71-73 Mustang LED tail lights

[RacerX]

Hi, I'm in talks with Gary from VintageLEDS.com over on vintage-mustang.com about LED tail light setup for our cars.

Here's the discussion: https://www.vintage-mustang.com/threads/vintage-leds-product-expansions.1182195/

He asked me to ask you all about who'd be interested in a setup for our cars and how it needs to be installed.

Are you more interested in just plug and play insertion into the current tail light housing with no modifications? He said these would be more expensive b/c have to split it into 3 boards vs 1 to go into the 3 segments.

I asked about removing the 2 partitions in the housing and utilizing a cone to direct the backup white light to that lens and let the rest of the area be the usual stop/tail/turn light. This way it can reduce cost and be 1 board, although you'd have to modify your tail light housing by cutting out the partitions.

What's your pick? 3 segments or 1?

He mentioned Dapper lighting @ https://www.dapperlighting.com/products/1971-1973-ford-mustang-advanced-sequential-led-tail-lights

Their product uses 3 boards but cheaper quality, smaller LED's than he utilizes and isn't the quality product he produces.

Let me know your input here and I'll pass it on to Gary, then post back here for you.

No investment in the product, just trying to help a fellow Mustang guy and small business man (now that he's laid off from company merger)

Curtis

 

[Tnfastbk]

I have the Dakota Digital

https://www.dakotadigital.com/index.cfm/page/ptype=product/product_id=573/category_id=343/mode=prod/prd573.htm

 

[jscott]

I love the sequential Mustang tail lights, I even  use my turn signal more then I should in my 2014.  I would like them on my '72 but $300 just seems a little silly for me to spend and I can afford it without question, I am just not sure I want to.

 

[dapperlighting]

Hi, I'm in talks with Gary from VintageLEDS.com over on vintage-mustang.com about LED tail light setup for our cars.

Here's the discussion: https://www.vintage-mustang.com/threads/vintage-leds-product-expansions.1182195/

He asked me to ask you all about who'd be interested in a setup for our cars and how it needs to be installed.

Are you more interested in just plug and play insertion into the current tail light housing with no modifications? He said these would be more expensive b/c have to split it into 3 boards vs 1 to go into the 3 segments.

I asked about removing the 2 partitions in the housing and utilizing a cone to direct the backup white light to that lens and let the rest of the area be the usual stop/tail/turn light. This way it can reduce cost and be 1 board, although you'd have to modify your tail light housing by cutting out the partitions.

What's your pick? 3 segments or 1?

He mentioned Dapper lighting @ https://www.dapperlighting.com/products/1971-1973-ford-mustang-advanced-sequential-led-tail-lights

Their product uses 3 boards but cheaper quality, smaller LED's than he utilizes and isn't the quality product he produces.

Let me know your input here and I'll pass it on to Gary, then post back here for you.

No investment in the product, just trying to help a fellow Mustang guy and small business man (now that he's laid off from company merger)

Curtis

Hey guys!

Saw some traffic coming from the forum so I thought I'd drop by and introduce Dapper Lighting. We've been around for about 10 years and are a small business producing OE grade classic car lighting parts. Our headlamps are produced in house in Novato, CA and are used in some popular OE applications such as Charge Cars (Mustang), The Official Eleanor Mustang (Mustang), and The New Trans Am  (Trans Am). 

Generally competing manufacturers have never used or tested our products and unfortunately tend to make non-factual claims about our products. 

In any case, we are always open to working with any and all businesses to help produce great products for classic car owners.

Just remember, take what salesmen say with a grain of salt

Cheers!

 

[Carolina_Mountain_Mustangs]

If you simple rework your housings you will be amazed how much brighter they are cost maybe $10.00. The housings turn brown inside and get chalky. If you blast them with low pressure and sand or walnut shells and then spray with Krylon Fusion satin white paint they look brand new. I have done several sets and also side marker lights. I did the black out also. The only pic I have with lights on is just a flash at the end of a video when I go to reverse. 
I hate people that go to LED that is way too bright I want to just crash into them. Headlights or tail lights.













