LED replacement for courtesy lights - ZR-1 Net Registry Forums

GTOger · 05-29-2013

I have just completed the replacement of all the interior lights with LED's. I also did the engine-compartment lights, which means I can now leave the hood open for an extended period of time without worrying about the battery.

The main reasons I undertook this project were:
#1: Reduced heat in the fixtures should help to prolong the life of the plastic.
#2: Reduced amperage means less draw on the battery and perhaps fewer "rolling starts".
#3: Better / brighter light output.

One thing I was nervous about is the change in color temperature. That is, the car is of a certain age... I didn't want it to look like some 1990's rice-rocket that's been all blinged out. Honestly, if you walk into your local auto parts store and look for the LED interior lights, there's an obvious target demographic and to my taste, it's not appropriate for the ZR-1. In other words, I wanted the car to be classy and I was concerned that going from the quite yellow tone of the OEM bulbs to the LED's would look out of place.

After doing some searching around, I found an online seller that offers nearly all the bulbs you need to do a complete swap of the courtesy lights, minus the bulb that sits under the back bumper for tire changes. That one is itty-bitty and as yet unavailable. The part that really struck home for me was they offer the LEDs in various color temperatures such as "cool white" (the bluish white), "warm white" (more yellow) and "natural white" (somewhere in between). I chose to split the difference and go with "natural white" which to my eye is the "most white". It's all very subjective, so I'm sure everyone will have their own opinion here. The point is I found a selection so I could make the choice that I liked best for my car.

The job was pretty easy with the caveat of the flood lights in the mirror. The LEDs I got for there are 6-LED clusters and I had to do some whittling down of the outside edge to get them to fit into the housings. Not a big deal, just meant some time with a sharp knife. As best as I can tell, it was simply a matter of removing excess material, and no actual modification to the LEDs or their circuitry was made.

The only "odd" mod was in the engine compartment. For that application I went with a 30-LED panel measuring about 1.6"x1" that uses a festoon-base adapter. I installed the festoon adapter, the plugged the LED panel into it, then zip-tied the LED panel to the festoon. It all fits just fine, but sometimes it feels odd installing things with zip ties. You cannot tell once the glass cover is replaced, and the engine compartment lights are now FAR brighter.

Bottom line, I'm pleased with the results. Here is a comparison in the engine compartment of the LED (left) and the original bulb (right):

And a couple of interior shots (I did NO cleaning, so these are not glamor shots!)

Racinfan83 · 05-29-2013

Do you have a complete list of the stuff you got and from where? If so - and you don't wish to publish it in public - could you please PM it to me?

scottfab · 05-29-2013

Quote:

Originally Posted by Racinfan83

Do you have a complete list of the stuff you got and from where? If so - and you don't wish to publish it in public - could you please PM it to me?

Yes, I too would be interested in the list.
I'd like to find out what the current draw is on the hood lamps as well as the measured light output there is. (lumens)
There is a 90 led board assembly available that also has a flying lead adapter that would need to be tie-wrapped. I evaluated it. I found it wanting.

The current highest intensity hood lamp that I know of right now is this one but it draws 5watts ea. At that draw the trade of is obvious. You're not going to leave the hood open too long. While that is about half of the stock draw it's still enough to kill the battery too quickly. And yet the 800 lumen output it has is fantastic. It can be found at:
http://store.ijdmtoy.com/5W-CREE-Hig...-p/sku-108.htm

I have not bought nor evaluated it but on paper it looks pretty good. No doubt it has a 120-180 deg pattern which is too bad. Much of the light is wasted out to the sides of the car an not the engine.

What I don't understand is why in the hell they wouldn't put the core LED (CREE Q5 XP-E LED) in a quad pattern. LEDs require ~3V junction voltage and if you put 4 of them them in series you get less heat loss across the dropping resister and 4x the light output. Theoretically that would be a 3200 lumen assembly at the cost of the same 5W.
I am watching this CREE company a lot. They are on the ball. I used one of there newest LEDs recently in the hood assembly and they keep innovating. I need to buy more of their stock

Racinfan83 · 05-29-2013

I need the underhood lights worse then anything else right now....
There is a local monthly show in the evenings I would like to leave the hood up for without killing my battery...

msmoore · 05-29-2013

I too would be interested in the "kit". After seeing some cars with the upgrades at the Gathering, I am also planning to upgrade the headlights and driving/fog lights. As far as I know, it's all still original.

-=Jeff=- · 05-29-2013

I just ordered some LEDs for my interior.. I got them from Corvettemods..

waiting for them to show up..

