Mustang Tech

Hi again, from my COVID quarantine cell in Darwin! Soon to transfer to another cell in Brisbane! It matters not that we are vaccinated, tested every few days, and operating in a "COVID bubble". We are all criminals it seems! The joys of aviation in this COVID age!

Anyway to fill in my days I'm researching anything I can for my Bullitt project, and so today I'm tossing up various ideas to upgrade the standard dim tail lights on my 68' FB.

I'm sure we are all aware of the sequential LED set ups many install. All good IMHO, but I'm looking to stay non sequential and just get some much brighter tail lights etc.

So I am thinking of 3 options and wondering who's done what and what they think afterwards;

1. Replace the single bulb with the most powerful red LED unit I can find, adding an LED flasher if required to sort
the resistance issue. (are there any single red LED units bright enough?)
2. Fit the 3 bulb upgrade from SCOTT DRAKE - DRK-C7ZZ-STL-13400
2A. As above but with 3 x red LED bulbs (maybe using an LED or variable flasher?)
3. Fit one of those pre made non sequential LED / taillight panel units. (most expensive route and requires a wire
to be run all the way to the dash.)

The way I see it option 2 is the easiest and is effective. However option 1 may do the job too. And has the advantage of just having 1 x LED bulb that will probably last for the life of the car (or me!). Anyone tried any or these, and have a view?

Thanks in advance.

I am doing the same thong for my 70. I don't want sequential and only want LED for the brightness so the peckerheads on their phones can see me braking.

I have the 3 bulb setup already, but they have already rated to melt the middle lens. Perhaps an LED bulb will reduce this due to lower heat?

So I have decided on an LED setup. I want to put a divider into the housing so both outers only flash with turn signals, the two inners are stop lights and all 3 are tail lights. Looks like different resistors allow them to be duller or brighter, so it will be 3 wires in.

Still planning the setup and only really need to work out how to get a constant voltage in. I have been told to use constant IC but can't really grasp how they work and how many are needed. If there's any sparkies out there who can explain to this fummy how to reduce power to a constant voltage I'm all ears.

smh00n wrote: I have the 3 bulb setup already, but they have already rated to melt the middle lens. Perhaps an LED bulb will reduce this due to lower heat?

Thats useful as I was wondering what type of bulbs they use in the 3 bulb kit. Are they the standard 1157 8/27w bulbs used in the OEM single bulb unit?

If so I can understand the heat issue. Thats quite a few amps when all 3 are on too! Perhaps your plan to just replace the bulb that's causing the melting with an LED might work, as the others might draw enough current to make the OEM flasher work?

I'd be interested to see how it works out.

The bulbs were supplied and are a higher wattage than normal. I can't recall the exact numbers but they are brighter in the stop circuit than the 'normal' ones.
It's only the centre bulb that is the issue but that sits a bit closer to the lens in the one I have (which I think is the Scott Drake version).

smh00n wrote:I am doing the same thong for my 70. I don't want sequential and only want LED for the brightness so the peckerheads on their phones can see me braking.

I have the 3 bulb setup already, but they have already rated to melt the middle lens. Perhaps an LED bulb will reduce this due to lower heat?

So I have decided on an LED setup. I want to put a divider into the housing so both outers only flash with turn signals, the two inners are stop lights and all 3 are tail lights. Looks like different resistors allow them to be duller or brighter, so it will be 3 wires in.

Still planning the setup and only really need to work out how to get a constant voltage in. I have been told to use constant IC but can't really grasp how they work and how many are needed. If there's any sparkies out there who can explain to this fummy how to reduce power to a constant voltage I'm all ears.

Are you talking about a voltage regulator?
Why do you need one? The 12V LEDs designed for vehicles shouldn't need anything.

Can you explain exactly what you are planning?

I was only talking about a flasher unit designed for LED's. Or an in line resistor to eliminate the need for such.
I presume hes talking voltage because he wants to equalize or manipulate the amount of illumination for each function? Using resistors for each LED would do the same trick I imagine.

smh00n wrote:The bulbs were supplied and are a higher wattage than normal. I can't recall the exact numbers but they are brighter in the stop circuit than the 'normal' ones.
It's only the centre bulb that is the issue but that sits a bit closer to the lens in the one I have (which I think is the Scott Drake version).

Just got a response from CJ's. The 3 bulb kit uses the standard 1157 bulbs.
To my knowledge they only come in one configuration: 8w/27w

mungus wrote:I was only talking about a flasher unit designed for LED's. Or an in line resistor to eliminate the need for such.
I presume hes talking voltage because he wants to equalize or manipulate the amount of illumination for each function? Using resistors for each LED would do the same trick I imagine.

