LED Tail-lights....New Design
Make me an offer 
No, seriously don't, I like them too much and won't be selling.
I agree the issue with the ones being discussed is they are not diffused and thus look too rice, at least for me.
TurboIIrotary has been working on a very similar design yet one that would work to diffuse the LED lights. So the light would be something like this:
BMW makes the look by using opaque acrylic tubes and "shooting" the light thru with end mounted LEDs. Don't like the BMW lights but I do think this look can be translated to the FD. I've been meaning to retrofit my LEDs on the front of my car to this style but haven't done it yet. As for the brake lights, my thoughts tell me the clear tube approach won't work as you need a good bit of LED power to achieve a stock level or greater of lighting. But I could be wrong here.
You can achieve the same diffused look by simply using the stock red lenses and then using clear acrylic behind it instead of the frosted stuff. See my pic as this is what I did. The advantages to using clear acrylic is you don't loose any light output whereas when you use frosted material, you do. So if turboIIrotary can still use the stock red lenses and then clear material he will be good to go. He knows what he is doing and I am sure he is aware of this.
No, seriously don't, I like them too much and won't be selling.I agree the issue with the ones being discussed is they are not diffused and thus look too rice, at least for me.
TurboIIrotary has been working on a very similar design yet one that would work to diffuse the LED lights. So the light would be something like this:
BMW makes the look by using opaque acrylic tubes and "shooting" the light thru with end mounted LEDs. Don't like the BMW lights but I do think this look can be translated to the FD. I've been meaning to retrofit my LEDs on the front of my car to this style but haven't done it yet. As for the brake lights, my thoughts tell me the clear tube approach won't work as you need a good bit of LED power to achieve a stock level or greater of lighting. But I could be wrong here.
You can achieve the same diffused look by simply using the stock red lenses and then using clear acrylic behind it instead of the frosted stuff. See my pic as this is what I did. The advantages to using clear acrylic is you don't loose any light output whereas when you use frosted material, you do. So if turboIIrotary can still use the stock red lenses and then clear material he will be good to go. He knows what he is doing and I am sure he is aware of this.
Shots of the turn signals
Passenger side unit
Shots of the wiring and components
So, I made a pattern for the fiber optic rods and then used my heat gun to form the rods to the pattern. I then built the LED light emitters, with one for each end of the rod, or two per turn signal. Installed these and then wired them up to two "Buck Puck" LED drivers.
I'm still going to use the two stock lights, the one for the parking lights and the other for the turn signals. Of course, these are LED on mine as well. Trying to figure out how to add a relay into the sequence so when you turn on the turn signals, the fiber optic rod lights go out on that side of the car. One thing at a time. I've test fitted these and they look pretty cool and I'd show some shots installed, but the car is not here so I can't. That's another story
Thanks guys. I like the way they turned out and with a black car, they stand out nicely. These are a one-off but I am happy to answer any questions for anyone that wants to try it. I might post up a DIY on it including a product list if there is interest.
One thing that was difficult for me is I was using a set of turn signals that I had previously modified so I had to bondo and mold in the bottom 1/3 of the housings as I had cut this area out for my old LED inserts. That and trying to use adhesive was time consuming.
One thing that was difficult for me is I was using a set of turn signals that I had previously modified so I had to bondo and mold in the bottom 1/3 of the housings as I had cut this area out for my old LED inserts. That and trying to use adhesive was time consuming.
Would you be interested in doing a version where they follow the natural bottom contour of the turn signal fixture? that way they all work in conjunction instead of the led blocking the other light(s)
great work nonetheless very sexy stuff!
edit: I did a quick mock up of what I'm talking about
great work nonetheless very sexy stuff!
edit: I did a quick mock up of what I'm talking about
Last edited by thatdon; Mar 19, 2013 at 03:51 PM.
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Joined: Nov 2007
Posts: 154
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From: CA
David-Hayes - very nice, sleek, how difficult or what kind of modification is needed to mount those lights back on your bumper? Noticing the two additional led bulbs on the ends, i would imagine you'll have to cut up the bumper to make room for them. Are you able to keep it secure somehow?
It looks really nice, especially photographed in darkness. The overlap on the inner light bothers me a bit, did you think about deleting the inner light? I guess there are a few ways to play with it if you wanted.
