Fogs, or No Fogs?

[suckho]

Originally Posted by Targa Me

Sorry to get off the subject, but can someone tell me what color this is?

Platinum metallic.

[will hung]

Originally Posted by Craig_D

Holy cow is right. That would be a $200 mod.. :-/

Does look great on your car though! I'd like to do this mod along with the clear turn signal lenses with amber LEDs.

I upgraded my indicator bulbs to LED's last year. I highly recommend it. Reduces current draw through the old wiring and they are super bright. I'm all for any mod that makes our tiny cars a little more visible to the monster SUV driving crowd.

[Jerome74911S]

Originally Posted by safe

I'm not sure what you laws says, but over here its illegal to drive with fog lights in combination with any other light.
So the use for fog lights is in very heavy fog or heavy snowfall. Conditions when you have 150-200 feet of limited sight.

Here in Canada my wife's brand-new Subaru has fog lights that automatically work in unison with the low beam headlights, so laws do differ.

The fog lights illuminate the sides of the road, not so much down the middle. This helps in fog, when you should be going slowly anyway.

[Craig_D]

Originally Posted by will hung

I upgraded my indicator bulbs to LED's last year. I highly recommend it. Reduces current draw through the old wiring and they are super bright. I'm all for any mod that makes our tiny cars a little more visible to the monster SUV driving crowd.

I totally agree, Will. The entire rear of my SC is running bright LEDs, and I've wired in an mechanical brake light switch to help light those brakes up quicker than the stock hydraulic actuator.

I was testing my fronts in a store front window the other day, and realized that my fronts are woefully dim compared to my rear LEDS, so I ordered a set of 1157 LEDs from SuperBrightLEDs this past week.

[911SauCy]

Craig, are the LEDs you've ordered simple bulb replacements and use the existing housings.

I took a gander at the SuperBrightLED site and it looks that way, no?

[will hung]

Originally Posted by Craig_D

I totally agree, Will. The entire rear of my SC is running bright LEDs, and I've wired in an mechanical brake light switch to help light those brakes up quicker than the stock hydraulic actuator.

I was testing my fronts in a store front window the other day, and realized that my fronts are woefully dim compared to my rear LEDS, so I ordered a set of 1157 LEDs from SuperBrightLEDs this past week.

Coolio. I have the 1157's up front. They are super bright, as the name implies.

I read your mechanical switch thread, I'm definitely copying that mod.

[Craig_D]

Originally Posted by 911SauCy

Craig, are the LEDs you've ordered simple bulb replacements and use the existing housings.

I took a gander at the SuperBrightLED site and it looks that way, no?

Yep, they're simple replacements like the ones I have in the back:

[scarceller]

Years ago in my 75 911 I mounted Cibie driving lights like these:
http://www.holden.co.uk/productimagesL/010_594.jpg

Had them wired up to the hi-beams what a HUGE improvement!
You could replace the Fogs with hi-beam driving lights.

[will hung]

Originally Posted by Craig_D

Yep, they're simple replacements like the ones I have in the back:

Please note.

I used these for all indicator lights on my car, but I found the rear bulbs were finicky. Sometimes they would be super bright, other times, they were dim/fluttery. Every time they were dim/fluttery, I'd pull off the lens, push on the bulb, and they would be bright again.

After playing with it for a while, I ended up melting solder on the bulb contact. I put so much on it that the bulb wouldn't install, and then I filed the solder way until it fit really tight.

Now my bulbs are super bright every time. Not a fault with the bulbs, but more loose fitting circuit boards on the inside of the rear light assemblies.

[911SauCy]

Originally Posted by will hung

Please note.

I used these for all indicator lights on my car, but I found the rear bulbs were finicky. Sometimes they would be super bright, other times, they were dim/fluttery. Every time they were dim/fluttery, I'd pull off the lens, push on the bulb, and they would be bright again.

