LED sidelight replacements

[gbb483]

I'm in the process of rebuilding the front lights etc. and am considering replacing the sidelight bulbs with LEDs. The existing ones are 5W incandescents, but if I can get an LED bulb, with an equivalent light power of a 22W incandescent and the electrical power of 5W or less I can use the sidelights as Daytime Running Lights. I have no other LEDs on the car and am not interested in going that route at the moment. Has anyone else done this? If so, which LED bulbs did you use?

Thanks.

[SteveD]

There was an interesting article in the club mag. very recently. I only kept the article so don't know the date, I'm sure someone will help with that or look in the archive.
Steve.

[Philip Wardle]

I have done some research, but haven't made the switch myself - other may have, and perhaps be in a better position to advise what works in practice.

The sidelight bulbs are originally specified as GLB 989 (not USA cars) and various LED options are available, e.g. from www.classiccarleds.co.uk and www.bettercarlighting.co.uk (search on"989"). Unless anyone else can confirm the fitment of specific options, you might need to check the dimensions of the LEDs with the supplier or otherwise confirm that they will fit in the Stag lamp unit. The original bulbs have a BA9s base, and I believe their overall dimensions are the same as the earlier LLB 989 (which was 5W instead of 6W) as follows:

LLB 989.png

It's not to difficult to follow the same path in order to research the other bulbs. One interesting point that I didn't appreciate is that, for indicators and tail/stop, its a good idea to get the appropriate orange or red bulbs to avoid the "washed-out" look that comes with increased brightness.

[DJT]

Magazine 486, September 2023 P14

With thanks to Chris Liles for his amazing magazine article index.

[gbb483]

Thanks, I'll take a look in my bookcase.

[gbb483]

Ok, a clever idea. They repurpose the rear brake light / sidelight fittings to be a DRL / sidelight fitting at the front, with a relay to make sure the DRL goes out when the sidelight is on.

[gbb483]

P.S. there is an error in the parts list - the wire is 32/0.20

[new to this]

On my car i changed the outer headlight so i have a side light bulb at the bottom of the light fitting, and have wired that up to be DRL, and I'm using LED bulbs

Dave

[NeilR]

I used rear lamp holders (stop/tail) fitted into the sidelight, tried a couple of different makes of BAY15D Leds but they aren't very bright for drl's.
Eventually made my own lamps using Epistar 10W white LEDs fitted onto turned ally heatsinks grafted into BAY15D bases.
Also added a bit of electronics to function like 'moderns', the appropriate DRL turns off with indicator flash & back on again when indicator stops flashing.

[MandM]

I changed my front side light to Warm light LED from Classic car LED , fit straight in see below

IMG_20200608_164357.jpg led rec.jpg

[DJT]

I changed my front side light to Warm light LED from Classic car LED , fit straight in see below

Same here.

Personally, I hate the whole concept of DRLs where only the front lights are on. So many times I see drivers of modern cars driving in rain/mist with no lights on the rear, oblivious to the fact that only their front lights are on. With so many boring black/white/grey/silver cars on the road they are invisible from behind.

[MandM]

some other lights give a none original look , a blue tinge

IMG_20200608_163537.jpg

[wilf]

The best thing about LED sidelights is their brightness compared to the OE bulbs, especially at the rear, where the combined side/brake lights actually project light straight out of the fitting, thus overcoming most of the issues issues with old, corroded reflectors. Got all of mine from classic car leds.


NB - indicator lights - if you use LEDs there you may well need to replace the flasher unit (as the led bulbs don't draw enough current to operate the old style flasher units) - I found that leaving the wing repeater lamps as they were let the old hazards flasher unit operate OK, but replaced the "normal" one with the one supplied by classic car leds. Works better as it is "instant on". Again - I feel the brighter lights are better from a safety perspective.

[Rigid]

Ditto, I replaced my repeater flasher unit for a modern solid-state version from CCL and kept the original filament bulbs - still bright enough but now flashing reliably.

[malc4d]

I bought a DLR kit from Quicksilver Automotive - Classic Car Daytime Running Lights Conversion Kit (bettercarlighting.co.uk) Uses the same bulb lower powered sidelight and a higher power for DLR when ignition turned on.