Bodiam Posted November 5, 2015 Report Share Posted November 5, 2015 While I have the speedo and tacho out for refurb, I was thinking of changing the dash illumination bulbs for LED's, now that there seem to be some sensible prices in the market. I was wondering whether to leave the green lenses in place in the back of the clocks, or to remove them - does anyone have any experiences they could share on the most effective way to go? Thanks in advance for any comments. John Quote Link to post Share on other sites
harrytr5 Posted November 5, 2015 Report Share Posted November 5, 2015 I went for green Leds for one of my 5s and white for the other and did not remove the lens on either. The green LEDS are very effective and I got mine from Gil Keane 4 sight Automotive Lighting ( www.bettercarlighting.co.uk). Nice firm to deal with and next day delivery. Regards Harry. P.S Change your rear stop and tail while you are at it. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Allan Jezzard Posted November 5, 2015 Report Share Posted November 5, 2015 + one for Gil's greens and rears. Allan Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fireman049 Posted November 5, 2015 Report Share Posted November 5, 2015 (edited) I fitted Tungsten/Halogen bulbs to the tail/brake lights on my 3A and the result was fabulous ~ even in daylight! Tom. Edited November 6, 2015 by Fireman049 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fireman049 Posted November 5, 2015 Report Share Posted November 5, 2015 (edited) With reference to the above lights modification. I had to modify the bulb holders as the filament of the bulb was not in the centre of the red lens. Photo. 1 shows the correct type of bulb that should be fitted. The bulb filament is set too high. Photo, 2 I removed the bulb holder by drilling out the pop rivets. Photo. 3 shows the bulb holder in a much lower position allowing the filament to be placed in the dead centre of the red lens. Photo. 4 shows the bulb illuminated. Before carrying out this modification the light output was inferior. Tom. Edited November 7, 2015 by Fireman049 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RobH Posted November 5, 2015 Report Share Posted November 5, 2015 Tom - that looks like a tungsten-halogen bulb, not an LED (light-emitting-diode). Good mod though, I might try that. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fireman049 Posted November 5, 2015 Report Share Posted November 5, 2015 Hi Rob ~ You're quite right, they are tungsten/halogen bulbs. They best suit the rear lights of the TR2/3/3A due to the vertical position of the bulb. I tried LED's but they are definitely not suitable for the sidscreen cars. Tom. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mattyb Posted November 5, 2015 Report Share Posted November 5, 2015 Hello Tom Great mod and very effective Your 3A rear lights look very similar to my 1958 MGA rear lights - Are the combined light/brake and indicator ? if so, I'd be very interested in knowing where you bought the bulbs from and specification. Regards Matt Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Don H. Posted November 5, 2015 Report Share Posted November 5, 2015 Hi Rob ~ You're quite right, they are tungsten/halogen bulbs. They best suit the rear lights of the TR2/3/3A due to the vertical position of the bulb. I tried LED's but they are definitely not suitable for the sidscreen cars. Tom. One needs to be careful -- very careful -- running halogen bulbs in automotive lighting applications not originally designed for them. The greater heat output can melt lenses. By how much did you increase the wattage? Perhaps higher wattage could be tolerated in the intermittent duty cycle of a brake light, but I'd advise against it for standard taillights. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
harrytr5 Posted November 5, 2015 Report Share Posted November 5, 2015 See my post. This company does a mod using LED and incorporating indicator lights which turn the red lenses into amber at the top with red stop and tail lights at the bottom. Although I have not seen them yet,it sounds clever. Now can use the red indicator inboard lights by changing to clear lens for reversing lights on a TR3a. Regards Harry. P.S. all reversible if you want standard spec Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RobH Posted November 5, 2015 Report Share Posted November 5, 2015 Don - provided the halogen bulb is of the same wattage as the original one, the heat output will be the same. You can't legally use higher wattage bulbs anyway in stop/tail lights I believe. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Don H. Posted November 5, 2015 Report Share Posted November 5, 2015 Don - provided the halogen bulb is of the same wattage as the original one, the heat output will be the same. You can't legally use higher wattage bulbs anyway in stop/tail lights I believe. Being against regulations doesn't mean it's not done though, Rob -- especially over here in the US, where we don't have the gov't checking on stuff like that all the time. If it's the same wattage it's gonna be hard to have significantly different light output, isn't it? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RobH Posted November 5, 2015 Report Share Posted November 5, 2015 The halogen bulbs do burn brighter for the same wattage because the halogen gas allows the use of a thinner filament. I believe you get about 25% more light for the same power in and the colour temperature is higher too - so there is noticeable improvement over standard. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Don H. Posted November 5, 2015 Report Share Posted November 5, 2015 Here's one person's take on standard and halogen 1157 bulbs: http://automotivemileposts.com/taillightbulbcomparison.html Quote Link to post Share on other sites
