led bulbs

[kully 560]

anybody know who sells the best led bulbs for a 1974 260z? and which ones to buy .  I saw on the super bright site that they sell different lumens as far as the brightness. should I go with there recommended  ones or the brighter ones. thanks

Edited August 14, 2020 by kully 560

[zerpie2]

I upgraded almost every bulb to LED in my 260Z. It won't really matter what kind of bulb you use it will be brighter than the original. You will come across polarity issues. LEDs are polarity specific but the Datsun didn't always keep the polarity straight. You will need to do some rewiring in the dash if you replace those bulbs. if you replace the bulbs in the dash you will need to get a special pulsed variable resistor for LEDs to replace the old Datsun dimmer switch. For the turn signals you will need to get special flasher relays that work with LED bulbs. There's no need to put resistors in the line. For a headlights you will need to wire in a 5-pole relay in order to reverse the polarity. Do not put LEDs on the license plate lights. That will be way too bright. Good luck.

[Mike W]

You can get LED's which are not sensitive to polarity and that makes this job a lot easier.  Go to Super Bright LEDs dot com and they have a variety of these for our cars.

Here's an example:

https://www.superbrightleds.com/moreinfo/ba9s-ba7s/ba9s-led-bulb-1-led-ba9s-retrofit-car/3/

Hope that helps.

Mike.

[kully 560]

3 hours ago, kully 560 said:

who sells the best led bulbs for a 1974 260z? and which ones to buy . thanks

thanks,I am looking to do all the outside lamps right now. I ordered the electronic flashers  yesterday, and I have been looking at the super bright web sight and see that some led bulbs can be ordered with a higher lumens. but if the ones they suggest is brighter than the stock bulbs that might be fine also . I did see sylvania zevo  leds also.

[kully 560]

thanks mike ,  that ba9s is for the dash guage correct?  can they be dimmed , and do you know if these are the brightest we can use ? I am looking at the 7000k style thanks

 

Edited August 14, 2020 by kully 560

[Mike W]

The BA9 example I used was just an example of the ones that are not sensitive to polarity so I'm not sure if these are the brightest ones you can get.  When I did my interior gauges I did a lot of experimentation on bulb color, and ended up trying quite a few different options.  One thing to consider is the possibility of removing the green plastic filters inside of the gauges.  With the filters still installed, you will be limited to the size of the bulb you can use as the filter will restrict the bulb length.  I tried both green and white bulbs with and without the filters and in the end I removed the filters and just went with white bulbs.  The really light up the gauges and for the first time I can actually see how fast I am going at night!  Many people like the green glow and so you can achieve that by either leaving the green filters in place or by going with a green LED bulb.  I believe that I have a spread sheet of all the bulbs that I used, both inside and out, and if I can find that I will be happy to post it.

Finally, the bulbs can be dimmed but you will need to change the rheostat dimmer to a PWM type dimmer in order to dim the LED bulbs.  I chose to use the original dimmer and I just keep them at the highest brightness level.

Hope that helps.

Mike.

[kully 560]

thanks mike it would help if you can post the spread sheet . it is going to be a big pain for me to remove the gauges as I installed the dash cover 30 years ago. and now the gauge would have to be removed from the rear like the tach and speedo. the other small three can come out from under them or through the glove box. I am going to look if I can find the old bulbs so I can measure the length and compare them to the led length for fitment. for some reason super bright and the auto parts stores call for wedge style bulbs for my early 260z . I seem to remember the style was a metal round base like a small 1157 bulb.

Edited August 15, 2020 by kully 560

[Mike W]

Well I located my spreadsheet for the LED bulb replacement.  I have a late 260Z but pretty sure all of the bulbs for the gauges were the same.

I believe that all of the bulbs I purchased came from Amazon.  When I decided to do this I bought a variety of bulbs to try out and I also performed a sort of longevity test on the bulbs.  I had found when I did this same thing to my F-150 a number of the LED's from Amazon burned out quickly and given the tediousness of changing them in the Z I did not want to have to deal with bad bulbs right after they got installed.  So far all of mine have been perfect.

Also, bear in mind that I removed my green filters so I made more room for a larger / longer bulb.  If you keep your green filters in my gauge bulbs will not likely work for you.  Also the only bulbs I did not convert to LED's were the blinkers as I did not feel like messing with the blinker switches / relays at the time.  At some point I may go back and change them too.

In any case, I've attached my spreadsheet and I hope it may help you and others out.  This is definitely one of the best upgrades I've done.

Mike.

LED Conversion 6_10_18.xlsx

[kully 560]

thanks mike for the info! I believe the only change for the blinkers is a electronic flasher for the turn signals and the hazards , that is what I am going to try .

[7tooZ]

I did all my bulbs in the car except headlamps. Only needed the new flasher for the turn signals. None for the flashers. 

[kully 560]

thanks I ordered both anyway, I got 2 for the price of 1 . its great to know I only need the electronic flasher.

Edited August 15, 2020 by kully 560