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LED Tail Lights

9K views 32 replies 11 participants last post by  RickRick 
#1 · (Edited)
New LED tail lights for GTM.

Going for the 812 Superfast look.
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What do you think?

 
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#2 · (Edited)
Wow! Love them. What brand are they, and where did you get them?

*edit: just noticed the GRP description in the video title. Are these the lights?

 
#11 ·
Installation of GRP LED Tail Lights.

These were installed the "easy way". No cutting of body/fiberglass. No glassing.

If you would like your lights to be more flush or have a different depth, this installation will require cutting of fiberglass but likely won't need to repaint anything unless there was an accident while cutting. Basically just making holes to accommodate each light larger. Doing this will also require glassing of the mounting bracket.

Materials:

8mm socket (deep) for GRP lights

10mm socket to remove F5 OEM lights

Mounting Bracket: Mounting Bracket Kit for Hella, GRP or Nolden LED Tail Lights
(Let Shane know you are using these for GRP lights. He may make some modifications for easier installation)

GRP Lights: GRP V3 Tail Lights for 01+ Elise/Exige & 02-04 Esprit

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Shane's Mounting kit on the left (kit comes with both Left and Right mounts). GRP lights on the right (Kit comes with 4 lights).

Wiring Kit for expert looking quick connect/disconnects: 6 Way AMP Econoseal III .070 Series Female Sealed Socket Wiring Connector Kit
(These ship from the UK. It took 1 week for delivery. Each kit comes with everything needed for a male and a female connection. I bought 5 kits just in case I screwed one up.)

Step 1. Disconnect Battery
Step 2. Make sure your wiring to the tail lights are labelled (Brake, Parking Light, Turn, Reverse, Ground). Disconnect OEM lights.
Step 3. Remove OEM lights. Use 10mm socket. Disconnect OEM wires to tail lights.
Step 4. Use mounting brackets as shown. Space was opened up for wires to pass through. Rubber grommets were used to make sure no chaffing of wires occurs.
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#12 ·
Step 5. Use 8mm (deep) socket to tighten GRP LED lights. Pay attention to Inner and Outer positions. They will be labelled Inner and Outer from GRP. Outer position has the turn signals. Inner has backup lights. There is no difference between LED lights for Left and Right. There IS a difference for left and right mounting brackets.
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Step 6. Wiring.
Outer Lights have: Turn Signal, Parking Light, and Brake Light.
Pinout: 1. Ground 2. nothing 3. nothing 4. Parking Light 5. Turn Signal
Inner Lights have: Brake Light, Reverse Light, and Parking Light.
Pinout: 1. Ground 2. Brake Light 3. nothing 4. nothing 5.Reverse Light 6. Parking Light
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How to make the wire connections:
1. Slide rubber boot over wire.
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2. Leave enough room for connector.
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3. Strip wire from boot to tip.
4. Carefully crimp connector to wire.
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5. Slide wire into appropriate pin location.
 
#13 ·
Thanks for the write-up, ealingj. I have a couple questions:

1) Your write-up says that both inner and outer lights have brake and running lights. However, on your video, I only saw the outer ones light up for the running (what you are calling parking) lights. So do the inner ones really have running light capabilities too and you just didnt wire them up that way?

2) Looks like Shane's brackets don't have the correct mounting holes required for the GRP studs. Did you drill those yourself? I did see in the write-up where you made the extra holes for the GRP wiring. Any chance you could collaborate with Shane so that he could make a version of his brackets to fit these lights specifically?

3) Did you have to use the standoff legs that came with Shane's light kit? If not, then there would be no reason that the mounting bracket couldn't be just a flat piece of aluminum instead of a 3-piece bracket design of the Hella lights. This would reduce cost as well I am sure.

4) Can you maybe get a few more pictures of the lights? Like some up close and a 3/4 view and from the side? I'd like to see how far these stick out when mounted the way you did.


Thanks again for finding these and trailblazing a very attractive alternative tail light for the GTM!
 
#14 ·
Ealingj was kind enough to send me pics of how he mounted these along with mounting dimensions. I already used that info to draw up some GRP-specific brackets that already have the correct hole pattern as well as clearance for the wires to come thru. I think most people would probably mount these more flush (much like the Hella LED lights) so the kit is the same as the Hella's....with the stand-off mounting brackets so you can adjust the mounting depth to your liking. Those brackets just get bonded to the inside of the body with some epoxy.
 
#16 ·
Hello ChevyChad,

1) Your write-up says that both inner and outer lights have brake and running lights. However, on your video, I only saw the outer ones light up for the running (what you are calling parking) lights. So do the inner ones really have running light capabilities too and you just didnt wire them up that way?

You're absolutely right. I wired them on purpose without lighting up the parking lights on the inner ones. I did this because I do not have a 3rd brake light on my car. This way it is very clear I'm on the brakes since suddenly 4 bright red lights will be on. Cool thing about doing something like this is, the builder can wire as they please. The inner LEDs do indeed have parking lights available should the installer choose to light them up.

I'll take some pictures when I take the car out to cool locations for some pictures. Washing it would probably help too. It's pretty dirty after being on the race track.
 
#25 · (Edited)
For comparison, the Hella and Nolden LED tail lights are 112mm OD when using the optional trim ring. The holes in the body need to be opened up just a bit for those to fit compared to the FFR supplied tail light assemblies. 4.75" is 120mm.....so there's a fairly significant difference there.

EDIT!!....the GRP tail lights lenses are 4.58" diameter. The base of the housing is 4.75", but the lens itself (the part that needs to fit thru the body of the car is 4.58")
 
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