1966 LEDs and electronic sequential signal conversion?

[hurleyman77]

1966 - 428i

I'm finally getting the chance to get back to working on this thing, and the turn-signals are the low-hanging fruit, at the moment.

I really want two things: to swap the incandescent bulbs with LEDs, and to swap the electro-mechanical sequencer with a modern electronic sequencer. Has anyone had any experience with this? It seems clear to me that there could be some electronic conversions that wouldn't play nicely with LEDs, but I'm having a hard time finding any information about it.

Thoughts?

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[Gary Tayman]

The 1964-66 Thunderbirds should all use heavy-duty flashers. There's a reason: most flashers are built around the current flow of the front/rear lamps. This is why the flashers sometimes quit working if a bulb is burned out, or flashes really fast if you connect a trailer. A heavy-duty flasher has a built-in clicker that does not depend on the current flow of the lights. The reason I bring this up, LED's use considerably less current than incandescent bulbs.

As for the sequencer, these use mechanical contacts to turn on the center and inner lamps when flashing. They are not current-dependent.

Now -- most NEW flashers are electronic, but again -- the heavy-duty types flash the same regardless of current. As for the electronic sequencers, they use electronic timing, not current, meaning they should not be affected by the reduced current of the LED's.

All that being said, I think LED lamps are wonderful on new cars, and are certainly an improvement over conventional, but I'm not sure I like them on a classic. The reason, the original lights take time to come on and go off. It takes a split second, but the lights start dim and get brighter, then go out the same way. In contrast LED's come on immediately, like a strobe. To me the brake lights and turn signals just don't look the same. However this is personal opinion and if you like them, by all means go for it.

 

[fordrodsteven]

I've seen newer Mustangs with sequential tail lights and they are LED. I would probably try to get the parts from a salvage yard. I should think the newer Mustangs are using a solid state sequential unit. You might even be lucky enough to find that Ford has carried color coded wires the same over the years. (I don't really know the answer)

 

[biddle]

Include the model year of your car on future posts in the title / subject. Thank you.

 

[hurleyman77]

These are all great answers, thanks! Gary, I appreciate your thoroughness. It's sometimes frustrating when the response is "don't worry about it," without any explanation. The "why" is often more important than "what."

I agree that the incandescent bulbs have a different look, and I prefer the look, too. My priority, though, is making it a car that I don't have to work on quite as much. Ideally, there would be an electronic solution that could operate dimmable LEDs to get the same look with longer lasting units, but I haven't heard of such a thing, yet.

I'll definitely check out the Bird Nest, thanks again!

 

[Gary Tayman]

These are all great answers, thanks! Gary, I appreciate your thoroughness. It's sometimes frustrating when the response is "don't worry about it," without any explanation. The "why" is often more important than "what."

I agree that the incandescent bulbs have a different look, and I prefer the look, too. My priority, though, is making it a car that I don't have to work on quite as much. Ideally, there would be an electronic solution that could operate dimmable LEDs to get the same look with longer lasting units, but I haven't heard of such a thing, yet.

I'll definitely check out the Bird Nest, thanks again!

I've updated the taillights on my 64, remembering that this car started as more-or-less a basket case that's needed everything. I replaced the lamp sockets with some NAPA sockets that someone recommended, and I also painted the inside reflectors with chrome paint (the kind you get at any auto parts store). Seems in the beginning I only painted one lamp, left the other one as is, and one day I went on a "tour" with an AACA group -- and the fellow following me yelled there's something wrong with my lights, as one lamp is dimmer than the other. I got home and checked -- the painted one was "slightly" dimmer, but the difference was so infinitesimal that you really had to look at both simultaneously to see the difference. So I painted the other. I added a sequencer, electronic, that required two units, one for each lamp. It worked great for years, although one of them would act up from time to time. The problem was bad wiring connections. One day last year, a shop rewired the entire front-to-back wiring, and installed a new sequencer (one unit handles both lamps). Aside from the big bill, it's all working with original-type lamps.

Indeed, LED's are better than incandescent lamps in that they use less energy and are more reliable, but the original style lamps will last quite awhile by themselves -- I've seen more bad wiring/bad grounds on cars than burned-out lamps. But again -- personal preference. One advantage of LED's on these cars is the fact that those huge lamps were such a strain on current that the brake light switches burned out -- and a mod was installed to add a relay. That was 1964 -- in 65-66 the switch was moved from the master cylinder to the pedal itself, and I'm sure it was a bigger switch. Also, the original headlight switches were known to have problems, and in addition to a new switch, I replaced the original headlights with halogens. In low-beam mode, current draw is cut almost in half.

Working on radios, every set gets a new dial amp, whether it needs it or not. I typically replace the lamp with the same type, with a few exceptions. A #57 gets replaced with a #1895; same brightness, draws something like one microamp more, and has ten times the expected life. Same with a #1891; I use an #1893. Some people ask about LED's; someday I might be forced to do this, but as long as I can get the originals, they simply look better in the dash.