View attachment Preview video-1555166327 (3).mp4

 

[RacerX]

If you simple rework your housings you will be amazed how much brighter they are cost maybe $10.00. The housings turn brown inside and get chalky. If you blast them with low pressure and sand or walnut shells and then spray with Krylon Fusion satin white paint they look brand new. I have done several sets and also side marker lights. I did the black out also. The only pic I have with lights on is just a flash at the end of a video when I go to reverse. 
I hate people that go to LED that is way too bright I want to just crash into them. Headlights or tail lights.

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[RacerX]

Thanks for the reply David. I never said my lights were dim. I want and will have LED lights on my cars and I know others want the same. I'm also looking into reconfiguring my tail lights to 3 full red segments so they can be different and fully sequential instead of a reverse light in the middle.

Curtis 

 

[RacerX]

I spoke with Gary again and here's what the PCB layout will look like. See the attached PDF file

Per Gary, "[SIZE=12pt]I have 12 white LEDs for the reverse lights.  Intermixed there are 9 amber on a separate circuit.  This way, someone can use the reverse light lens as an amber turn light.  May be useful in Europe and Australia."[/SIZE]

They'll cost $295 a set

Anyone ready to sign up for a set?

I'm in for 1 right now myself.

Curtis

View attachment PCB 3D Print.PDF

 

[Big Red Mach 1]

I just installed some Vintage LED's and love them. The camera makes them look a tad yellow, but they aren't. They are a nice bright red and they don't show all of the individual LED's too badly. 



View attachment 20210427_202246.mp4

 

[RacerX]

Gary makes a very nice product!

 

[Mister 4x4]

If you simple rework your housings you will be amazed how much brighter they are cost maybe $10.00. The housings turn brown inside and get chalky. If you blast them with low pressure and sand or walnut shells and then spray with Krylon Fusion satin white paint they look brand new. I have done several sets and also side marker lights. I did the black out also. The only pic I have with lights on is just a flash at the end of a video when I go to reverse. 
I hate people that go to LED that is way too bright I want to just crash into them. Headlights or tail lights.

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Those are very nice, David.  And you're right about simply cleaning up and refreshing the 'reflective' surfaces - makes a ton of difference.

I know my tail light lenses suffer from 'still holding together, but cracks running everywhere,' that show up in direct sunlight despite being almost invisible when not. I just scored a handful of some new ones, which I'll be cleaning up and prepping to stuff in some of the Vintage LED panels - best of both worlds.  It won't be quite as cool as the 'Obsidian tail light mod' that I still really want, but at least they'll be bright, sequential across all-three segments, and won't have any more cracks.

This is what I have - the driver side is worse, actually:



And this is what I'm talking about with the Obsidian tail light mod - remember these?  Yeah... still makes me mad, but damn they're cool:

 

[71_resurrection]

Those are very nice, David. And you're right about simply cleaning up and refreshing the 'reflective' surfaces - makes a ton of difference.

I know my tail light lenses suffer from 'still holding together, but cracks running everywhere,' that show up in direct sunlight despite being almost invisible when not. I just scored a handful of some new ones, which I'll be cleaning up and prepping to stuff in some of the Vintage LED panels - best of both worlds. It won't be quite as cool as the 'Obsidian tail light mod' that I still really want, but at least they'll be bright, sequential across all-three segments, and won't have any more cracks.

This is what I have - the driver side is worse, actually:

View attachment 50900

And this is what I'm talking about with the Obsidian tail light mod - remember these? Yeah... still makes me mad, but damn they're cool:

View attachment 50899

Be on the lookout, Scott Keller and I are working on new lenses. We want to try to right the wrong that Mike did with collecting money on a product that never got completed. Scott ended up with a full set for his Mach and I ended up with one lens to try to build an LED panel to make it all work as intended in my original design given to Mike to produce. Racer X, see the prototype LED boards below. The LED board worked as a running light, brake light and backup light. The red LED's are dual intensity, however they do not work sequentially. My original design was three individual boards, but will probably work better as one board.

