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Chops
01-22-2012, 07:56 PM
I've been wanting to do this for a very long time, so this morning I finally decided to take the plunge and drop a few bucks on a full layout front to rear with superbrightleds.com. I didn't go cheap either. I have to try and find that thread on CR.net (I think that's where I saw it) about replacing the resistor on the blinker relay so my turn signals don't spaz out every time I use them.

Now for the twist. The only stock bulb that is remaining is the right hand back-up light. I'm converting the left one to a rear red fog light. I'm going to see how it looks with the lens clear first. If it isn't up to snuff, I'll color that part of the lens red.

Anyway, that's about it. I'm hoping they'll make it here by this coming Wednesday so I can install them. I'll take pics when I can. I'll take some during the day and some at night.

1881

iamdallas
01-22-2012, 08:16 PM
More info!

Sent from my PG86100 using Tapatalk

Chops
01-22-2012, 09:11 PM
More info!

About the rear fog light?

I'll be using a red 3 watt LED in the left back-up light section of the tail light, tapped directly into the parking light circuit for starters. After a short while, I'll run a switch up to the dash for that fog light in case I want to turn it off.

I do a lot of driving in the early mornings and late at night on a daily basis, so I figure this is a good way to be noticed a little better. Plus I always liked the look of rear fog lights. It will definitely be different.

paulsk
01-22-2012, 09:20 PM
Here is the CR thread.
http://clubroadster.net/vb_forum/showthread.php?t=41048

Chops
01-22-2012, 09:34 PM
Cool. Thanks Paul! I appreciate it.

I'll have to stop by RadioCrap and pick up that resistor pack.

Phatmiata
01-22-2012, 11:01 PM
Make sure to post a DIY thread!!! I know you take great photos already so this should be a good write up!!

Chops
01-22-2012, 11:47 PM
Will do Randy, and thanks for the complement. ;)

Agent☣Orange
01-23-2012, 12:08 AM
Right on. Another rear foglighter. ;)

Best idea to come from the UK/Europe yet.

Chops
01-23-2012, 01:10 AM
Right on. Another rear foglighter. ;)

Best idea to come from the UK/Europe yet.

Exactly how I feel too!

Chops
01-23-2012, 08:23 AM
Just for fun, I was looking around on CR.net and found that member "VincentMiata" did the same thing to his NA. Except he used a dual color LED, white for reverse and red for fog. Judging from the pic, it looks like the rear fog idea might actually work pretty good. Of course, cameras can lie.

1894

Chops
01-23-2012, 01:58 PM
Asked my father today if he had a spare 1meg ohm resistor laying around. This was his answer...

It's older and it's used, but it's perfect and free!
http://charlest.zenfolio.com/img/s11/v30/p831107369-4.jpg

Chops
01-23-2012, 10:52 PM
Just got an email conformation that the LED's should be here Wednesday! Cool! So I should be doing these as well as putting on the new fender. :mrgreen:

Chops
01-25-2012, 05:59 PM
Well I received the LED's today and installed all of them. I still have to do the rewire for the rear fog light as well as solder in the new resistor. I ran out of time since I also swapped out my front right fender. So I'll just have to suffer with the super fast spazo blinkers for a couple days. Oh well.

Chops
01-25-2012, 08:56 PM
Took these pics a couple hours ago. They don't do the lighting any justice. For some reason though, the licence plate LED's won't work. Very strange. I'll have to figure out why or return them for something else.

http://charlest.zenfolio.com/img/s3/v41/p560696845-4.jpg

http://charlest.zenfolio.com/img/s3/v44/p733218978-4.jpg

http://charlest.zenfolio.com/img/s11/v29/p592161978-4.jpg

Agent☣Orange
01-25-2012, 09:09 PM
Looking good. You probably have the license plate bulbs in backward. LEDs are polarity dependent.

Chops
01-25-2012, 09:55 PM
Looking good. You probably have the license plate bulbs in backward. LEDs are polarity dependent.

Not for the licence plate bulbs. They only have the center contact on the bottom. The rest of the housing is the other part of the contact. It makes no sense. All of the other LED's work just fine, it's just these two that are DOA. Hmm...

Agent☣Orange
01-25-2012, 10:33 PM
Oh, sorry. I was thinking of the blade type on my NB. No worries though. Do a test on each bulb by running a pos and neg wire to the battery and then to the tip and barrel of the bulb. If it doesn't light up, switch the wiring to the tip and barrel. If it lights up then, you know it's good and that you'll have to change the wiring to the bulb sockets in your car.

I converted a trickle charger to be a 12v power supply for my bench. I always test new LED bulbs when I get them in just to know if they're defective.


