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Custom LED tail lights done!

22K views 32 replies 18 participants last post by  preludeh22a99 
#1 ·
Hey all,

I'm mostly a lurker here but this is something I've been working on for a while and it's finally done, so thought I'd share. Since they don't make LED tail lights for the Prelude I decided to make it myself...

Unlit:

Parking lights on:

Parking and Turn signals on:


I don't have pics of the brake lights yet (need someone's foot to help me while I take a pic) but basically it's all four red clusters brighter.

lights are made from a pair of heavily modified Altezza aftermarket taillights, "retrofitted" with LED circular light clusters (DOT rated so very bright!) for parking and brake, with semi-matching white LED circular cluster for reverse lights (also DOT rated), trimmed superflux red LED strip for the sides as markers, and custom-built high-powered Amber LED panel built into wraparound section for turn signals.

So it's a FULL LED light assembly, and no filament bulbs remain.

I also have night pics I'll post later.

A lot of work! Hope you all like it.
 
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#3 ·
just get a heavy boot and prop it on the pedal. :)
i didn't expect the altezza lights when i clicked this thread. although the reverse clusters seem just slightly out of place for some reason.


i like your work though, you did a good job.





those lights reminded me of JDM RSX tail lights. it would be too much work, but it would be sweet if those were like that. basically that style light, but instead of a black housing it would be matte silver. the lens would also be red, but clear directly in front of the clusters. and each cluster would be made up of white led's that fire up red (or white for reverse.
 
#12 ·
Nice work. Not a fan of the tail lights themselves, but it is an improvement to convert them to LED. You should work on the stocks. You'd bank with the amount of people wanting conversions...

As for getting the brake light on for pics, just take an umbrella or small broom and prop it between the brake pedal and your seat. Since the seat can recline forward or backwards, you can adjust it accordingly. I did this when I was testing out the LEDs on my MUGEN spoiler...
 
#15 ·
Thanks for the great comments guys!

Here are some night pics as promised...

Turn Signal off

Turn Signal on

Signal off

Signal on

Signal off


It's really hard to show how nice the LEDs are. The great benefit of using premade LED clusters (Besides the fact they're DOT so they can't ticket you for illegal lights) is that each LED is perfectly individually reflectored, so you see these nice discrete separations between them so they give a "turret gun" effect when seen in person. Hard to take pics of that because the camera tends to overexpose the output (even if I set it at low ISO) so in pictures, the LEDs look all blotched together, which is not what it's like in person.

It's funny, I get a lot of "looks like" comments from the S2000, G35, R32 Skyline, and now the RSX...

And I got braking pics! Coming soon...
 
#23 ·
i think they would look the best if you had transparent red lenses rather than clear, never been a fan of clear unless they came that way from the factory. maybe you should look into getting that lamin-x stuff in red and put that on.
 
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#32 ·
I didn't take pictures of the entire process. I just have a few pics I took roughly half-way through. I'll post them with a bit of a write up and hopefully it'll help.

do you have a link to the ebay led clusters?
It was over a year ago when I got them, so the links would be dead. I don't recall who the seller was either. But there are a LOT of choices as far as design goes. I recall I had about a half dozen light styles to choose from for the project. Local auto parts shops had a few choices as well but were pricier than ebay with fewer selection. When cut-out, the openings on the Altezzas are all 4 inch, so basically, any 4 inch truck LED lights would do (as long as they're dual intensity). Just pick the look you want.

Clear LED clusters that light up red should also be available on eBay for those who like that look.

Pics to come...
 
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