New Website

I think the web site came out great! Nice offerings too for our panteras.

Michael

Mike aka Cyboman We have not seen you at a single event this year. Where have you been hiding? Still have the Pavesi? If so I am personally twisting your arm and demanding that you come out to the September 15th Event at The Whiskey Cafe in Lyndhurst, NJ and bring that car.

Thanks Mark, I designed the LED system for the standard lenses because thats what I had on my car and the standard lens is common.
I could design for Group 4 tail lights but I would have to offset the tooling cost by several, maybe 4, Pantera owners committing to a few sets. I would also have to borrow a pair of lenses and buckets to design from.

quote:

Will you be making them for Group 4 tail lights?

Mark,

I'm working - well, it is one of my semi-stalled projects - on adapting the reflector portion of the tail lights from a late model Honda Pilot to the GRP 4 housings. Surprisingly close match on the concave curvature of the reflectors, but the Pilot reflectors are too tall and need to be cut down prior to a silicone? glue-in installation. Would like to finish before Concorso, but am now finishing up an AC compressor replacement.

Pilot reflectors are of the new style that throw a bunch of little-points-of-light out at you due to the faceting of the reflector surface.

In addition to looking great on Panteras, the GRP 4 lights are noted for the large round circle of light they display. Hall Pantera once made a flat sheet metal reflector built for the GRP 4 lenses, and I followed a car equipped with them on a recent PCNC outing. The lack of the round reflector on the Hall units REALLY took away from the GRP 4 effect.

I would think an array of LED's might also not look quite right??

Has anyone here equipped their GRP 4's with LED replacement bulbs? Coming from a central source like the OEM filament bulbs, I suspect that would be a better method of upgrading to LED lighting on the GRP 4 housings?

Larry

I spent about a year (part time) developing the LED array's for the standard Pantera lenses. There are 2 optical considerations in designing the system; 1)the silver reflectors' focal point, 2)pillow lens array molded in the back of the Pantera lens. The reflector is designed to match the lens array and this combination generates a straight beam of light perpendicular from the surface of the lens.
This effect is difficult to simulate using LED's since each LED has a lens, the focal point interferes with the pillow lens array in the Pantera lens. The commercial LED's with the bulb socket suffer from this and can be seen as hot spots or bright spots. I selected a particular industrial LED for this application that has optical properties that would minimize hot spots. On the front LED signal lights, the beam is not as converged as with the original bulb, but the increased brightness and the wide beam make the off center visibility much better, and that is an advantage for the front signals.

I did not study the the Group 4 lens and it may present other issues but from my experience in this project I expect I have good chance to resolve them. I made several prototypes and consumed $$$ before this final design was acceptable. I am glad Larry has surface this info it supports the challenges in this approaching this conversion.

The MPG/video on the site doesn't do justice to seeing the LED conversion in person ... it's comparable what UFO lights or a "Light Saber" look. I took all pictures with some level of daylight so that everyone would realize the intensity of the LED's. I hope this info helps.

quote:

3rd LED brake light

Mark,

I and several other PCNC members have done this with an OEM unit from GM.

Link to my Webshots album:

http://tinyurl.com/2dp37w

Larry

quote:

Originally posted by Jon3613:
This is my first attempt at an internet website.
Please excuse the complicated link address but the website is included in my Verizon package and there isn't anyway around it. Use the clip and paste from the line below if you need to transfer it. Thanks.

http://mysite.verizon.net/vzesb3ri/panteraelectronics/

Nice work Jon!

Great development work and cool results! Now all you need is a PayPal store and some prices!

Center High Mounted Stop Lamp (CHMSL)
I considered designing a LED CHMSL but it's low on the priority list. With the LED conversion you might not need it. Examples: Scrolling bar from center, Intensity vs decelerating, license plate light changes from white to red, etc.


Mark C. - Fixed the price problem. I have a PayPal account and if there is enough interest I will add it to the website.
Thanks for the feedback and support.

Nice looking web site!

The LED lights are a great idea.

My parking, brake an dindicator lights are pretty dull. I'd be interested if you're making these for Group 5s. What is pricing like on these lights?

...I went with 'Neon'!...

deeb, If there were 2 or 3 pantera guys that would buy them and I had a lense and bucket assembly to design with then I would spend the time to design for Group4/5. Are the Group 4 and Group 5 are the same? I would have to experiment with the Group 5 lense and bucket to be sure of pricing since there are differences in lense design. (see my earlier post above) I would only have to borrow the lense and bucket. I see from your avitar you have the same lenses I have, is this for another car? See the demo video at http://mysite.verizon.net/vzesb3ri/panteraelectronics/

Jon, did you ever get around to designing the GP4 LED lights?

BTW, great looking Pantera!

A little progress, I now have lenses but still need the housings. Thanks for the complement.
New LED demo on YouTube I posted recently.

BTW, I am planning to visit Germany for vacation next spring/summer time frame.

quote:

Originally posted by deeb:
...if you're making these for Group 5s.

Great website!

I may also be interested in a set for a GT5S. The GT5S uses a standard Pantera tail light, with an amber turn signal. The front signals, however, are smaller than Pantera Pre-L lights and have amber/white lenses (pictured below). These two color "European" lenses can also be used on GT5 models, and I have seen some L-models with amber/white lenses. Is there a possibility that you might make an LED conversion for amber/white front lenses?

Thanks, Paul

Paul,
Are the front housings the same as Pre-L or Model -L?
What is the function of the 2 color or are there 2 bulbs and a divider between the bulbs? The housings size is critical. Can you send me a picture of the housing?
I can judge the feasability with this info.
Is this your car in the pic?
Thanks, Jon

Hi Jon,
I don't have much experience with the earlier cars, so I can't tell you if the two-color housings are the same as pre-L or L-model cars. Hopefully someone else here is more knowledgeable than I am, and will let both of us know.

There are two bulbs located behind the two-color lens. The inboard bulb is 5 watts, and acts as a running light. This bulb illuminates the clear section of lens anytime the lights are on. The outboard bulb is 21 watts and acts as a turn indicator. This bulb flashes behind the amber section of lens when the turn signal is activated - it does not illuminate at any other time. The photos below show the turn signal on the drivers side.
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The car in my earlier post is not mine - I pulled that picture off of the Internet. My car is pictured below, #9473.

I hope this information helps, Paul
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Hi Paul, The pictures are helpful. The lenses and housings are not the same in size or configuration so the standard LED conversion that I provide will not fit. If you wanted to pursue a custom design I could do that. I am presently working on a custom design for taillights and side markers, so it not an unreasonable task for a LED conversion.
If your interested e-mail me to discuss further. Thanks, Jon