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Posted by: GeorgeRud Feb 28 2017, 05:10 PM

I was wondering if anyone has swapped out the original 35w bulb in the early round (worthless) fog lights for some LEDs? It should make a nice option and could be used as daytime running lights to help defend ourselves against today's brain dead drivers.

BTW, does anyone else have trouble with the search function giving too many results that don't seem to be relavent?

Posted by: rgolia Feb 28 2017, 05:25 PM

I thought someone looked into this. I think the reflector is the problem, but it would be great if it could be done.

Nice yellow 914 btw.

Posted by: jkb944t Feb 28 2017, 08:28 PM

I was interested in this too but that bulb has an odd sized base that I couldn't find in an LED version. I hope you have better luck since I think lots of us would be interested in an LED solution.

Jeff B

Posted by: pbanders Feb 28 2017, 10:11 PM

These are $22 for a pair, fit into the standard fog lamp opening, and only require minor fabrication to make a bracket that adapts to the existing fog lamp mount point on the car. I have them on my car and they're ridiculously nice.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NAR0S20/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Posted by: SKL1 Feb 28 2017, 11:02 PM

Hmmm, PHX area? I'll look for you if you're ever up in north Scottsdale... don't see a lot of 914's. In fact, I see more McLarens etc than I do 914's. Seems like every other car is a Cayenne or newer 911 or some type!

Posted by: mramber Mar 1 2017, 08:52 AM

That is exactly what I am rigging up for my car! Glad to hear that you like them!

Posted by: Firstcar Mar 1 2017, 11:13 AM

George (OP),
I wanted my freshly restored fog lights to remain stock, but take advantage of modern LED technology. I looked for a warm color temperature LED bulb that fit the original socket but could not locate anything so I made my own.

It wasn't that hard and I'm really happy with the results.
I unfortunately took no assembly pics but I'll do my best to describe the project.
Found these LED bulbs on Amazon 2 yrs ago - 6 watts, 550 lumens, 3000 K color temp. and 12 volts. All I had to do was mount them on my old stock bulb bases.

https://www.1000bulbs.com/product/113698/PLT-300221.html

[attachmentid=594966]
I took the stock bulbs and used a heat gun to separate the glass bulb from its base. Once you get the base hot you can carefully twist the glass element back and forth(with gloves) to loosen it from its base. Then disconnect its leads by melting the solder on the bottom contact points of the base to completely remove the bulb leaving an empty base.

It would be easier If you could source the correct blank base as a starting point - but these are an old, unusual base type and I could not find them.

I cleaned out the remaining adhesive from the base (a powdery residue) and soldered thin insulated wires to the new LED leads to extend them about 1/2" longer than the length of the empty base. You want the stripped ends of your new leads to pass through the electrical contact points on the bottom of the old base so you may need to drill a small hole through any remaining solder. IIRC polarity did not matter with these LED units.

Leave yourself about 1/4" of space between the top of the metal base and the bottom plate of the LED assembly once the new leads are soldered to the bottom of the base. That will leave you just enough room to inject clear epoxy into the base before seating the LED assembly on top of it.

When the epoxy dries you have a solid, complete LED bulb assembly that fits perfectly in the stock foglight sockets! These bulbs are equivalent in brightness to a 50 watt halogen lamp and have a warm vintage glow like stock bulbs.

With respect to mounting a brighter LED bulb in an "incandescent" housing, keep in mind that the stock foglight retains an upper beam cutoff guard and these bulbs project a 360 + degree pattern which hits the stock reflector in similar fashion to a stock bulb. Theoretically they should not blind oncoming drivers and provide a very similar beam pattern as the stock bulbs.

I am very happy with the results. My objectives were achieved: stock appearance and fit, brighter more effective light output, warm vintage color temperature (not white or bluish light), less drain on the electrical system and longer life.

Hope this inspires others to try it.
-Scott

Posted by: rgolia Mar 1 2017, 12:55 PM

Firstcar...thanks for the info, i am going to give it a shot. Do you have any pictures on the lights working?

Posted by: GeorgeRud Mar 1 2017, 01:04 PM

Thanks, I was hoping someone may have found some readymade, but this modification is certainly achievable. I wanted to use the fog lights as daylight running lights and the LED draw would be minimal. Otherwise I thought trying to modify the back of the fog light for another size bulb base would be another option.

Posted by: Firstcar Mar 1 2017, 01:30 PM

Here's a shot with the lamps off. You can just make out the reflection of the individual LED devices in a close up mirrored in the fog's reflector.


And here os with the fog lamps on. Notice the color vs the LEDs in Spokes turnsignal conversion, which are a more common LED color.


BTW, I use the euro version with the LEDs as my Day Time Running lights. If traffic is really crazy, I put the fogs on as well!
-Scott

Posted by: mepstein Mar 1 2017, 01:51 PM

That's great!

Posted by: rgolia Mar 1 2017, 01:54 PM

Maybe spoke would be willing to make these up for those of us with poor eyesight and poor soldering skills. I have Spokes led lights as well. Should we PM Jerry?

Posted by: pbanders Mar 1 2017, 05:40 PM

I posted details of my install about 6 months ago, I'll look up the link and add it to this message on a later edit.

http://www.914world.com/bbs2/index.php?showtopic=159774&st=8000&p=2400729&#entry2400729

Posted by: mramber Mar 3 2017, 05:13 PM

Thanks! This looks like a great way to mount them. I was going to try to use the stock mount and cut the light housing to fit into that, but then the light would have been set back in too far. I try this out this weekend.

