Much Brighter Taillites, The Low Tech Way

[Red Regal T]

GUYS ARE COMPETING TO SEE HOW MUCH THEY CAN SPEND TO MAKE THEIR HEADLITES BRIGHTER. I GOT ENOUGH HEADLITE, BUT BRIGHTER TAILLITES ARE KIND OF IMPORTANT AND DIDN'T COST MUCH TO UPGRADE. FIRST OF ALL, I WIRED IN A BRAKE LITE INTO THE CENTER LENSE OF THE TAILLITES. WHILE I HAD THE REFLECTIVE PART OF THE TAILLITE ASSEMBLY OFF TO MAKE THAT MODIFICATION, I PURCHASED SOME 3" WIDE CHROME TAPE AT THE PARTS STORE. I HAD TO CUT IT IN STRIPS EVERY WHICH WAY TO ATTACH AND COMPLETELY COVER THE CONCAVE SURFACE OF THE REFLECTOR. I RE-ASSEMBLED THE TAILLITE ASSEMBLY AND MUST ADMIT, IT LOOKS PRETTY GOOD. VERY BRIGHT AND KIND OF LOOKS LIKE JEWELS FOR LACK OF A BETTER DESCRIPTION.

 

[AsphaltAnihil8r]

Shame on you ,,you of all people should know we need pics.......

 

[turbofish38]

Hey John, one thing to watch out for. Since the bulbs set really close to the lenses make sure you are not building any extra heat into them as you could experience some melting there. I've had some customers who were stupid enough put them icey hot POS light bulbs in the plastic headlamps of other models and do the same thing. The only reason I mention this, and its a really far off example, is last year I parted out a NA Regal and a buddy of mine wanted the license plate lamp off it and upon pulling it off I found it melted. When I managed to get the bulb out it looked like some one had stuffed, if I remember right a #906 bulb in there which is about twice the wattage of a #194, causing the plastic to melt. Since good taillamp lenses are hard to find I thought this might spare you a little greif if by chance it happens. Eric Fisher

 

[Red Regal T]

Thanks for the heads up Eric. I've already been running more lights in the assembly before the reflective tape idea. Makes the taillites twice as bright. I don't think it will be a problem but I'll keep an eye on it. I did buy new lenses a couple years ago. New ones are so much nicer than the 15 year old ones.

 

[John Larkin]

John, do you think the chrome spray paint would create the same effect? This isn't a silly allusion to the painted taillight saga either.

 

[Pronto]

Eastwood has a kit for renewing reflectors for lights. I think it uses a chrome paint.

 

[Red Regal T]

Hey guys, hi John, I can go to the local parts store and buy bumper chrome paint......$3 or $4. I can probably buy it from Eastwood for $12. Those people are thieves.

Anyway, I had them freshly painted with "chrome" paint before I had this brainstorm. Wasn't much of an improvement. If you look at a lot of new cars, they have mirror chrome as a reflector for the taillites instead of siver paint. That's what I've done to mine. It made them very much brighter. You can't clearly see the chrome backing because of the diffusion of the lense so makes no difference how you apply the chrome tape to the reflection area. It's a difference of night and day.

Don't worry though. I'm going to find some way to make this procedure cost over $100 so I can spark more interest.

 

[cwelk87gn]

Here's another tip for making your tail lights brighter, replace the 2057 brake/taillight bulb with a 2357, if you do one side at a time you can compare them for yourself. I did it on my car...very slick

 

[AsphaltAnihil8r]

bling
PICS

 

[Gary Wells]

I would definitely be interested in seeing pictures, please

 

[V6DVette]

>>Don't worry though. I'm going to find some way to make this procedure cost over $100 so I can spark more interest. <<

Gotta love it!
I'll take three!



I'm never gonna finish this car!

 

[Red Regal T]

Originally posted by cwelk87gn
Here's another tip for making your tail lights brighter, replace the 2057 brake/taillight bulb with a 2357, if you do one side at a time you can compare them for yourself. I did it on my car...very slick

If what you say is true, doing what I suggested will make your taillites even brighter. I'll have to look into those bulbs. Where can they be purchased and what is their intended application?

 

[cwelk87gn]

The 2357's I believe were originally for Ford products and if you check the specs, they are about 25% brighter than the stock 2057's. You can also replace the lights in the middle of the taillight with a 168 instead of the 194's that are stock, again they are a bit brighter. If you wanted to take it a step further the front turnsignals are also 2057's and you could upgrade those as well. You can buy the 2357's at any parts store, Autozone, advance etc.HTH Also, I tried to take a pic but they didn't turn out well.

 

[Red Regal T]

Sounds like a good tip (2357s). I hope your right. I'll look into it tomorrow. I have been using the 198 bulbs in place of the smaller bulbs. Here's another tip you might be interested in.....

Ya know how the front side marker, next to the headlite, flashes alternately to the turn signal lense? If you change the wiring so the inside positioned parking lite in the turnsignal lense is on the same circuit as the side marker lite, it makes the the bumper turnsignal appear sequential. It flashes back and forth and is more noticeable due to the back and forth motion.

 

[Red Regal T]

Originally posted by V6DVette
>>Don't worry though. I'm going to find some way to make this procedure cost over $100 so I can spark more interest. <<

Gotta love it!
I'll take three!



I'm never gonna finish this car!

THAT OF COURSE MEANS $100 FOR EACH SIDE.

 

[V6DVette]

Red Regal T quote:
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Originally posted by V6DVette
>>Don't worry though. I'm going to find some way to make this procedure cost over $100 so I can spark more interest. <<

Gotta love it!
I'll take three!



I'm never gonna finish this car!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



THAT OF COURSE MEANS $100 FOR EACH SIDE.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Oh Goodie!!!

 

[Red Regal T]

I purchased the 2357 bulbs as suggested by cwelk87 and they are a little brighter. Nothing spectacular, but, side by side, you can tell the difference. BRIGHTER IS BETTER!

 

[Ken Cunningham]

Originally posted by Red Regal T


Ya know how the front side marker, next to the headlite, flashes alternately to the turn signal lense? If you change the wiring so the inside positioned parking lite in the turnsignal lense is on the same circuit as the side marker lite, it makes the the bumper turnsignal appear sequential. It flashes back and forth and is more noticeable due to the back and forth motion.

Sounded like a good, no-buck mod, so I did it today. Took me the half-time show plus the entire second half of a miserable Chargers game that wasn't worth watching anyway. If you want to do this, I think I can save you some time: The inner parking light has a 2-wire connection. You want to connect both of these wires in parallel to the side marker light. For some reason just connecting the 12vdc doesn't work. Just cut these wires someplace convenient and connect them with some pinch-shut wire joiners to the side markers. The whole job can be done from under the front end if you lift the car.

The end result, though, left me a little disappointed. The outer light is SO much brighter than the inner light. The outer light actually bounces off the inner reflector, so the wig-wag effect is pretty weak. Does anybody know if a different inner bulb will work? Maybe go with a clear bulb instead of the amber bulb I have now??

 

[Red Regal T]

Sure.......just buy the larger push in CLEAR bulbs. Not sure what the number is. They were actually brighter than the turnsignal bulb. Now, I used the 2357 as mentioned above and it has the same brightness.

I used small twist on wire nuts as you described to make my connections. Easier and quicker than solderless connectors.

 

[Ken Cunningham]

I'll give the clear bulbs a shot. Thanks for all your tips, John.