I got my hood LEDs from Scottfab on the forum here

GOLDCYLON · 05-29-2013

Be avised on the corvettemods kits some of their LEDs are universal fit. Meaning exactly that... you may have to modify your connector in order to get them to fit.

Whereas CorvetteHID.com. Yes you will pay more for the interior kit is AN EXACT fit that will replace your bulbs.

Just saying GC

ALSO ScottFab also made my underhood light kit and -=JEFF=- made my LED CHMSL !

Fully Vetted · 05-30-2013

Quote:

Originally Posted by GOLDCYLON

...ALSO ScottFab also made my underhood light kit and -=JEFF=- made my LED CHMSL !

You can also get the LED CHMSL in black, chrome or smoke for a little over $100 here:

http://www.carid.com/1994-chevy-corvette-taillights/

-=Jeff=- · 05-30-2013

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fully Vetted

You can also get the LED CHMSL in black, chrome or smoke for a little over $100 here:

http://www.carid.com/1994-chevy-corvette-taillights/

That is the bumper mounted one

I made/modded my own from an Uplander assembly

Racinfan83 · 05-31-2013

I just ordered the whole set GTO listed. Come to find out the place (superbright leds) is 15 minutes from my house - so I don't have to pay shipping and I can pick em up today! Will look at options on the underhood lights to see about mounting them in a water proof and short proof way when I do it...

05-29-2013	#4
Racinfan83 Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: Eastern Missouri Posts: 773	Re: LED replacement for courtesy lights I need the underhood lights worse then anything else right now.... There is a local monthly show in the evenings I would like to leave the hood up for without killing my battery... __________________ [LEFT][SIGPIC][/SIGPIC][/LEFT] [CENTER][COLOR=Indigo][SIZE=4][I][B] Now Sold 1990 ZR-1 #2093, Black on Black..[/B][/I][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER]

05-29-2013	#5
msmoore Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Nashville, TN Posts: 34	Re: LED replacement for courtesy lights I too would be interested in the "kit". After seeing some cars with the upgrades at the Gathering, I am also planning to upgrade the headlights and driving/fog lights. As far as I know, it's all still original.

05-29-2013	#6
-=Jeff=- Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Bartlett, IL Posts: 7,169	Re: LED replacement for courtesy lights I just ordered some LEDs for my interior.. I got them from Corvettemods.. waiting for them to show up.. I got my hood LEDs from Scottfab on the forum here __________________ 1990 Corvette ZR-1 #1051 Watson Headers (2" Primary) - Flowmaster Cats - Borla Catback Late Model IH - Plenum Coilovers - 4.10s Custom Interior NCM Lifetime Member #978

05-29-2013	#7
GOLDCYLON Join Date: May 2007 Location: Peoria, AZ Posts: 9,155	Re: LED replacement for courtesy lights Be avised on the corvettemods kits some of their LEDs are universal fit. Meaning exactly that... you may have to modify your connector in order to get them to fit. Whereas CorvetteHID.com. Yes you will pay more for the interior kit is AN EXACT fit that will replace your bulbs. Just saying GC ALSO ScottFab also made my underhood light kit and -=JEFF=- made my LED CHMSL ! __________________ GOLDCYLON - 91 ZR-1 #2014 GOLDCYLON - 90 ZR-1 #2794, 4L60e (Formerly Schrade's) GOLDCYLON - 11 CTS-V Arizona State Director 91 WHITE/BLACK #2014. 380 P&P&PCed,Ported Heads, Jeal Long tubes, Corsa Exhaust/FIKSE FM-5s /LED TLs, LED Headlights, Front Wilwood 6 piston narrowlite calipers and rear Wilwood caliper street shop mod,CNCed Coolant Pipes,TPI Cvr,Filter cover,Stainless Bolts, DRM/DOM PROM /ZFDOC mod build #102,DRLs,BMAD with stainless Debris Screen,Coplan Air Blaster, Pioneer APP Radio 4,Brey-Krause HB,Sub Bar,Fire extinguisher seat mount,DRM Coilovers,LEDs everywhere,Compass mirror (orange),V1 DIC hidden display, Homelink sun visor, Carbon Fiber top x3 and APSIS Carbon Fiber interior, APSIS CF Steering Wheel/NAPA Leather, Banski trailing arms, Guldstrand front suspension,urethane bushings from Prothane (total suspension) ZFDoc drive shaft safety loop, raptor shift light (orange),AO engineering louver front plate, Console seat cushion, 96CE seats with black custom Sheepskins, ss billet catch can,Viper remote entry/alarm,Cragar Rear Louvers,LED side louver lights, Dewitts Radiator with SPAL fans and a Woods 160 T-Stat 90 RED/BLACK #2794. 4L60e Automatic Stage V by RPM Transmission, TCI Dedicated TCM, OBX Stainless Headers, Corsa Exhaust, SAN Secondaries and Haibeck PROM, Exotic Muscle Coil overs, LED Interior Lights, LED Tail Lights, LED Headlights, 94 Sport seats with black custom Sheepskins , Cragar rear louvers, GS Front calipers, Banski Trailing arms, APSIS Carbon Fiber steering wheel, Front and Rear Baer Eradispeeds, DRLs, Guldstrand front suspension,urethane bushings from Prothane (total suspension), Dewitt's Raditor with Dual SPAL fans and a Haibeck 170 T-Stat 11 RED/GREY CTS-V