Posted by: pbanders Mar 3 2017, 08:47 PM

I used the bracket that came with them, and made an adapter with sheet steel stock that allowed me to bolt them to the stock mount points. It was a pretty simple job.

Posted by: Biggles May 11 2017, 03:15 PM

Scott /Anyone !

do you have a picture of a typical bulb that would go in the fog lights?

I read this thread and bought similar LED bulbs and looked at it tonight and it wont fit into the square central hole ! So i'm wondering how this as done?

Chris.


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Posted by: porsche913b_sp May 11 2017, 04:22 PM

Posted by: Firstcar May 11 2017, 05:10 PM

Chris,
I think you have a different foglight than what came with my car. Here is what I have and the incandescent bulb that came with it. Perhaps you have an aftermarket light. I don't think the US makes cars had halogen foglight bulbs.

-Scott

Posted by: anderssj May 11 2017, 06:23 PM

Chris,

Your light might be a slightly different version of the Hella 118 light. It looks like it uses an H3 bulb (~55 watts). This lamp was often found on European cars. The US version of the Hella 118 used a 35 watt incandescent bulb--which also required a different reflector assembly (larger hole). If you have a picture of the lens/back of the lamp body we can tell for sure. FWIW, I've got part numbers somewhere if you're interested . . . .

Hope this helps!

Posted by: Biggles May 12 2017, 01:34 AM

Steve/Scott

Thanks for your replies. That makes total sense now. I didn't realise it was so different from the Euro spec lights.youre right, they are 55W. Back to the drawing board....

Do we know if you can get an LED replacement for a 55W type bulb then?

Chris

Posted by: 87m491 May 12 2017, 04:29 AM

Just Google H3 LED bulbs. I am sure you'll find many options for that base compared to the US bulb. I'd be very psyched to have your style fogs. I did find a lower cost US style bulb that for tractors I think, but still rare and incandescent

Posted by: morgan_harwell May 12 2017, 08:00 AM

The fog lights in my 914 use Halogen H2 bulbs.
Has anyone here seen a LED equivalent?
I did a search for "H2 LED bulbs" and did not turn up much, just links to "Hummer H2 bulbs".

Posted by: anderssj May 12 2017, 08:24 AM

Round H2 foglight? Probably a Cibie 40 (a.k.a. "Tango"), though Marchal made some round lights too. The H2 is a pretty efficient bulb, but they usually require a separate bulb holder. Not many of of those types of lights (Cibie, Marchal) still around, which may limit the market for the LED replacement for the H2.

I've got some H2 lights on our old Volvos, so if you find a LED replacement, please let me know!

Posted by: Spoke May 12 2017, 11:50 AM

Ralph, thanks for thinking about me.

I've shied away from these high power applications since they involve expensive LEDs and heatsinking like the worklight from Amazon mentioned earlier in this thread.

The boards I've done would be classified as "indicator lamp replacements" versus high power beams. The Amazon worklight burns 27W whereas my 914 brake boards burn less than 5W.

A difference between my boards and items like headlight and fog light is the beam. Turnsignals and brake lights should throw light in all directions which is why many lenses and reflectors have dimples and other diamond patterns.

Headlights and foglights need to be shaped beams such that they have good horizontal dispersion and a tight cutoff upwards as to not blind oncoming drivers. For example the worklight mentioned has a 30 degree beam dispersion. This parameter usually means 30 degree is the 1/2 light energy angle. So if the light is mounted horizontally, the 1/2 power angle is 15 degrees upwards and downwards. If these are very bright they may blind oncoming drivers.

I've seen a couple of trucks with large white LED panel mounted on the front of the cab. These were extremely bright and not a focused beam. I would imagine they may be illegal used as a forward light on a vehicle. The LED panel is likely targeted for general lighting and not for forward vehicle lighting.

Posted by: Biggles May 12 2017, 12:24 PM

Great thanks, the fog has lifted!

Posted by: rgolia May 12 2017, 02:26 PM

Thanks Jerry - I really only use the fogs as day-time running lights and thought they would look better if they matched the color of your boards. I knew this wasn't gonna be easy. Love your LEDs.

Posted by: StarBear Jul 21 2022, 03:18 PM

Was wondering - has anyone tried this (motorcycle BA20S headlight bulb) for 70-74 foglights (BA20S bulb, rather than the two-prong bulb used 75-76):
https://www.amazon.com/Ruiandsion-10-30V-Bright-Motorcycle-Headlights/dp/B0912LM4CY?th=1
or this:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/224307656746

Posted by: jdamiano Jul 21 2022, 06:57 PM

I haven’t used those but if you want really nice fogs the Spokeworks kit is awesome.It’s wasn’t inexpensive but it wasn’t hard to do and the results are great. I use my fogs as running lights for safety and I have already got a couple of positive comments. Here is a link to the video we did of my full LED conversation.

https://youtu.be/aFUZaE0vXYA

Posted by: StarBear Jul 21 2022, 08:15 PM

Thanks; yes, that’s my other thinking. $20 for probably ok vs $150 for excellence. Think I’ll go with Spoke.