Hello guys,

I know I open myself up to be flamed, but please keep your criticism constructive.

About a year ago, I started a project to make my own LED taillights. I will post some pictures of the build soon, but first, I need your input. I finally got around to digging this project back out and decided to finish it.

What I need your input on:
How should I paint the lenses? Should they be painted like the ’99-’00 taillights? Should I do some custom paint on them? Keep in mind that they must have some red tint on the lenses so I don’t get pulled over (and so they don't look ricey). Should I add more LEDs?

I have only finished one light, so I have installed one, and you can compare the two.

The "Rice" shot (Yes, they will get painted with some red tint)


Lights on


Lights on + break lights


Break lights only


Turn signals (Hazards realy)


Reverse lights


All lights on (lights, breaks, hazards, reverse)


The "money" shot


Again, please be constructive.

 

paint them like the 99-00 and i think you should add more LED's to make it brighter.

 

2.0 v-tech? clear tail lights? Whats next a body kit?

 

i dont get whats so custom built about these , you can buy led bulbs......

 

it could just be the photo, but they do not look NEARLY bright enough.

otherwise they look good. I'd paint them all red except the reverse light

 

OEM / STOCK / JDM All day.

 

Thanks for the input, I think I will probably end up painting them to look like the '99-'00 lights.

Yes, you can buy LED bulbs, but these are soldered on circut boards. Again, I will post some pictures of the build. There are 200 - 250 LEDs on this one taillight I will count them all when I take them back apart.

x-ray tech: Did you read the post? I don't intend to keep the taillights white.

They are bright enough in person


Thanks for the input guys!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by knoj &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Yes, you can buy LED bulbs, but these are soldered on circut boards. Again, I will post some pictures of the build.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

so what do u want a cookie for bragging rights on how many leds u have in ur tail lights? who cares they arent that bright....

 

you have a lot of free time

 

vtech

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ATS*Mark &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i dont get whats so custom built about these , you can buy led bulbs......</TD></TR></TABLE>

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ATS*Mark &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
so what do u want a cookie for bragging rights on how many leds u have in ur tail lights? who cares they arent that bright....</TD></TR></TABLE>

Well, you said you didn't "get whats so custom build about these", so I explained what is so custom about them. If I were going to brag to you about anything, it would be my use of punctuation and correct spelling.

Thanks for the inspiration though Mark.

 

im just trying to figure out the advantage here..... thats like working really really hard to paint a headlight bulb yellow to call it custom . im just wondering what makes them better than just getting led bulbs. plus you plan on painting them like 99-00 taillights why didnt u just do this to 99-00 taillights....

 

um, cool that you made them? but they look like theyre from ebay.
paint them like oem and see how they look

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by x-ray tech &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">2.0 v-tech? clear tail lights? Whats next a body kit? </TD></TR></TABLE>

no... the next step is swaping an actual 2.0 with that old thing called.. vtec... just... vtec.....

 

Buy some altezzas and take the clear cover off and use them. The taillight light covers on the OEM clear tails are distorting your light. You know what im saying? Tint them red too to make them nice unless you want clear tails. If you go all clear then your boards are gonna be visible.

 

Just keep the oem one.

 

i hear that if you are going 80mph and the car infront of you is equipped with led tailights (ie infinity) and slams on her brakes, that because led illuminate like .8th of a sec faster than normal tails that it equates to 15feet of extra stopping distance... for keeping your rear end safe!

 

looka interesting.. looking forward to seeing the final product..

 

..............

 

ur oem ones seem brighter...

 

holy **** where the fuckk did u get those taillights??? i want them! hahahaha

 

for spending a long *** time on something little.
I spent like 60 hours redoing my old mugen wheels.

I would probally go with a clear cover to help light output

 

vtec... LOL

 

for something different and for being creative, but they would be hot if you painted them like stated before 99-00. Then shoot some good quality clear on them.

 

Okay...

Here is a picture with the lense removed:


135 Red LEDs
25 White LEDs
38 Orange LEDs
Total = 198

I think I may add 24 more reds in the botom section (two rows) to brighten it up when the brakes come on.

Thanks again for the comments everyone. Still a lot of work to do!