Improving tail lights Options

[Rusty]

Maybe (probably) this has been done in the last ten years. But I'd like to improve my rear lights.

Two things:

1. Are reasonably priced rear lenses available? I gave away a NOS set a while back... not my best decision, but not my worst.

2. I'd like to improve the lighting in general. My thoughts are that the 40+ year old reflective paint inside could use brightening. Also, LED technology has gone a long way. Do we have any lessons learned on either?

thanks,
Rusty

[RickS]

Added SuperBright 1157 LEDs as brake lights and they are pretty darned bright. Only issue is a faint glow of one of my idiot lights due to lack of resistance. Have a couple of resistors but am hesitant to hack into the wiring loom.

[Spoke]

Added SuperBright 1157 LEDs as brake lights and they are pretty darned bright. Only issue is a faint glow of one of my idiot lights due to lack of resistance. Have a couple of resistors but am hesitant to hack into the wiring loom.

What idiot light are you referring to? I'd hesitate on adding a ballast resistor unless absolutely necessary.

The only application I've seen on vintage Porsches where a ballast resistor is needed is the 911 '69-'89 with cruise control. When brake lights are changed to LEDs, the CC may fail to engage. The CC ECU monitors the brake light by dumping about 7-10ma into the brake lights. When the brake lights are LEDs, the LEDs may glow lightly and the CC will not engage. Adding a ballast resistor with a total of 6 ohm was the only way to satisfy the cruise control ECU.