LED Conversion Kit

[rick]

Anyone got any experience with this product being sold for $150 US from Auto Classic LED?

https://autoclassicled.com/product/linc ... rsion_kit/

Rick

[Dan Szwarc]

Looks like a pricey way of not spending time to find the replacement bulbs yourself.

If you value your time more than your money, I'm sure it works.

[TonyC]

I think I have seen this advertised by someone on one of the Facebook groups. I admit to have had a bit of curiosity about it, but there has been one thing that has held me back from such a conversion. My observations have been that LEDs do not give off a very distinct difference in brightness between the regular taillights and the brake/turn lights. With every vehicle I've ever seen on the roads that was fitted with LEDs, I had to check hard to see if the lights did in fact get any brighter. I asked the one guy who advertised on the Facebook group about this, and he couldn't really give me anything definitive on it.

Before anyone suggests that "too bright" is a bad thing as well, allow me to refute: Where brake/turn lights are concerned, there is no such thing as "too bright"; they are supposed to be bright, to alert tailing drivers. Anyone who thinks someone's brake lights are "too bright" probably shouldn't be driving, anyway. Headlights, on the other hand, are a different argument.

Now, if somebody develops a really good LED bulb that does give off a very distinct difference in brightness, then I'd likely be on board with that.

---Tony

[rick]

Good advice from both of you guys. Thanks.

My problem is that unlike the majority of guys on this Forum, I'm not very good with "hands on" repairs (although I did revamp my own vacuum hoses and checked out the vacuum motors... but it was a big learning curve and felt like a big project) .......

But I don't want to attempt to yank out my own dash, so I'll probably get my mechanic to do it (he loves the car too, which helps.) I thought that instead of making him hunt down the correct LED's, I'd simply hand over the prearranged box and say "Go For It, Darwin."

I find my tail lights and brake lights are bright enough for me. So are my high beams. Low beams, not so much. But my dash lights are dim enough so as to make the instruments difficult to read at night. And I do like driving this car at night, makes me feel like a million bucks alone or with company, out on the highway cruising.

Rick

[rick]

Good advice from both of you guys. Thanks.

My problem is that unlike the majority of guys on this Forum, I'm not very good with "hands on" repairs (although I did revamp my own vacuum hoses and checked out the vacuum motors... but it was a big learning curve and felt like a big project) .......

But I don't want to attempt to yank out my own dash, so I'll probably get my mechanic to do it (he loves the car too, which helps.) I thought that instead of making him hunt down the correct LED's, I'd simply hand over the prearranged box and say "Go For It, Darwin."

I find my tail lights and brake lights are bright enough for me. So are my high beams. Low beams, not so much. But my dash lights are dim enough so as to make the instruments difficult to read at night. And I do like driving this car at night, makes me feel like a million bucks alone or with company, out on the highway cruising.

Rick

[mge825y]

Risk - I switched out my dash lights for blue LEDs a few years back and have been very happy with the results. I followed AutoStick's lead on the subject here that gave me the confidence to try it:

https://www.thelincolnforum.net/phpbb3/ ... 15#p392587

When I swapped my instrument light bulbs, I think all were the same size (which made this process easier), except the transmission selector. I wanted a light blue, not too bright, not too dim. I bought a few different ones to try from Amazon and eBay and finally settled on ones that worked that I liked.

I just snapped in a picture in my dark garage that shows how bright they are. It looks like the light for the temp & fuel cluster is out. Always something to do on these Lincolns!

Sounds like the "easy button" is to buy the all-in-one kit. But you can probably find what you need (for instrument lights) with a little trial and error for under $25.

[mge825y]

I had my speedometer repaired and when I went to reinstall it, I noticed that some of the blue LEDs that illuminate the speedometer were not working.

I first experimented with these blue LEDs in 2018. I love the look but I have had to replace several over time. The metal on them start to corrode and they start looking "iffy" before they burn out. I guess that's what one should expect with cheap imported parts.

I needed to get my speedometer back in, so I replaced them with standard incandescent miniature bayonet (BA9s) #1895 bulbs.

I'd be interested to know if anyone has experimented with any LEDs in their speedometer lately, and found a good source / brand that holds up?

[Dan Szwarc]

If the LEDs are simple twist-ins, they may be installed backwards, but I would have expected Bob's to have tested it.

[mge825y]

If the LEDs are simple twist-ins, they may be installed backwards, but I would have expected Bob's to have tested it.

Dan - I know what you're saying though about making sure the LED is installed correctly. These were some I noticed that had burned out before I pulled the speedometer. I just hadn't gotten around to replacing them. But, before I sent it to Bob's I pulled each bulb holder out with the LED still in it, marked them for where each goes and I stuck them in a ziploc bag for when the speedometer returned.

I marked them because I used both white and blue LED's in the speedo and the ones I have from 2018 you cannot which one is white or blue just by looking at them when not powered. I used white LED's for the turn signals, oil, generator and high beam indicators. Each of those have a red or green lens cover and you can see those signals better with white light behind it. I used the blue LEDs for the four speedometer illumination bulbs.

I did a quick look at what is out there on-line, and it's still hard to gauge the quality of what is available. One improvement that has been made is how to identify the color of LED's light. You can now buy them with a color band. Maybe I'll do some more research to see if anyone is making a better quality bulb these days because I sure do like the look.