 

[Stanglover]

If you simple rework your housings you will be amazed how much brighter they are cost maybe $10.00. The housings turn brown inside and get chalky. If you blast them with low pressure and sand or walnut shells and then spray with Krylon Fusion satin white paint they look brand new. I have done several sets and also side marker lights. I did the black out also. The only pic I have with lights on is just a flash at the end of a video when I go to reverse.
I hate people that go to LED that is way too bright I want to just crash into them. Headlights or tail lights.

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Great to see you back David. We missed you..
EDIT:
Ooops, an old post, my bad. It would be nice to hear from David again regardless. Hope he's feeling better these days.

 

[Stanglover]

I agree with David's earlier post, clean up your current tail lights, BUT my choice without doubt and I've said this many times, go to HiPoParts.com and get these from Bill. Back up LEDs' as well from Bill. In fact buy ALL your LED type for him. Personal service at it's best is my experience.
I can't find the pic I want right now, will edit later. Car pic is with Bill's LED rear bulbs.
EDIT: HiPoParts 1157 replacement LED.

 

[machattack]

Great to see you back David. We missed you..
EDIT:
Ooops, an old post, my bad. It would be nice to hear from David again regardless. Hope he's feeling better these days.

I spoke with david yesterday via emails. He is in terrible neck pain and cant hardly move. Ive urged him to see a neurologist and get it taken care of no matter the expense.
David.......If by chance you read this? We do miss you david and your comments.
Rod
Back in 2020 I heeded Davids advice and cleaned mine up and sprayed them white again. Made a big difference on brightness. Wouldn't hurt to do this even if you go to LED's. It will just make those brighter as well.

 

[Stanglover]

I spoke with david yesterday via emails. He is in terrible neck pain and cant hardly move. Ive urged him to see a neurologist and get it taken care of no matter the expense.
David.......If by chance you read this? We do miss you david and your comments.
Rod
Back in 2020 I heeded Davids advice and cleaned mine up and sprayed them white again. Made a big difference on brightness. Wouldn't hurt to do this even if you go to LED's. It will just make those brighter as well.

Rod, thank you for the update on David. And yes, if you read this also David, please seek help for the neck pain. We miss you and wish you well.

Back to the tail lights, A trick I learned was to use Brake Fluid to clean the acrylic lenses after disassembly. Brake fluid will not harm acrylic and will remove all the old gunk and even paint overspray. A thorough washing is require after. Here's a pic.

 

[mrgmhale]

Hi, I'm in talks with Gary from VintageLEDS.com over on vintage-mustang.com about LED tail light setup for our cars.

Here's the discussion: https://www.vintage-mustang.com/threads/vintage-leds-product-expansions.1182195/

He asked me to ask you all about who'd be interested in a setup for our cars and how it needs to be installed.

Are you more interested in just plug and play insertion into the current tail light housing with no modifications? He said these would be more expensive b/c have to split it into 3 boards vs 1 to go into the 3 segments.

I asked about removing the 2 partitions in the housing and utilizing a cone to direct the backup white light to that lens and let the rest of the area be the usual stop/tail/turn light. This way it can reduce cost and be 1 board, although you'd have to modify your tail light housing by cutting out the partitions.

What's your pick? 3 segments or 1?

He mentioned Dapper lighting @ https://www.dapperlighting.com/products/1971-1973-ford-mustang-advanced-sequential-led-tail-lights

Their product uses 3 boards but cheaper quality, smaller LED's than he utilizes and isn't the quality product he produces.

Let me know your input here and I'll pass it on to Gary, then post back here for you.

No investment in the product, just trying to help a fellow Mustang guy and small business man (now that he's laid off from company merger)

Curtis

Gary at VintageLEDs.com is one right on kind of guy. I came across his LEDs after I had already installed a set of LED taillights on both of our 73 Mustangs. Both the competitive LED sets worked well, but both competitive systems also required an external switch 12 volt power source to be run into the trunk if I wanted the Sequential Turn Signal feature to work (I did). So, with the original competitive design LED taillight set on the 73 Mach 1 I ran a wire from the fuse block, under the rocker panel covers, through the rear inner seat panel, and into the trunk. It worked, but was a PITA to run.

