Warning to Red Cobra owners

[RedBarchetta]

Originally Posted by lovehamr

? Are you sure? I've never felt a hot LED before.

Steve

Originally Posted by CobraDan

No real heat buildup with 12 Volt LED bulbs they are only slightly warm to the touch as there is no filament.

Correction: I was referring to the Halogens. Sorry.

[mpanten]

Originally Posted by Tony Radford

It's funny you bring this up. I was told in traffic recently that one of my brake lights was out. I checked it out when I got home and they were both fine. But hey, who needs brake lights on a bright red Cobra! My whole car is a brake light!

I had the exact same thing happen to me the other day !

[Silverback51]

On Fathers Day Sunday I was able to put a little over 200 miles on the car.

I had replace 3 bulbs prior to the trip. At the end of the day, 4 of the 6 were gone. The vibration seems to kill the bulbs in no time flat. That's the reason I'm looking at going with the LED's.

[bolmida]

I think it might have been my red FIA 289 cobra. During the parade I braked and whoever was behind me had to lock 'em up to keep from rear ending me. We were only going 30 mph. Ill have to check my brake lights.

[mpanten]

Does everyoe have 1157 bulbs? I checked mine and they are 1107, would the 1157's be interchangable?

[Got the Bug]

mpanten,

Do you have two bulbs or one? The later model SPF's have one 1156 (turn signal) bulb and one 1157 (running ight/brake light) bulb.

[Ronbo]

Watch your wiring with dual element bulbs. (1157)

These lamps have a dim filiment for marker and a bright filiment for brake/turn signal. Kinda like a high/low headlamp. (that's why the bayonet lugs are staggered so they can only go in the socket one way)

Sounds like the person described has the lamps wired backward.

[mpanten]

Originally Posted by Got the Bug

mpanten,

Do you have two bulbs or one? The later model SPF's have one 1156 (turn signal) bulb and one 1157 (running ight/brake light) bulb.

I have two bulbs.

[trularin]

Bolmida, where were you in the parade??

I was towards the end ( 2nd or third car from ).

[Got the Bug]

mpaten - The 1157 bulb has two contacts on the base and the 1156 bulb has one contact. Not certain, but I thought I heard that the earlier cars had a different tail light set-up. The bulbs would be listed in your owners manual (if you have it) or you might want to post on the SPF forum.

[sdonnel]

I was standing at the finish line for the rides in London last Saturday. My son commented to me that some of the cars had brighter lights than others. I have a photo of the line of cars from behind and it is very evident of the different intensity that the lights were giving off. The photo is too large to upload. I also took photos of almost every car going by me, so if you were there and want a photo, send me an e-mail at sdonnel2000@yahoo.com.

Scott

[RedBarchetta]

FWIW, I performed an experiment last night. I bought some of the 2357's (8.5W) outlined earlier in this thread and compared them to the existing 1157's (5W) on the car. And also bought a $10 LED to compare the 2357's.

First test = 1157 vs. 2357. Wow! What a BIG difference. No pics to post, but it was really, really noticably brighter.

Second test = 2357 vs. $10 White LED. What a POS! The freakin' white LED (12 bulbs) was noticably weaker than the 2357! Not only that, I think it was on a par with the 1157. Not all LED's are created equal and I learned that for myself with this test. The one LED I did buy is going back to the store tomorrow.

So, if you want a quick fix then go buy a pair of the 2357's (around $5 for both). They are hard to find, as most stores only stock one hook of them (mostly for the motorcycles guys) and always have tons of the 1157's. Good luck!

I can honestly say that my red car now has some considerably brighter red taillights.

-Dean

[Calbullet]

Dean, you should have bought a Red LED. the white one's get washed out. the red LED and red lens bring out the red the best.

Mel

[RedBarchetta]

Mel, thanks for the tip. I'm going to stick with the 2357's for now...cheaper and I know they work well. I could end up spending a lot of time trying different LED brands before I was satisfied. With $5/gallon gas I start to question every extra trip to the parts counter these days.

[Blas]

Check out my gallery for a photo of an add-on reflector inside the taillight box of my SPF. This should work on any taillight configuration...Made from a Mag-Light flashlight replacement reflector. Just cut off the bottom of the reflector to fit the diameter of the metal part of the bulb, and then cut and fit the top of the reflector to fit the inside of your metal taillight box. With a little thought and practice it comes out quite professional looking. The first one takes about 30 mins to make, the second takes 5 mins....buy an extra reflector to prototype the first piece with...Makes a huge difference in the rear lighting...

[ROUSHAC]

I'm using the 1.85" cluster from these guys: http://www.radiantz.com/cart/index.html?search.html&1"

and they are BRIGHT!

[RedBarchetta]

Originally Posted by Blas

Check out my gallery for a photo of an add-on reflector inside the taillight box of my SPF. This should work on any taillight configuration...Made from a Mag-Light flashlight replacement reflector. Just cut off the bottom of the reflector to fit the diameter of the metal part of the bulb, and then cut and fit the top of the reflector to fit the inside of your metal taillight box. With a little thought and practice it comes out quite professional looking. The first one takes about 30 mins to make, the second takes 5 mins....buy an extra reflector to prototype the first piece with...Makes a huge difference in the rear lighting...

Necessity is the Mother of invention. Great idea, Blas!