Feb 2005
Halogen tail light bulbs
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JC Whitney sells a halogen 1157 that are far brighter than standard 1157's. 
 They're not cheap....about $10 each I believe.  I have them in my Corvettes and 
it makes a huge difference.  I used to have a '67 Dodge Charger that had 
taillights across the entire rear of the car, and again, while not cheap, I put 
six of them in that and again a huge difference in standard running lights as 
well as brake lights.  I rationalized it to myself that having invested as much 
money and effort as I had in these cars, the improved lighting and safety was 
worth it.

In several years I've experienced no heat problems at all with the halogen
1157 lights.  Admittedly, most of my driving has been in daylight with these cars.  They 
do take care to install...you have to hold them with some type of barrier when you handle 
them so you leave no oils on the bulb that can create a hot spot.  I forget their actual 
wattage, but it's like double the wattage of the standard 1157 bulb...both on running light 
and brake light.

Bruce Blum
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I installed two sets of LED lights in each  housing in addition to the  1157 
bulbs.  Also, you can get concentrated and wide angle led lights( the  leds 
are set at a slight angle to the outside thus they are better visible from  an 
angle).  Also, I located an LED light which has the lights  mounted on a 
"donut" and fits nicely around the existing  bulb.   These are red lights and
I use 
one of those in my 1983  backup light  housing around the backup light bulb.
The lens is clear for the BU to work but the brake light is red   from the 
red LED.
JohnA  
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