For the 73 Mustang Convertible I took a different approach with the prior, competitive designed LED panels. I installed a headlight relay from Rocket Man and set it up so any time the Ignition was in the Run or Accessory position the headlights and parking lights would come on. Then, I simply tapped into one of the parking light wires in the trunk to provide 12 volt current to the LED Sequential Turn Signal power wire (pink wire). No need to run a new power wire into the trunk. It was a bit of a "hack," but it is a clean hack that works well. I am thinking of changing the headlight relay trigger current to be the alternator Stator terminal so the relay will light up the headlights and parking lights when the engine is actually running, not just when the Ignition Switch is in Run or Accy position.

Then, I came across VintageLEDs, where they do not require external power to get the Sequential Turn Signal feature to work, as Gary has a logic processor mounted on the left and right LED panel boards. His solution is a true Plug And Play system that also has a denser count of LED lights on the panels, meaning they are brighter than the first LED taillight sets I had acquired before getting his kit.

I was not dissatisfied with the first sets I got, as they worked as described, and the manufacturer did disclose the need for the external 12 volts for the Sequential Flasher circuit to work. But Gary's logic board being used to eliminate the need for an external power source was definitely of interest. So much so that not only did I purchase a kit from him for one of our Mustangs, but I also had Lynda record the installation of his kit for one of our YouTube How-To videos, and offered Gary the link to use on his web site so folks could see how simple the installation is, and see the final result.

We also did another video showing how to replace the oem Turn Signal and Emergency Lights Flashers, as the oem bi-metallic flashers do not usually get enough current to allow them to flash on and off. Gary offers electric flashers for the lowest price I have seen with folks selling LED taillight kits. We invited Gary to use the link to our How-To replace the flashers on his site, also. We are getting all kinds of hits on both videos.

I am not certain what else I can do to help VintageLEDs.com get more business, other than to say that our kit was truly plug and play, and we have not one regret getting his kit even though technically it was not needed because I had a perfectly functioning, competitive system already installed in both 73 Mustangs. But, I wanted to see just easy his product was to install. I am impressed, and very pleased I got Gary's solution.

Also, I do appreciate how his LED panels are noticeably brighter than the first LED set that we had. That said, both LED product are significantly brighter than the original incandescent bulb based taillights.

For anyone interested in our How-To install the VintageLEDs.com product here is our link:




And the flasher replacement video is at:

 

[73 SGM Mach]

Those are very nice, David. And you're right about simply cleaning up and refreshing the 'reflective' surfaces - makes a ton of difference.

I know my tail light lenses suffer from 'still holding together, but cracks running everywhere,' that show up in direct sunlight despite being almost invisible when not. I just scored a handful of some new ones, which I'll be cleaning up and prepping to stuff in some of the Vintage LED panels - best of both worlds. It won't be quite as cool as the 'Obsidian tail light mod' that I still really want, but at least they'll be bright, sequential across all-three segments, and won't have any more cracks.

This is what I have - the driver side is worse, actually:

View attachment 50900

And this is what I'm talking about with the Obsidian tail light mod - remember these? Yeah... still makes me mad, but damn they're cool:

View attachment 50899

I realize this is a very old post but whatever happened to this obsidian tail light conversion? It looks pretty cool!

 

[Marks1]

This seems like it would be a huge safety advantage, plus it would seem to eliminate the need to add a third brake light.

 

[Mister 4x4]

I realize this is a very old post but whatever happened to this obsidian tail light conversion? It looks pretty cool!

Scott Keller wound up with everything needed to look into getting them produced, but we haven't heard anything in awhile - I'll see if I can get an update. I know I signed up for 2 sets if they ever come available, that's how bad I [still] want 'em.