work, it requires diodes and resistors set up in a way that I barely understand. I have been dealing with a company who makes a sequential tail light assembly. I might be able to convince them to construct the circuit to make the LED front turn signals work. Is anyone else out there interested in this? I would imagine that this system would work in other years.
You may be over thinking it. I haven't looked at the circuit yet myself, but I may be able to come up with a simple work around. I am eventually going to have to anyway as I intend to do custom lighting for all my lights some day.
I, too, have a '71 that I have switched over to mostly LED (besides the headlights and the front side markers, I think). The panels aren't entirely necessary-- I used the 1157 bayonet base 3 watt LEDs from SuperBrightLEDs.com in the front. I don't believe I swapped the side marker lights in front, but I remember doing the back. As I recall, and I may be wrong since it's been half a year since the car has even had a battery in it, I had no problems with the side marker lights not coming on. Using an electronic flasher fixed the only LED-related problems I was having. However, I don't understand how Ford could have possibly got away with using the alternating filaments as ground-- I don't understand how that could work. Do you have a diagram? I may be able to offer some help if you've got an electrical diagram. My car may not be wired the same way as yours, though, since I'm using a later-model Maverick turn signal switch. I also used SuperBrightLEDs' 3 watt 1156 base single LED bulbs for my reverse lights. I used their 36 LED red 1157 panel for the taillights-- I love 'em. If you're concerned about safety, you may want to consider adding a third brake light bar, which I glued onto my back dash up against the rear window. And paint the inside of your reflectors white. I got a 25-50% increase in light output from painting the reflectors alone. Do the same to the inside of your gauge cluster too-- that will double your dash lights' brightness.
My side markers do not alternate with the turn signals. Yours is a 71? Come to think of it, none of my Mavericks/Comet did that either. If the side markers are wired to the brown wire from the light switch, I don't think they are supposed to blink. They should be on as long as the parking lights are on.
I have designed LED panels for my Comet tail lights. These 2 web sights will help you understand and build them correctly. http://led.linear1.org/led.wiz http://www.reuk.co.uk/Using-The-LM317T-With-LED-Lighting.htm
Well, this is what Ford said in the manual: DESCRIPTION AND OPERATION DESCRIPTION The parking, sport, rear, side marker and stop light circuits are controlled by the headlight switch. When the headlight switch is pulled out to the first detent, only the parking lights and side marker lights come on. When the headlight switch is pulled out to the second detent, the parking lights, side marker lights, headlights and sport lights on vehicles so equipped all come on. Maverick requires activating a toggle switch in conjunction with the headlight switch for sports lights. On all vehicles except Mustang, the side marker lights also function as emergency flashers. The side marker lights on Mustang do not flash. OPERATION On Thunderbird, Ford, Mercury, and Lincoln Continental a cornering light bulb is in the same light body with marker bulb on vehicles so equipped. The cornering lights are fed from the turn signal circuit in such a way that when the turn signal switch is activated, the cornering light on the turn side will burn with a steady glow. All Vehicles Except Mustang The side marker lights are connected in parallel with the feed circuit (from the headlight switch) that feeds the minor filaments of the front parking and rear lights. Each of the four side marker lights (two on each side) completes its circuit to ground through the dormant major filament of its respective left or right front parking light. Therefore the side markers glow with the parking lights. The side markers are on when the parking light major filament is dormant providing a ground as described in the foregoing. When the turn signals are activated however, the major filament of the turn-side parking light is fed intermittently for turn signal operation. This intermittent feed interrupts the side marker lights’ circuit to ground causing them to go off. As a result the affected side markers for the direction of turn selected will flash alternately with the front parking/turn signal lights. The side markers on the opposite (non-turning side) will continue to glow steadily. The turn signal system supplies an intermittent feed to the major filament of the turn-side parking light as described in the forgoing. The same circuit also supplies and intermittent feed to the side marker lights (on the turn side) but flowing in a reverse direction from that supplied by the headlight switch when it was on. The two side marker lights complete their circuit to ground through the dormant minor filament of the turn-side parking light. Thus the side markers and front parking lights flash simultaneously with each intermittent feed. The lights on the opposite side remain off. The emergency flasher sends intermittent power to the major filaments in both parking lights, thus interrupting the ground circuits of all four side markers. As a result, all four side markers will flash alternately with the parking lights.
I looked at the 1156 and 1157 style LED bulbs and was not impressed by the light that they put out. They are generally made up of two types of LEDs. The smaller being the 3528 and the larger being the 5050. Each 5050 puts out about 15 lumens which is equal to about 1 candle power. I believe the 5050 puts out twice as many lumens as the 3528. The original 1156 bulb is 32 candle power. The 1157 is 32/3 cp. Don't confuse lumen with temperature. LEDs generally put out a whiter light (temperature) but that does not mean there is more light (lumens/CP). So, to get as much light (lumens/CP) as the original bulb, you need about 32 5050 LEDs. I have yet to see a LED 1156/1157 bulb with that many 5050 LEDs. I think it will be too big to get them into the tail light housing. One 48 LED panel puts out 50% more lumens than the standard bulb in a whiter spectrum. This is why I prefer them over the bulb type LED. Plus, I can get 3 24 LED panels (stop/turn) and 1 24 LED panel (running) in one tail light housing for a total of 96 lumens compared to one LED bulb with a total of less than 30. For the front turn signal, I’m looking at one 48 yellow panel (turn) and one 24 white panel (running) behind a clear lens. This would give me a nice white visible running that that could be seen in the daytime (8x brighter than stock) and a 50% brighter yellow turn signal all in one housing. Now, if I could just figure out how to wire the damn thing. Micah