RobH Posted November 5, 2015 Report Share Posted November 5, 2015 Hmm - interesting Don. The H1157 is 50/18 watts which is twice the power. No wonder it gets hot. The legal halogen bulbs here are 21/5 watts : Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fireman049 Posted November 6, 2015 Report Share Posted November 6, 2015 Hi Matt ~ My rear lights are Stop/Tail only. I have separate indicators. I'll hunt down the supplier and send you a PM. Cheers ~ Tom. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bodiam Posted November 6, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 6, 2015 Many thanks for all the information, gentlemen, most helpful. I shall certainly be uprating my rear stop/tail bulbs - must be a good thing to be more obvious at night, especially when our cars are so low on the road. Does anyone else have a view on whether or not to remove the green lenses when changing the dash illumination to LED's? Look forward to your observations. John Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fireman049 Posted November 6, 2015 Report Share Posted November 6, 2015 The Quartz/Halogen tail light bulbs in my TR are as follows: Supplied by Paul Goff (01494 868218) part no. 12v 5/35w BAY 15d stop/tail QH at £9.00 each and well worth it. These bulbs are ideally suited for fitting in the vertical position as opposed to LED bulbs which are better suited to horizontal position. (I've tried both versions and the Q/H bulbs are superior ~ even in daylight! Tom. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
mattyb Posted November 6, 2015 Report Share Posted November 6, 2015 Hi Matt ~ My rear lights are Stop/Tail only. I have separate indicators. I'll hunt down the supplier and send you a PM. Cheers ~ Tom. Many thanks Tom and supplier and specification noted. As far as I can remember, my MGA only has the one bulb in the rear lights ( a stop/tail) I think (and hope !) that these bulbs will function in the MG cheers Matt Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fireman049 Posted November 6, 2015 Report Share Posted November 6, 2015 Hi again Matt ~ Yes, my tail lights have only got one bulb in. The bulb I mentioned should fit perfectly. I also had an MGA '1600' Roadster and how I wish I still had it!! The MGA's had really beautiful bodylines ~ the MGA FHC was really beautiful! (but I preferred the Roadster! My ideal MGA would be one fitted with an MGB 1800 engine (and possibly an overdrive gearbox!). Cheers ~ Tom. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
matttnz Posted November 7, 2015 Report Share Posted November 7, 2015 Many thanks for all the information, gentlemen, most helpful. I shall certainly be uprating my rear stop/tail bulbs - must be a good thing to be more obvious at night, especially when our cars are so low on the road. Does anyone else have a view on whether or not to remove the green lenses when changing the dash illumination to LED's? Look forward to your observations. John Been wondering about this John as I would like to do this in the future. As I see it: Some of the green filters will be melted out over the years in which case just opt for green LEDs. If the wavelength of the green LED is within the wavelengths transmitted by the green filter it should make no difference to the transmission of the light so it shouldn't matter anyway whether it's a green or white LED, except that matching the green you are used to for the TR6 may be difficult. The green LED will be a narrow wavelength and may be a different "green" than you want. The white should just be filtered as normal. Then there's the question of whether the rheostat dims the brighter LEDs? MT Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bodiam Posted November 7, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2015 Hi, Matt, Thanks for your thoughts. I find myself in a bit of a cleft stick at the moment, my clocks are away for refurb and it would be no problem to have the green lenses taken out. However, I'm not sure how that would affect the light distribution within the gauges. Once the clocks are back, I don't really want to have to take them apart again. Harry's comments earlier seem to confirm that leaving the lenses in place still gives good illumination, which just leaves the question of whether to go for white or green LED's. On balance, I'll probably keep the green lenses and go for white LED's. If you like, I'll let you know how things turn out. Regarding the rheostat, my understanding is that it no longer works with the LED's, but then it seems to make precious little difference with the standard bulbs either! Come to think of it, I can't remember the last time I used the instrument dimmer on any of the cars I've owned over the last 50 years, so I guess it's not crucial. Best wishes, John Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fireman049 Posted November 7, 2015 Report Share Posted November 7, 2015 My 3A is fitted with LED dash panel lights ~ a great improvement. The rheostat doesn't have much if any effect on the lights ~ but why fit brighter lights and then try to dim them? Tom. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Bodiam Posted November 7, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 7, 2015 Good point, Tom. Did you remove the coloured lenses when you fitted the LED's and did you go for white or coloured LED's? Thanks for your help, John Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Fireman049 Posted November 7, 2015 Report Share Posted November 7, 2015 Hi John ~ No I didn't remove the coloured lenses and I fitted white LED's. Tom. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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