Custom LED tailights

[owlman]

Looks awesome so far. I sure hope that silver paint isn't conductive!

I think you're on the right track here with a solid pattern like this, hopefully it will look reasonable after going through the lens.

 

[G-RELL]

with the "detail" of the lens being on the inside, could you fill the inside with a resin or epoxy to help hide the reflective problems???

I'd just like to know how many to buy. I know I could just pull the instrument cluster and check, but with the work schedule I have this week, not happening.

Centason, quit thread jacking... If you have a question, ask it in your thread or send a PM... Thanks

 

[FrankLS]

with the "detail" of the lens being on the inside, could you fill the inside with a resin or epoxy to help hide the reflective problems???

That would be a bit complicated. You would have to get the exact same material that was used on the lens so that it would reflect light uniformly and allow the exact same light output as the original lens.

 

[FrankLS]

So Ive been very busy lately but I finally have some updates. Did a bit of work today. Im completley done with the brake/marker section. All wired up with their resistors.

I did some work on the blinker section but only had enough of the resistors to light half of the board. I baught a large set of varying size resistors from radio shack a while back, so now i need to order many of the exact resistor ill be using for the blinker section.

-Lit brake/marker section.

I have semi-permanently mounted the brake/marker section to the housing and lit it up. The results are not great but not as bad as some may have expected. The LED board is mounted fairly close to the lens. The spacing between the LED's is not the same as the spacing of the lines on the lens which creates some distortion in two of the LED lines. If i move the lens up or down, those two lines are now fully visible but another two become distorted. So basically, no matter how you look at the lens, there will be at least two sections somewhat distorted.

I honestly would of liked the light to be less distorted but im happy its not too bad. The distortion is less visible when the "brakes" are applied.

Now that I think about it, I took these pictures completley perpendicular to the lights surface. I should of placed the tailight lower than the camera as the is the way they will be viewed by other vehicles or pedestrians. I can only assume that when looking at the tailight in that manner, there will again be two LED lines that will be distorted. Enough talk here are the pictures.

-Brake/marker section, in "marker" mode. (Less bright)

-Brake/marker section, in "brake mode". (brighter)

-Side shot of the lens

-Here are a few pictures that I took with both sections inside the lens. It looks pretty damn sexy.

I like how the LED's are looking. I would of rather had full visibility of the whole board but I think it looks good. One idea I had was to seperating the LED lines by one more "board hole", maybe then they would better line up with the lines of the lens, but would mean less LED's on the board. I like the look and im gonna continue with this setup.

 

[FrankLS]

Took a few more pictures from a different angle. Trying a slightly steeper angle. They look good! You can still see a bit of distortion but they look great. The light fills the section fully and not too bright (although i can adjust the brightness of the marker with a screwdriver on the mini opti-drive).

All pictures taken in the dimmer "marker" mode.

-With lights on

-Darker, but still with ambient light

 

[zookroo1]

Wow, that's some nice work! Looks awesome!

 

[FrankLS]

thanks!
The only thing that bothers me a bit is the "rough" edge on the right side of the board. Not too bad but wish it would look more like a smooth curve.

Im getting more excited about the project. Im going to go treat myself to some asparagus!

 

[bmxbang]

Looks amazing! OEM If I didn't know better!

 

[FrankLS]

thanks, thats what i was shooting for. A nice clean look without them looking too out of place. The hard part will be matching the other side, down to the individual bread board holes.

 

[2002_lincolnLS]

thanks, thats what i was shooting for. A nice clean look without them looking too out of place. The hard part will be matching the other side, down to the individual bread board holes.

that will be tough but man does that look great

 

[BlackLS06]

OMG....that looks sexy.

I think i would want these on my car. Its stuff like this that could have kept the LS alive.

 

[FrankLS]

I dont think theyll look good on a black LS , leave the sexiness to mine.

Im glad this part of the project is coming out great, but still have lots of work to be done.

 

[Andrizzle]

That looks legit before the lens went on.

Since you have the lens cut off, see if you can get your hands on transparent lexan and bend it into shape. I bet it's way easier than it seems.

With heat, anything is possible!

 

[FrankLS]

OMG....that looks sexy.

I think i would want these on my car. Its stuff like this that could have kept the LS alive.

I think thats one area Ford is really lacking behind in. Its not enough to make your tailights look good, but they should also look great when lit. Like with the earlier MKZ, the tailights look ok, maybe a bit large, but when they light up its just a little ugly square within the light. Theyve been doing better on the newer models.

 

[FrankLS]

That looks legit before the lens went on.

Since you have the lens cut off, see if you can get your hands on transparent lexan and bend it into shape. I bet it's way easier than it seems.

With heat, anything is possible!

That's a risk I don't think I'm willing to take right now. I'm sure its possible and will look good but as of right now I have everything I need to complete this project (minus resistors which are on their way), and I don't want to mess something up and have to purchase yet another tailight.

It'll probably be a better mod for someone doing lse tails as a single red lexan peice can be used for the whole tail a opposed to having a half red, half clear tails.

Agree that if done correctly, it would look good.

 

[BlackLS06]

I think thats one area Ford is really lacking behind in. Its not enough to make your tailights look good, but they should also look great when lit. Like with the earlier MKZ, the tailights look ok, maybe a bit large, but when they light up its just a little ugly square within the light. Theyve been doing better on the newer models.

Agreed.

The new Lincoln interiors are amazing and look so much better than ours. But they look like whales on the outside. And yes no reason to have a 3.5L twin turbo luxury car with touch screen controls and incandescent bulbs.

 

[Andrizzle]

You could do clear lexan and add film for the red portion. Only thing is the signal section may be a little in your face with fully transparent lens looking at the bare breadboard.

Nothing some light smoke tint wouldn't fix :]

 

[abe_froman]

Great job!

 

[Pan1019]

Absolutely amazing!
wow!

 

[G-RELL]

you know your going to have to start making these for everyone... YOU DONT HAVE A CHOICE.... once you get them (preferably only one side) make a daytime and nighttime video, please

 

[FrankLS]

Thanks guys, project has been fun.

I already spoke to my gf and I'm gna have her follow me while we are driving and record to see exactly how the tails look. Ill try this with one led tail and one stock. Nobody drives my car so that'll be the only way ill see them functioning.

Sure ill sell some to members, $1k, any takers?

After this set ill be retiring!

 

[Brad]

Looks sweet Frank.

 

[owlman]

They look pretty awesome! I too am eager to see a comparison video.

 

[tristangoesham]

*Golf clap*

 

[FrankLS]

Has been a while Ive posted updates. Ive been busy as always. Have done a bit of work here and there and finally got my shipment of resistors, so I should now have about everything that I will require for this project.

I still have to think about the type of sealant I will use as I want to be able to remove it if need be, but still seal from the elements.

Ok so I have now finished the marker section. Everything is wired up and I like what im seeing. The slight distortion braught by the lens' curves is still visible when up close and perpendicular to the light. Just like the brake/marker section, a little bit of distance or a slightly different angle improves the look.

A flood of pictures for you guys. Pictures taken with room lights on and then with ambient light from the adjoining room. I have also mounted my mini-optidrive and the voltage regulators on a board. Wired the grounds for all 3.

Ive been using hot glue. It holds very very firmly. I made a mistake when mounting the volt reg and had a hell of a time taking it off the board. Had to remelt the glue and pry them apart. I may end up just using hot glue to permanently mount the items on the board.

I wonder how many people actually read what I write and dont go straight to the pictures.