At present, I have not found an LED at a reasonable price that seems to match the output profile that comes close that of a standard 1157 incandescent. To make the problem more difficult, all Healey’s prior to the Phase 2 BJ8 use a small beehive lens with cramped space to fit a non-standard bulb. Add to these restrictions is the rather close to the ground placement of the light which requires viewers in following cars to see the signal at a lower-then-standard angle, and you have a simple task that just seems to grow in complexity.
Incandescent 1157 Lumens Outputs
For comparison, the standard incandescent light outputs High -
402 Lumens and Low -
38 Lumens. When viewing the output of the Type-typical LEDs, I would expect the wattage to be much less but not the lumens. So, what are the lumen profiles of some of the LEDs considered?
Note: The LEDs viewed for comparison are White 1157 replacements expected to fit within a rear Healey beehive lens.
Non-Surface Mount LEDs – Reasonable Price, Low Output
When evaluating the specifications for the 24LED (18 forward, 6 surrounding) 1157s found by Bob Hughes and test-installed by me, its published output at High is 45 Lumens and at Low registers 15 Lumens. When compared against the standard incandescent, only when viewed on its primary viewing axis will it appear bright and level differentiating.
Surface Mount LEDs – High Cost, Marginal Output (so far)
I have looked at some surface mount 1157s but, of the clustered units, most that will fit the confines of the lens have very few center mounted LEDs (6-9) with the larger percentage of incorporated sources circling the outside.
These surface mount LED bulbs comprise 45 SM LEDs, with 9 forward and 36 encircling. These bulbs produce a High output of 220 Lumens with a Low of 55 Lumens. It should be considered that since only 9 LEDs face backward, it seems reasonable to anticipate that a small percentage of brightness and level differentiation will be presented to the following driver.
I am still not convinced we have found the best LED replacement for our standard 1157s at any price and hope to find brighter, less expensive units. Until then, I will keep my original low tech bulbs and use my LEDs in my modified reflectors.
Ray (64BJ8P1)