ClassicCar

Just wanted to share my recent activity to try and upgrade the brightness of my turn signals/brake lights/tail lights. I've got a '49 Super Sedan, which is a great, big car with little, bitty lights, and it's been pointed out to me that the brake lights, turn signals, etc. are nearly impossible to see in heavy traffic, on a bright, sunny day. Of course, this describes most of the big car shows and road trips I try to do as best I can.



Anyway, even though I've converted my car to 12V, I found several things that made my lights even brighter. I bought some 'Ron Francis' super bright (probably 25% brighter than standard) 1157 and 1156 incandescent bulbs from Parr Automotive. This brightened things up considerably. I'd looked at LED bulbs, which aren't bright enough, and I believe are better suited for a reflector that is designed for them. I also looked at halogen bulbs, but I think they're much too hot for my liking. Especially for the brake lights, considering the times you can sit at a stop light for what seems an eternity.



I took it one step further in the front, and this could apply to either 6V or 12V cars. Not that I'm 'recommending' that you do this. Or in the words of the late George Schmidt 'you didn't hear it here', but I noticed that the factory wiring is such that the dim element in the bulb is used for the turn signal (which I actually use....all the time!), and the brighter element was only used for the park lamps (which I rarely use). So with a little bit of soldering I was able to switch connectors at the wire harnesses coming from the front lamps. I did this at the terminal blocks adjacent to the radiator. Now, the turn signals are nice and bright. (I also replaced my front clear bulbs with amber color) Also, thanks to Park W for rooting out a grounding problem I was having.