*just a little clarification since I got asked. When I said run a positive and negative wire to the battery to test bulbs, I meant open the trunk, stand next to the battery and run a couple wires a couple feet long (like speaker wire). Don't have to get fancy here, you're just testing to see if a bulb works or not or which side is + and -

brownmiata
01-25-2012, 10:41 PM
Sounds cool. I see cars all the time here in cali with these lights but usually they are little squares on the rear bumper. I always think that its a wiring flaw. What are they for? you say rear fog light? Is it to see the civic lights behind you. (sorry couldn't resist a honda pun)

Chops
01-25-2012, 10:42 PM
Oh, sorry. I was thinking of the blade type on my NB. No worries though. Do a test on each bulb by running a pos and neg wire to the battery and then to the tip and barrel of the bulb. If it doesn't light up, switch the wiring to the tip and barrel. If it lights up then, you know it's good and that you'll have to change the wiring to the bulb sockets in your car.

I converted a trickle charger to be a 12v power supply for my bench. I always test new LED bulbs when I get them in just to know if they're defective.

I was just talking to my girlfriend about these LED's and was telling her that I was wondering if the polarity of the sockets were backwards for the LED's. I bet that's it and now you just posted pretty much the same thing I was thinking. LOL

Maybe I'll see if I can test this theory out tomorrow. I'd really like to get these going.

Agent☣Orange
01-25-2012, 10:45 PM
In other parts of the world, cars come equipped with rear fog lights (a single red light not a pair of bright white or amber lights we refer to as fog lights here).

They are either integrated into the left or right side tail lights (UK vs Euro spec) or what looks like an aftermarket, squarish, rectangular or round red light under the bumper to one side.

Chops
01-25-2012, 10:45 PM
Sounds cool. I see cars all the time here in cali with these lights but usually they are little squares on the rear bumper. I always think that its a wiring flaw. What are they for? you say rear fog light? Is it to see the civic lights behind you. (sorry couldn't resist a honda pun)

It's exactly what it says it is, a rear fog light. These originated in Europe and Asia where there's a LOT of fog on the roads. Heavy thick fog. It just helps people behind you see your car sooner than they would with their own headlights glaring back on themselves, or your much dimmer rear parking lights.

Chops
01-25-2012, 10:51 PM
When I was sitting in my girlfriend's office parking lot waiting on her to get out of work, I turned the key onto the ignition position and put the car in reverse. That red LED in the left backup light works perfectly and is just the right intensity for a rear fog light. I can't wait to get it wired up properly this weekend.

ChrisSWT
01-25-2012, 11:35 PM
Please show us how you wired the rear fog light. i always wanted one but dont know where to start --'

Chops
01-25-2012, 11:47 PM
Please show us how you wired the rear fog light. i always wanted one but dont know where to start --'

All I did was buy a super bright red LED to replace the regular clear bulb in the left backup light. What I haven't done yet (but will this weekend) is tap into the parking light circuit and use that to feed the fog light LED. The right backup light still functions as the backup light. I'll eventually run a pair of wires up to the dash to a switch that I can use to turn off the fog light if I want, though I won't be in any big hurry to do so.

It's a very simple procedure to do.

Hammerhead
01-26-2012, 09:26 PM
Where did you source the LED lights for your project? I've been wanting to do this for a while.

IanL
01-26-2012, 09:50 PM
Reading comprehension FTW... :fp:

@Chops, looking good man!

Chops
01-26-2012, 10:28 PM
Where did you source the LED lights for your project? I've been wanting to do this for a while.

Hey John, I bought the LEDs from superbrightleds.com.

On a side note, I also did the blinker relay mod today during my lunch break, which involved replacing the stock 5.6k ohm resistor with a 1meg ohm resistor. Both are 1/4 watt. Works like a charm!

imperfekt
01-26-2012, 11:02 PM
i like the fog light... but with my luck, a cop would see the extra light on the driver's side, proceed to pull me over and tell me part of my passenger's tail light wasn't working, and then write me a ticket... lol


Just for fun, I was looking around on CR.net and found that member "VincentMiata" did the same thing to his NA. Except he used a dual color LED, white for reverse and red for fog. Judging from the pic, it looks like the rear fog idea might actually work pretty good. Of course, cameras can lie.

1894

Phatmiata
01-26-2012, 11:03 PM
Saw it tonight when he swung by the house after work, they're pretty damn bright!! I want to upgrade all my lights to LED now! Nice job!

Chops
01-26-2012, 11:20 PM
Reading comprehension FTW... :fp:

@Chops, looking good man!

Thank you Ian!



i like the fog light... but with my luck, a cop would see the extra light on the driver's side, proceed to pull me over and tell me part of my passenger's tail light wasn't working, and then write me a ticket... lol

I doubt that would happen. At least, I hope not.



Saw it tonight when he swung by the house after work, they're pretty damn bright!! I want to upgrade all my lights to LED now! Nice job!

Thanks bro! The BRG is a slow, on going project, but it'll be up there one day. I'm gonna see if I can get the rest of the LEDs (the license plate and fog light) wired up tomorrow morning before I go into work. It shouldn't take that long to do.

imperfekt
01-26-2012, 11:32 PM
I'm pretty unlucky :P

actually, some of the villages nearby have a small police force who like to enforce like they're madmen... but not in my hometown, police are pretty easy-going here :) they got better things to do hehe

Chops
01-26-2012, 11:47 PM
I used to live in Niagara Falls and work in Lockport back in '98-'99. I worked for a small company that traveled around the country doing medical billing, helping hospitals recoup unpaid bills from the patients. I alone recouped about 1.6 million bucks and a total of just over 8 million through the rest of our 6 employees. Shortly after, the hospital filed for bankruptcy and closed down.