Im open to posting up a DUY on this for those that want to try it themselves. This is one of the more challenging LED projects I have done but maybe you can learn from all of my trials and errors.
David-Hayes - very nice, sleek, how difficult or what kind of modification is needed to mount those lights back on your bumper? Noticing the two additional led bulbs on the ends, i would imagine you'll have to cut up the bumper to make room for them. Are you able to keep it secure somehow?
On the inner light, yes I could easily delete this but I am interested in seeing how it all looks together. The inner light is a parking light so it's not that important. In the test fitting it looked pretty good to me but I am open to taking it out. We will see (pun intended). The thing I really want to do is to rewire so when using the turn signals (outer light), the new LED rod turn off on that side. Audi does this and it helps to draw attention to the turn signal side.
David, those lights look great! Did you just use acrylic rods like something you could get from McMaster-Carr? Also, I wonder if the back of the rods could be coated with some kind of reflective paint or something that would force more of the light to be emitted from the front? In fact, it looks like the lights in the BMW picture there are small lines throughout the length of the fiber optic rod that help accomplish what I am trying to talk about.
David, those lights look great! Did you just use acrylic rods like something you could get from McMaster-Carr? Also, I wonder if the back of the rods could be coated with some kind of reflective paint or something that would force more of the light to be emitted from the front? In fact, it looks like the lights in the BMW picture there are small lines throughout the length of the fiber optic rod that help accomplish what I am trying to talk about.
I tested several samples of the acrylic and plexi rods and didn't like the light output. I tried cutting in small lines into the rod, applied a bunch of reflective materials to the back, but just didn't like the output or the OEM quality, or lack thereof. Was easier to work with but just didn't work for me.
Ended up with the fiber optics rod and found that since it was designed to emit light out of the sides, it was the best candidate for this project. Didn't have to do anything to the rod except form it to the shape I wanted. This was a bit tricky because the rod is coated in teflon and you have to be careful not to burn though the material to heat up the inner core. I thought I could remove the teflon as the rod is enclosed in the turn signal but the manufacturer advised against this.
Here is a link to the material:
10.5mm Solid Core Fiber
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Joined: May 2006
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From: reno nevada
Still waiting for the DIY writeup David...
I dont have 99 spec bumper, or even a running FD right now but I would like to see how you do it and im sure this would work its way into a project of mine sooner or later
I dont have 99 spec bumper, or even a running FD right now but I would like to see how you do it and im sure this would work its way into a project of mine sooner or later
^ Here is one that I did based on the Theorie design:
https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generati...cation-955336/
https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generati...cation-955336/
What I used is not acrylic rod. It is side emitting fiber optic rod.
I tested several samples of the acrylic and plexi rods and didn't like the light output. I tried cutting in small lines into the rod, applied a bunch of reflective materials to the back, but just didn't like the output or the OEM quality, or lack thereof. Was easier to work with but just didn't work for me.
Ended up with the fiber optics rod and found that since it was designed to emit light out of the sides, it was the best candidate for this project. Didn't have to do anything to the rod except form it to the shape I wanted. This was a bit tricky because the rod is coated in teflon and you have to be careful not to burn though the material to heat up the inner core. I thought I could remove the teflon as the rod is enclosed in the turn signal but the manufacturer advised against this.
Here is a link to the material:
10.5mm Solid Core Fiber
I tested several samples of the acrylic and plexi rods and didn't like the light output. I tried cutting in small lines into the rod, applied a bunch of reflective materials to the back, but just didn't like the output or the OEM quality, or lack thereof. Was easier to work with but just didn't work for me.
Ended up with the fiber optics rod and found that since it was designed to emit light out of the sides, it was the best candidate for this project. Didn't have to do anything to the rod except form it to the shape I wanted. This was a bit tricky because the rod is coated in teflon and you have to be careful not to burn though the material to heat up the inner core. I thought I could remove the teflon as the rod is enclosed in the turn signal but the manufacturer advised against this.
Here is a link to the material:
10.5mm Solid Core Fiber
Def awesome work
Mind me asking what LEDs did you use or where did you get them from? im tempted to try this. I was going to use those strips they sell at autozone but I don't like how it aint a continuous/solid light
and also did you use that 10.5mm thickness core?