05-31-2013	#10
Racinfan83 Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: Eastern Missouri Posts: 773	Re: LED replacement for courtesy lights I just ordered the whole set GTO listed. Come to find out the place (superbright leds) is 15 minutes from my house - so I don't have to pay shipping and I can pick em up today! Will look at options on the underhood lights to see about mounting them in a water proof and short proof way when I do it... __________________ [LEFT][SIGPIC][/SIGPIC][/LEFT] [CENTER][COLOR=Indigo][SIZE=4][I][B] Now Sold 1990 ZR-1 #2093, Black on Black..[/B][/I][/SIZE][/COLOR][/CENTER]

05-29-2013	#1
GTOger Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Dallas, TX Posts: 198	LED replacement for courtesy lights I have just completed the replacement of all the interior lights with LED's. I also did the engine-compartment lights, which means I can now leave the hood open for an extended period of time without worrying about the battery. The main reasons I undertook this project were: #1: Reduced heat in the fixtures should help to prolong the life of the plastic. #2: Reduced amperage means less draw on the battery and perhaps fewer "rolling starts". #3: Better / brighter light output. One thing I was nervous about is the change in color temperature. That is, the car is of a certain age... I didn't want it to look like some 1990's rice-rocket that's been all blinged out. Honestly, if you walk into your local auto parts store and look for the LED interior lights, there's an obvious target demographic and to my taste, it's not appropriate for the ZR-1. In other words, I wanted the car to be classy and I was concerned that going from the quite yellow tone of the OEM bulbs to the LED's would look out of place. After doing some searching around, I found an online seller that offers nearly all the bulbs you need to do a complete swap of the courtesy lights, minus the bulb that sits under the back bumper for tire changes. That one is itty-bitty and as yet unavailable. The part that really struck home for me was they offer the LEDs in various color temperatures such as "cool white" (the bluish white), "warm white" (more yellow) and "natural white" (somewhere in between). I chose to split the difference and go with "natural white" which to my eye is the "most white". It's all very subjective, so I'm sure everyone will have their own opinion here. The point is I found a selection so I could make the choice that I liked best for my car. The job was pretty easy with the caveat of the flood lights in the mirror. The LEDs I got for there are 6-LED clusters and I had to do some whittling down of the outside edge to get them to fit into the housings. Not a big deal, just meant some time with a sharp knife. As best as I can tell, it was simply a matter of removing excess material, and no actual modification to the LEDs or their circuitry was made. The only "odd" mod was in the engine compartment. For that application I went with a 30-LED panel measuring about 1.6"x1" that uses a festoon-base adapter. I installed the festoon adapter, the plugged the LED panel into it, then zip-tied the LED panel to the festoon. It all fits just fine, but sometimes it feels odd installing things with zip ties. You cannot tell once the glass cover is replaced, and the engine compartment lights are now FAR brighter. Bottom line, I'm pleased with the results. Here is a comparison in the engine compartment of the LED (left) and the original bulb (right): And a couple of interior shots (I did NO cleaning, so these are not glamor shots!) __________________ [B]1990 Corvette ZR-1 (#1930) Red/Black, Stock Engine, Henderson Performance custom ECM, FIC Injectors, B&B exhaust, Kenwood DNX6160[/B] Other Rides: 1992 Pontiac Firehawk (#010), 1967 Pontiac GTO 1998 Porsche 968, 2000 Harley Davidson FXST 1986 Pontiac Trans Am, 1931 Ford Model A Tudor Deluxe Last edited by GTOger; 05-29-2013 at 01:38 AM.