Author Topic: LED taillights on my 73 Cuda  (Read 2483 times)

Offline RCCDrew

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1380
LED taillights on my 73 Cuda
« on: November 29, 2014 - 09:43:48 PM »
Just wanted to show everyone what I've been working on.  I've been paranoid about getting hit in the car for a while, so I wanted to add LED lights to the back of the Cuda.  I followed Goodysgotacuda's old thread on how he added LEDs to his car.  The lights I found were a little different, so I was able to fit the whole red lens under the factory red lens.  This makes the light look red again instead of a 40 year old faded pink.  I am also making the car a 4 taillight car, like should have been done at the factory, IMO.  When the lights are all off, the rear lights still look factory.  When on, the red light shines through the clear reverse light.  Another interesting bit of information is that since I added an LED on each side, the flashers are still the same speed.  No need for flasher upgrades. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jf0WwB_nHws
The LED light on the left lights up much faster than the original filament bulb

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6bz4p1y_02A
Dual taillights


Hope this info helps keep a mopar from getting rear ended. 




Offline dfrazz

  • 1970 Cuda - 1968 Charger
  • Resident
  • *****
  • Posts: 4070
Re: LED taillights on my 73 Cuda
« Reply #1 on: November 29, 2014 - 10:18:04 PM »
Those look nice!   :2thumbs:

Offline bigblue73

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 504
Re: LED taillights on my 73 Cuda
« Reply #2 on: December 12, 2014 - 11:31:16 AM »
Looks great.  How much do you have invested?  If you do the parking lights you will have to upgrade to the No-Load digital relays.  The part number is EF32 on E-Bay.  CEC is a good brand and the coast is under 10 bucks per unit.  You will need 2 - 1 for the turn signals and the other for the emergency flashers. 

Offline RCCDrew

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1380
Re: LED taillights on my 73 Cuda
« Reply #3 on: December 15, 2014 - 08:14:38 AM »
They are about $17 a light. So about $75 with a tube of RTV I bought to seal the lights into the lens assemblies. Not sure what you mean by the parking lights? The front parking lights? If so, probably not going to do them. I would like to make the front parking lights into parking/ fog lights. The turn signal flashers work well with the dual LED setup.

Offline ShelbyDogg

  • Sr. Resident
  • ******
  • Posts: 5007
Re: LED taillights on my 73 Cuda
« Reply #4 on: December 19, 2014 - 05:59:13 PM »
I put LED taillights in mine too:
I'm adding some LED reverse lights below the bumper.







Rob

3 E-bodies, Megasquirt-1v3.0, Edelbrock Pro-Flo-1, Holley C950, FAST EZ-EFI; say no to carbs...yes to throttle bodies

My Pace Car restoration thread:
http://www.cuda-challenger.com/cc/index.php?topic=44869.0


Offline RCCDrew

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1380
Re: LED taillights on my 73 Cuda
« Reply #5 on: December 19, 2014 - 08:17:51 PM »
Looks good! I was afraid of how they would look without the original lenses.

Offline RCCDrew

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 1380
Re: LED taillights on my 73 Cuda
« Reply #6 on: December 19, 2014 - 08:18:35 PM »
I think I am going to put the reverse lights in the bumper as well.

Offline ShelbyDogg

  • Sr. Resident
  • ******
  • Posts: 5007
Re: LED taillights on my 73 Cuda
« Reply #7 on: December 19, 2014 - 09:07:18 PM »
Looks good! I was afraid of how they would look without the original lenses.


My original lenses were all scratched up and not worth restoring. I wanted the 4-tailight look like the corvettes, so the reverse light had to go.

I found these super bright 6x3w lights for my quad and bought an extra pair for the cuda. $10 each with a nice sturdy aluminum housing.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00DR67P9I/ref=pe_385040_128020140_TE_3p_dp_1
Rob

3 E-bodies, Megasquirt-1v3.0, Edelbrock Pro-Flo-1, Holley C950, FAST EZ-EFI; say no to carbs...yes to throttle bodies

My Pace Car restoration thread:
http://www.cuda-challenger.com/cc/index.php?topic=44869.0