Tail Light Lenses

[kboyd]

The plastic tail light lenses on my 83 Avanti are distorted from the heat of the tail light bulbs. I am wondering if this a known problem with Avanti's or is it something unique to my car possibly from having high wattage tail light bulbs installed somewhere along the way that overheated the tail light assembly and distorted the lenses?

I am going to replace the tail light lenses in the not too distant future and am debating on do I want to replace the traditional bulbs with LEDs to get rid of the heat or keep the traditional bulbs and just drill some holes in the tail light body casting to allow the heat to escape into the fender and trunk. You will not be able to see the holes when the unit is mounted on the car. The downside of drilling holes is you open the interior of the tail light assembly to water infiltration but you should be able to minimize this by drilling a few large holes in the bottom of the casting under each bulb so if any water gets in it will drain out.

Has anyone else dealt with this problem and how did you solve it?

[Gunslinger]

I've seen Avanti lenses faded with age but not distorted. That doesn't mean it doesn't happen as you've experienced. The biggest complaint I've ever heard about Avanti tail lights is that they need to be brighter.

High intensity halogen bulbs can help but you may run the risk of heat damage...whether that's the cause of your issue who knows? You can buy LED bulbs that replace the 1157 standard bulbs but I don't know if they're an actual improvement. One of the Avanti vendors...Avanti Parts & Restorations...sells an LED conversion kit for the Avanti and it works quite well. It takes a little work though not difficult.

[Skip Lackie]

There has been some talk on some other boards about the new Chinese-made 1157 bulbs being much hotter and melting some plastic tail lamp lenses. The solutions seem to be to find some older, USA-made 1157 bulbs, or convert to LED bulbs. Two problems with the LEDs: (1) they project almost all of their light rearward and none to the sides (not that serious a problem in Avantis), and (2) they don't draw enough amps to activate the original signal flasher.

[Gunslinger]

I hadn't heard about the problems with the Chinese made light bulbs but considering the quality control of much of Chinese made parts I wouldn't be surprised. I have the LED conversion kit on my '70 Avanti and had no problem with the flasher operating properly. I did change to an electronic flasher solely because it's much louder and I can hear it click much better.

[IndyJimW]

Not a good idea to drill holes into your housings, that will allow more condensation to form around those hot bulbs.

I replaced the tail lights with LED's years ago, no heat and work great. If you just replace your rear lights the flasher should work OK. For best light get LED's the same color as lens.

I also replaced my interior lights so that the lens wouldn't get discolored by the heat of the light bulb.

If you ever have touched the metal rings around the turn signal indicators on your dash after they had been on for awhile you will see how much heat is created. I replaced all of my dash lights with LED bulbs. No heat and more color, no more driving down the road with my turn signal on, the indicators are very noticable.

[Avanti83]

Not a good idea to drill holes into your housings, that will allow more condensation to form around those hot bulbs.

I replaced the tail lights with LED's years ago, no heat and work great. If you just replace your rear lights the flasher should work OK. For best light get LED's the same color as lens.

I also replaced my interior lights so that the lens wouldn't get discolored by the heat of the light bulb.

If you ever have touched the metal rings around the turn signal indicators on your dash after they had been on for awhile you will see how much heat is created. I replaced all of my dash lights with LED bulbs. No heat and more color, no more driving down the road with my turn signal on, the indicators are very noticable.

Jim

Did you use replacement bulbs or a complete tail light assembly?

In either case, what is the part # or description of what you used.

Thanks, Bob

[IndyJimW]

I used a 13-bulb red LED 1157, they are the same size as a 1157 bulb so no problems with fitting the housing. For reflection I made a pocket out of chome type furnace duct tape for the truck mounted lights and painted the inside of my tail light housings with chome paint. They are brighter then the orginal bulbs.

This is the type of LED bulb I used, you can find them at any auto parts store.

http://www.ebay.com/...7006d6a&vxp=mtr