LAolds

Been looking for a wiring harness for a 72 Cutlass Supreme. Only found a couple on Summit and Jegs sites. Does anyone have a suggestion on where to find them or has used one of the harnesses from Summit/Jegs?
Also been looking at some Digi-Tails LED taillights for the same car. Has anyone used these on their rides. If so have you had any problems, and would you recommend them to someone else?

RetroRanger

m&H and American auto wire are two popular harness providers, I have an MH form fit function perfect

IDK anyone w LED tails

Lady72nRob71

If your tail lights seem dim, then consider cleaning the innards and repainting the reflectors (either gloss white or silver - forgot which color).
That often brightens them up a lot and keeps them looking natural.

MDchanic

I don't know why anyone would want LED taillights.

What's wrong with your current harness?

- Eric

LAolds

I was just looking at some online and thought they looked pretty cool and that they probably would look even cooler on the car.
As for the harness, its a 72 car that been sitting in a garage for 15 years. Had rats living in it and we was talking about changing it while we have it stripped down, while we're going through the motor and trans. Just trying to figure out where we can get one that's already made up so we don't have to make one.

MDchanic

But is there anything wrong with it?

- Eric

LAolds

what we've seen so far just a few frayed wires, few spots where the cover rotted out, and some where the rats got to em. so instead of trying to patch wires and tap in new wires, we figure just replace the whole thing and be good to go.

TripDeuces

http://www.cool-leds.com/index.html

I used this company for my 66. They don't make a specific kit for it but i was able to put one together from what they had.

RetroRanger

I guess the most compelling reason to change to LEDs is so the physics challenged tailgater might not hit my olds

"A study by the University of Michigan’s Transportation Research Institute found that LED lamps respond on an average 2/10th of a second faster than standard incandescent lamps. Using test results at 65 mph, LEDs improved reaction time and decreased braking distance by 16 feet."

http://www.pmlights.com/leds.cfm

They do light faster and theoretically last longer, but realistically there are more components involved and that alone increases the chances for failure....how many have seen one or more LEDs in an array in a late model cars tailights that fail to light.

TripDeuces

I did it for visibility. They are much brighter and the kit I bought has the added feature of flashing in rapid succession when brakes are applied.
It's a safety issue for me because people suck at driving these days.

These pics don't even do the brightness justice but you get the idea.

joe_padavano

I converted the tail lights on my 62 to LED and they are MUCH brighter. I simply used the 1157 replacement LED lamps. Note that there are several styles. Don't get ones like this that only have LEDs on the front surface:



The problem is that the stock reflectors are designed to accommodate incandescent bulbs that illuminate spherically. These only illuminate from the rear surface, so very little light gets to the reflector.

I used bulbs that look like this, with LEDs on the sides as well as the rear face:



This made a big difference. The side LEDs send light to the reflector, as it was designed for.

MDchanic

Nice units there, George. Surface-mounted. Cool.


Interesting. I'll have to look at that study.
The speed with which they light up is actually the main reason I hate them - it's very abrupt and doesn't look "natural."


Cool feature.


I actually tried a set of LED 1157 lamps about 5 years ago, and they were less than half as bright as the incandescents, so I tosssed them and never gave it another thought.

I guess they're better now.

- Eric

joe_padavano

Presumably you used the ones that didn't have the side LEDs.

MDchanic

Yes, they didn't have those then.

But even so, from directly behind, with no lens, it was still dimmer than the 1157.

I swore off if them.

- Eric

car_designer

I put 1157 LED bulbs in the taillights of my '83 Delta 88 and the results were mixed.

At night, they were great and brighter than stock. Unfortunately, most of the time I am driving in the daytime.

In the day, I found that the big taillight lenses actually let in enough sunlight to overpower the LED bulbs. Standing directly behind the car, all I could see lit up were the "dots" from each LED bulb. These were the ones with LED around the sides, although not as many as in the bulbs Joe used. This was at least 5 years ago, so the bulbs available are much better now.

I did end up making up an LED light for the third brake light my Grandfather installed in the car. I used only 7 or 8 individual LEDs and it gets your attention at eye level even behind the original red, textured lense.

Oh, and all of my dash is using blue LED 194 bulbs.

I'm getting crazy ideas for the taillights on the Cutlass. All the possibilities that LEDs allow...

LAolds

Thanks for the input guys. I appreciate it. Im gonna look into it some more and see if I can find any old school rides around here with the LEDs to get a better idea for how they look. This is the site I found them on.
https://digi-tails.com/

MDchanic

Holy $@*$!!

$20 - $30 for an 1156 bulb?!?

I think I'll wait a bit longer.

- Eric

joe_padavano

I pay less than half of that at Carlisle.

dfire25

I like these tailight kits. Nice and bright and I love the sequential feature. I'm going to get a set eventually. The price is a little steppe ($219) but maybe it will come down in the future, but I dought it.

Miles71

When choosing new lights, you need to study the specifications when changing to a new style bulb.
Just because replacement bulbs have similar numbers does not mean they have the same electrical, optical and Illumination patterns.
Most of us know to check the wattage and to avoid using a bulb with a wattage (HEAT) rating significantly more than the recommended wattage rating.

You also need to check the Lumens (The brightness of the bulb) and other values.
Most LED replacement bulbs will use much less power (watts) than a typical incandescent bulb.
The down side is that most of these LED bulbs make less light (Lower Lumens).

Example:
A stock tail like (Brake light ON) #1157 will generate 407 lumens and cost about $1.00.
A new LED bulb with 45 surface mount emitters will generate approximately 220 Lumens and cost about $24.00.
So for $23 more, you get one half the brightness.

In most cases LED will use approximately 60-80% less power and generate less heat than Incandescent bulbs.
The down side is that most LED lights make less light!
It was also mentioned on this thread, that the Illumination pattern of LED lights is much different than Incandescent bulbs.
If you do try LED lights, make sure you know the Return policy.

For my Cutlass, I have replaced my old style 1157 Rear Brake lights with Sylvania Silver Star 1157-ST.
The power loads and Lumens are similar to Stock, they are just Whiter than traditional incandescent.

Has anyone found a good solution for the Side Marker lights in LED?