He did mention resistors as well, so that's why I asked for clarity.
It should be noted that LEDs don't generally respond all that well to voltage changes. They usually aren't dimmable.
Most dim/bright LED setups just turn on less LEDs for parkers for example, then turn all on for brakes.

So, let me try to explain.
I'm building this from scratch (because I can, I want to and I will) so I have to build the entire thing from scratch. As Hybrid says, I can run 2 circuits but I don't want to and my research indicates I don't need to.

The LED I want to use are ~2.2 forward volts each, so I'll use 3 per string. Mainly for space than anything. I need resistors to take up the unused 12 volts per string; say 470 Ohm each. This will depend on the actual power coming ion, which is what my question and uncertainty relates to.
So each row (string) of LED will have a resistor to take up the unused volts.
I will use the same LED for both stop and tail; the tail lights will have a more-resistant resistor to drop the voltage gong to that circuit, whilst the stop lights will have less resistance resistor to allow more power to that circuit.
As I have researched, the larger voltage hit increases the brightness so both circuits are powered but the one with more volts wins the brightness fight. A diode on each circuit will stop power being fed backwards.
So the array are easy to work out.
My issue is to keep the power to the LED steady, so they don't go too bright and burn out. I have been told that a Constant current IC https://www.ledsales.com.au/index.php?m ... cts_id=926 will cap the power at a set amount, so I don't need to account for the fluctuations in power from a car. Being able to keep the current constant makes all your resistor calculations 'better'

Maybe I have this wrong, but I can't find a video or guide that explains how to wire them up. Do I use one for every string, do I use one each string..???
The LED sales guy doesn't do phone calls and his emails are geared more towards an experienced tech.

I'm about to buy a whole heap of bits from Jaycar (who also can't help a great deal) to trial and blow a heap of LED up.

If you look up a forum called SAU, some rooster has done this setup to his GTR and he has quite a good DIY guide on there.

What are the upper and lower voltages you're planning to use at the LEDs themselves?
If your upper level is 5v or lower, you could just use a 5v voltage regulator, then adjust your resistors to get the voltages down to where you need them from there.
https://www.jaycar.com.au/7805-5v-1a-vo ... e/p/ZV1505

The link you posted is a constant current device, not a voltage device. It allows a constant 20mA to flow, but the voltage could change, meaning your overall power can change since power = volts x current. I think that is designed as more of a protection device rather than to stop the LEDs changing brightness.

Edit: BTW if you wanted to use that CCR IC that you linked, it would be wired in series with the LEDs as per the example circuit on page 4 of the datasheet.
https://www.ledsales.com.au/pdf/NSI45020A-D.pdf

The way you configured it would depend on how much current your LEDs will draw. The unit will provide 20mA, so you can't exceed that.
The second diagram shows how you could wire them in parallel to handle more current for more LEDs if required.

Mungus, that all sounds like a lot of work. You don't need resistors if you use a couple of LEDs in series in each section so the total volts is around 12 v.
I bought a bunch of superbright 10mm LEDs and played with this exact thing trying to convert my EH taillights to bright LEDs and was not impressed with the results. I also tried to set up lights for my horse in the Mustang grill and ended up buying a SD LED kit. If you want to do it, go with white LEDs as they are generally a lot brighter than Red LEDs as you can see in the table below (14,000 vs 3000 mcd).


I ran 6 of those whites in each taillight section and they weren't as good as an LED bulb with 18 smd chips like the ones below. They’re only rated at 2.4W but they’re super bright and only cost $1.50 each on fleebay.


I fitted two extra sockets to each of my mustang lights, fitted lenses with amber on the outside and dividers. Then I rewired it so the taillights, brakes and indicators were separate (using smd leds).

Now you can buy a 3 bulb Scott Drake setup with dividers for $70 which is much neater.

hybrid wrote:What are the upper and lower voltages you're planning to use at the LEDs themselves?
If your upper level is 5v or lower, you could just use a 5v voltage regulator, then adjust your resistors to get the voltages down to where you need them from there.

I'm looking at using 13.9 or 14V as maximum input, based on what I see on my Sniper display. Minimum I guess would be 10 or 11V.

Looking at it, it won't work for what I wanted as I need to reduce the voltage by resistor to reduce the brightness on the tail light circuit.
Maybe I am just confused.

I have done 4 cars with the LED kit from Mustang project and they work great. The last fastback I did all LED including the Mustang Project head lights.