I put tunneled 58 Olds tail lights in my 58 Ford Courier (1957 rear housings) years ago. First time I went to back to the 50s in St. Paul, 1999, someone said my brake lights were really dim. This was because the bulbs were quite a ways inside, not near the lens. I bought a pair of bulbs from a vendor there and they really helped and have been in ever since,,,until today. I took out the Olds lights and put 63 Galaxie lenses in, but kept the modified tunneled housing. Now, one of the bulbs does not work on the low/tail light side. I checked it right at the battery with no luck. The bulb has 12V 50/150 on it and I can't seem to find them anywhere. I really don't want to put LEDs in it but want something brighter than 1157s. I seen people recommending 2357s but they are the same on low, just 8 candle power brighter on high. I like the tail lights being brighter as well. Does anyone know of these 12V 50/150 bulbs? It was quite the project getting the 63 lenses in and all I have left is to install the bulbs, so I really don't want to take it all back apart (maybe to paint the inside of the housings, etc.). Thanks for any help.
Start by painting everything behind the lens, except the bulb socket, with gloss white paint. You can use a brush for easy application. This will help, no matter what bulb you choose.
More info in this old thread: https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/tech-lite-brighter-1157-bulbs.247879/
I have the housings all bolted back in the car, but I can just remove the chrome bezel and lens from the outside now. With the Olds lights, they were attached from inside the housings, a real pain. So maybe I will just pull the lenses and paint inside there. I just thought I would buy a couple new bulbs, but those I have are probably obsolete. This one that doesn't work sure looks good and it worked before I took it apart, so it must be something internal wrong. I guess they lasted 20+ years so I can't gripe about that. Thanks for the advice!
That 50/150 bulb sounds like it might be a halogen bulb. A lot of the street Rod shops used to sell them, might be a place to look.
Go to your local indie Harley shop & get a pair of 2057s ... then try not to sit with the stoplights on very long. Did you check the old bulb with your ohmmeter ?
Ron Francis used to sell various single, and double filament bulbs. Maybe check their website, and see if anything matches up to the ones you currently use. If you're trying to just do a swap. I know I bought some from them for my A roadster, back in the late eighties.
I would paint the inside and use leds. The leds generate way less heat and hopefully you can find a bulb that you can’t see the individual lights.
the "Bite" bulb world has been overtaken by LED - halogen bulbs produce too much heat - agree with 1oldtimer - with new tail light lenses , which look great, LED that are just plug ins with no special changes to system will work - large variety out there
When you paint the inside housing for better reflection, sprinkle some glass beads in the paint for even greater reflection.
This made a huge difference on my 48 with best I can say "fabricated tail lights and my 71 GMC I run 55-100 H-4 Halogen bulbs in the headlights of in both the 48 and my 71 but that is way too much for stop or tail lights and I can't imagine 150 watts with plastic lenses. I run the 2057 bulbs in my trucks and with the white paint and a clean lens they work pretty good. I would suggest that everyone follow their own car in another car in both the daylight and at night to see how visible their tail lights actually are and what others are able to see. That is even the assholes who say they will never let anyone else behind the wheel of their car. Or just park the car and walk back from it a few hundred feet and turn around and look every 50 ft. My driveway is 400 ft from the yard gate to the mail box and that makes it pretty easy to do the walk thing. That is how I found out that the state patrolman who stopped me in the 71 and said my lights were real dim was correct. At 400 ft I couldn't see the lights well enough to know what I was seeing and at 200 they were still pretty dim.
Experience with the LED bulb replacements is that they have a very narrow light pattern and don't spread the light evenly throughout the housing, resulting in a bright center spot and dim around the rest of the lens - looks pathetic in the cars we tried this conversion on (60's pontiacs and chevys) 2057's have had good results with the white housing.
Take a look at youTube vids for led comparisons, there's a bunch or styles out there (flat board, cylindrical, square box). If it's a slightly recessed tube you might not see individual dots from the led bulb, especially if the lens has a pattern on the inside. I used the red led 1157 replacements on 3 cars so far (more to come), they're slightly brighter then the 1157, but way more red (whole lens is red now, no hot spot of the 1157). Also it's a noticeable change from running to brake light, they come on quicker and draw less current through the brake light switch (especially vs halogen). https://www.superbrightleds.com/
Thanks for all the tips. I go inside and paint all of the inside gloss white and installed 2357 bulbs. Same power as 1157 on tail lights, but a little brighter on the brake/blinkers. The paint helped a lot! Pics of the 58 Olds lights, 63 Galaxie lights. I liked the Olds, but they have been in there for a long time and it was time for a change.
Ya got room to put an additional socket/bulb assembly in the housing!? I did this to my "M-word" pony car and made a huge diff!! I figgered-out/re-wired my taillight/brake light/turn signal wiring using a separate bulb for the brake light(single filament) the other bulb I wired the socket so BOTH filaments light up. BIG improvement. 6sally6
I don't have a problem with it because I don't follow me around at night, but my wife did (no she wasn't checking up on me, we had met for dinner). I put expensive ($$$) LED bulbs in and they were still...meh. I chromed the outside of these 37 ford lights but the black inside was simply eating the light. I found these on ePay, they are two filament conversion reflectors for a Honda motorcycle. They have a nice diamond cut pattern, chrome plastic. I didn't need this bit in the back so... I hacked off the back with my band saw. And simply glued them in over the existing socket with some clear gorilla glue. Then I used some 3M spray adhesive and lined them in tin foil. That is the shiny side but they condensated from the adhesive for a bit. Trimmed em up neat and tidy around that set screw and if that isn't brighter, well I have plumb run out of ideas. Total cost $35. Time: around 30 minutes. Not getting rear ended? Priceless, well other than the lawsuit. And yes, my attorney is on speed dial. I just say Siri, call Matlock (the only guy to ever kill Chuck Norris so you know he is one bad MF). Yes, the lights would be better if they were mounted a bit higher but that is where they are and this is where they stay...till I move them...again. I have befores on my phone, when it gets dark I will post up some afters.
Uh, yeah-the paint will work. But have you ever considered the shiny reflective tape used for ducts, etc. or better yet-photo slide tape that is ultra thin and like a mirror.
had Ron Francis bright bulbs in for 35+ yrs with blue dots. Replaced with LEDs bought at Sumter flea couple yrs ago, too many cell phones!- Also added 3rd brake light, 39 Chev taillights are tiny.
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