this is a repost from hidplanet.com so bare with me. its actually a very easy retro. almost all the supplies i got from ledsupply.com and the heatsinks from ebay a while back. i also opted for new lens assemblies from honda because my old ones were broken and cloudy. i used warm white Io Moon nichia jupiter 1w led for each side, but if you want the cool white like the newer lexus, they make that color too in the exact same led package. just order the cool white array and it will be an extra 10 lumens brighter than warm white as well. get warm white if you want stock bulb color. you also need a constant currant led driver from besthongkong.com that outputs 350ma (1w) power for one led. so you need two drivers total, one for each led. be sure to order the correct ones.
i just about finished these today, prolly the easiest retro ever. i chose warm white which is almost exactly the same color and brightness as a 168 clear bulb. mainly for two reasons, first i wanted to keep the stockish look and not have a super white look back there. second the stock bulbs would always leak light from the top of the trunk trim piece on my car which looked bad at night. the leds are pointed straight down so no light shines upward. they are Io moon packages from ledsupply.com with a 1 inch heatsink. after several mins of testing, the sink got to 110F and stayed there. i think thats okay for constant running lights. im using 350ma BHK drivers to power them. the glue (plumbers goop) is drying that holds the heatsink to the lens housing so tomorrow i can install them and wire everything together. i also wanted to look for a lil box to cover the rear so it doesnt look so messy, but you really can only see it if the trunk is closed and you look in from the back seat, or if you look up when the trunk is open. so i may just leave them open for better cooling.
first i used thermal epoxy to attach the led board to heatsink. the first one was scary cause when i pressed the led down, all the epoxy came thru the holes in the board so i was frantically wiping the front before it hardened. the heat sinks are off center a bit so they properly fit the housing.
next i test fitted the board. this is top view that will never be seen (covered by the trim piece).
test shot of the 3500K warm white nichia jupiter led
here is the visible part you can see with the trunk open. looks clean
will have installed pics in a day or two when they are ready.
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spent most of the day installing these things. the old housings broke a while back and i used silicone to hold them. big mistake cause i spent several hours scraping it off with my finger lol. not fun. then i got the new lenses with leds put on and took some pics. the wiring is neatly tucked away and im very happy with the way it turned out. they are about as bright as my raybrig 2x hyper clear w5w bulbs i had before and a tiny bit yellower color. there is still some light leakage from the trim piece but its not that bad.
installed rear view (not visible unless you look straight into the trunk lid from the back.
drivers and wires stuffed in a trunk lid hole
one side installed....
left side LED and right side w5w raybrig BULB in actual brightness
another comparison with exposure dimmed down to show the difference. money shot
both sides installed, off
with the trim piece installed
both leds ON
visible in the daylight
thanks for looking
and the ebay ones are rice white with blue tint. even warm white 1w i tried looked like 4000k or higher. this way, i have the exact color i want, both leds match (they were actually stuck together side by side on arrival) and they are heatsinked properly.