You probably know which one I'm talking about too. I still have my ID tag sitting at my dad's house in fact! It says "Lockport Hospital" right on it.

IanL
01-27-2012, 12:30 AM
I was planning to convert my new tails to LEDs, this may have given me the incentive to do some of my other lights as well...

imperfekt
01-27-2012, 01:21 AM
ah yeah... I was born at the lost Lockport Hospital. Now the Eastern Niagara Hospital is in its place :(


I used to live in Niagara Falls and work in Lockport back in '98-'99. I worked for a small company that traveled around the country doing medical billing, helping hospitals recoup unpaid bills from the patients. I alone recouped about 1.6 million bucks and a total of just over 8 million through the rest of our 6 employees. Shortly after, the hospital filed for bankruptcy and closed down.

You probably know which one I'm talking about too. I still have my ID tag sitting at my dad's house in fact! It says "Lockport Hospital" right on it.

Chops
01-27-2012, 08:35 AM
ah yeah... I was born at the lost Lockport Hospital. Now the Eastern Niagara Hospital is in its place :(

Proof! :mrgreen:

http://charlest.zenfolio.com/img/s11/v37/p180703526-4.jpg

Chops
01-27-2012, 08:48 AM
As an update, I got everything finished with the LED's this morning. I inverted the polarity on the license plate sockets so that the LED's there work now. While doing that, I snipped the (+) wire for the rear fog light (left backup light) and tapped into the left license plate light at the same time. Now everything looks and works the way it's supposed to!

But before that, yesterday I modded the flasher relay with a 1meg ohm resistor (stock is 5.6k ohm I think) so I don't have the super fast blinking. Looks kind of :fab: when it does that... Anyway, here's a picture of said relay. It's right up under the dash/steering wheel, in between the clutch and brake brackets. Just lightly squeeze the tab (very top center of pic) to release the cable, then grab the relay and wiggle and pull down to release it from the slide clip. After that, you can find all the mod info on the first page of this thread where paulsk posted a link. There's good detailed photos there too.

So, the flasher relay. It's the only big box there. Top center above those white and yellow ones. And sorry for the poor pic quality. It was taken with the front camera on my iPhone 4...
http://charlest.zenfolio.com/img/s3/v43/p358668521-3.jpg


And the license plate LED's as well as the fully functional rear fog light. And boy that sucker is bright too, just like the real ones! It's not blinding though, which is a good thing. Again, pictures simply don't do it justice... At least, not with the iPhone.
http://charlest.zenfolio.com/img/s8/v9/p75151900-4.jpg

jnshk
01-28-2012, 09:59 PM
Unless that rear reverse lamp switches to red when used as a foglight, you are likely to get a "fix it" ticket eventually.

Chops
01-28-2012, 10:19 PM
Unless that rear reverse lamp switches to red when used as a foglight, you are likely to get a "fix it" ticket eventually.

It's a red LED, not clear...

jnshk
01-28-2012, 10:45 PM
It's a red LED, not clear...

Very good stuff. Can I look forward to seeing some vids of the leds in action? I went the LED route in my '58 Volvo, but I've been reluctant to mess with the Miata's turn/park/brake lamps yet.

Chops
01-29-2012, 06:26 PM
Videos??? They just come on and some of them flash. Nothing fancy...

Chops
01-30-2012, 07:35 PM
Here's some better shots taken this evening on the way home from work...

http://charlest.zenfolio.com/img/s11/v35/p826342257-4.jpg

http://charlest.zenfolio.com/img/s11/v35/p632591555-4.jpg

TheFrohn
01-30-2012, 07:47 PM
seriously considering doing this after seeing that nasty pile up on I-75 down there.

http://www.autoblog.com/2012/01/30/10-motorists-dead-after-fog-smoke-envelope-florida-highway/

Chops
01-30-2012, 11:01 PM
seriously considering doing this after seeing that nasty pile up on I-75 down there.

http://www.autoblog.com/2012/01/30/10-motorists-dead-after-fog-smoke-envelope-florida-highway/

That isn't the first time either. There was an even worse pile up several years ago on I-4 due to fog and smoke. And in the early mornings (which is when I'm on the road) there's usually fog to some degree, sometimes light, sometimes heavy. I don't want to take any chances.

WASABI
02-16-2012, 05:03 AM
Nice job Chops! That pile up scares the hell out of me. A lot of drivers don't take fog seriously enough. Keep up the good work.

-Jim

Chops
02-19-2012, 08:49 AM
Nice job Chops! That pile up scares the hell out of me. A lot of drivers don't take fog seriously enough. Keep up the good work.

-Jim

Thanks Jim!

Something else I always do when in the fog OR rain for that matter, I put on my sunglasses. They are polarized and really help to cut through the fog and rain. This is during the day of course. :8):