[DeTomaso] Has anyone made replacement turn signals for the small front bumpe

[Ken Green]

Thanks for the suggestions.  I like the light in the bumpers, and I probably can use an incandecent, but need to repackage it.  But, there are wide angle LEDs, and there seem to be some bright ones also.  Maybe using only slightly tinted yellow lenses would help or clear lenses over yellow LEDs?  The LED Christmas lights seem bright and omi-directional?
 
They had turn signal lights in the grill which I also need to deal with, and I also do not like them.
 
Ken

--- On Sat, 2/20/10, MikeLDrew at aol.com <MikeLDrew at aol.com> wrote:


From: MikeLDrew at aol.com <MikeLDrew at aol.com>
Subject: Re: [DeTomaso] Has anyone made replacement turn signals for the small front bumpe
To: kenn_green at yahoo.com, detomaso at realbig.com
Date: Saturday, February 20, 2010, 4:24 PM



In a message dated 2/20/10 16 08 21, kenn_green at yahoo.com writes:



The nose of my car was refinished without recesses for the original bumper mounted turn signals (mostly for the wiring).  I want to fit the bumpers including the turn signals.  It looks pretty simple to cut a plastic lens and fit an LED behind it that does not take up much space to minimize metal mods to the body.  Has anyone done this?


The problem with retrofitted LED lights is that they simply aren't bright enough to be seen.  When you look at them from two or three feet away, they look impressively bright--they are legitimately brighter than incandescent lights.  However, they are unidirectional, only shining straight out from the direction they are pointed, and the light perceived by the human eye quickly peters out as the distance increases.

Incandescent lights are omnidirectional; their actual job isn't so much to throw light, as it is to light up the reflective housing inside the turn signal, and THAT then throws considerably more light.  LED lights don't shine any light on the reflectors, making them borderline useless in these retrofit applications.

Modern cars use LED lights with MANY more LEDs, and they are aimed and focused onto complex reflectors, which enables them to be sufficiently bright to be seen clearly at great distances.

Last year, Gray Gregory and I were following Charlie McCall's GT5-S at night.  His car was borderline invisible due to his LED taillights.  He has LED front marker lights, and they are virtually impossible to see at a distance too--this despite the fact that they are genuinely brighter when seen close-up.  

Gray told me he had a set of those lights on his shelf, waiting to go into his car, but after that pathetic display of illumination, they are not ever going there now.

As to your specific problem, you could either fix the damage done to the body by the previous owner, or alternately, get some L-model turn signal buckets (Hall Pantera has brand new ones, NOS, on the shelf) and have them welded to the underside of the fenders and then run Euro L-model blade bumperettes which don't have provision for turn signals.  That's if you wanted a factory look (pick your period).  Personally I'd opt to undo the previous damage, and just fit stock bumpers, stock turn signals and stock bulbs.  Works great, lasts long time.

As another option, you could kluge some lights into the upper corners of the front radiator grille opening, behind the grille.  I've seen several Panteras with no front bumpers with this modification.  It looks pretty bad, very hokey and hillbilly, but it's an option.

Mike