After playing with it for a while, I ended up melting solder on the bulb contact. I put so much on it that the bulb wouldn't install, and then I filed the solder way until it fit really tight.

Now my bulbs are super bright every time. Not a fault with the bulbs, but more loose fitting circuit boards on the inside of the rear light assemblies.

Good to know.

Last question. Does bulb replacement require install of resistor boxes or is it simply plug and play?

(thread-jack over)

[Craig_D]

Simply plug and play.

As far as dimming connections, I've found that I've always needed to put some electrical tape on the stalks of all of the rear bulbs to keep them solidly in place. Maybe this could help.

[will hung]

Originally Posted by 911SauCy

Good to know.

Last question. Does bulb replacement require install of resistor boxes or is it simply plug and play?

(thread-jack over)

Brake lights are plug and play, but if you want to change out your turn signals, you'll also need to change out your flasher relay. Otherwise the LED's blink on and off so fast, when you turn on your turn signal, it will just look lit up.

Here is a thread on the relay swap.
I solved the LED indicator problem!!

[911SauCy]

Originally Posted by will hung

Brake lights are plug and play, but if you want to change out your turn signals, you'll also need to change out your flasher relay. Otherwise the LED's blink on and off so fast, when you turn on your turn signal, it will just look lit up.

Here is a thread on the relay swap.
I solved the LED indicator problem!!

MINT, Thanks

[garrett490]

Will a 84-89 Carrera valance fit on an SC without any mods? I like the way there fogs look so much better (recessed) than the dangle bobbers on my SC.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[Jesse16]

Even an 87's fogs are useless. I had my valance welded shut and repainted. Body guy said it was easy. Never used them in my 6 years of ownership.

[RSBob]

Originally Posted by Craig_D

Simply plug and play.

As far as dimming connections, I've found that I've always needed to put some electrical tape on the stalks of all of the rear bulbs to keep them solidly in place. Maybe this could help.

Plug and play for sure. I bought the same ones you show and they worked great except they disable the cruise control due to the current change. I bought their resisters which need to be wired inline with the hot and ground to imitate full current, but reading about how much heat they generate and they cannot be put against a painted surface or plastic - generating the same amount of heat like the bulb they are replacing. Since I can't suspend them in air I just gave up the whole thing and put in my regular bulbs. Maybe some day I will fab some heat shields for the resisters and try again and see if the cruise works - a lot of work for an experiment, but they do put out an impressive amount of light and fast. My mechanic saw them in running light mode and asked if my brake lights were on since they are brighter than the norm. Then I stepped on the brake pedal and he said "Wow" those are bright.

[javadog]

Originally Posted by garrett490

Will a 84-89 Carrera valance fit on an SC without any mods?

You have to also change the windshield washer fluid tank to the later style.

JR

[garrett490]

Originally Posted by javadog

You have to also change the windshield washer fluid tank to the later style.



JR

Oh ok. But other than that it bolts right up to an SC?


Please excuse brevity and spelling errors. Sent using iPhone

[garrett490]

Originally Posted by RSBob

My 2 cents: Fogs draw the eye down from above the bumper, making the car appear closer to the ground and more balanced against the headlights. On the other hand, without them the car looks cleaner and higher. If you live in an area without much fog you just might want to ditch them, unless you understand what I am saying about visual balance.



I have fogs but have them tilted slightly up and use them as daytime running lights DRLs) since I live in the country on 2 lane roads where you want to be seen by oncoming people who want to overtake slower cars, or people pulling out of shaded drives, etc. Most people hate DRLs but numerous studies unequivocally show they reduce collisions. I would rather be safe than cool. In the city, using DRLs are not so much an issue.

Couldn't agree more. The fogs add "weight" visually to the lower front area of the car and gives the illusion that the car is sitting lower. I like the clean look of no fogs, but like you said the car appears higher off the ground and almost like its missing something to me. That's why I really like the post 83' carerra valance...fogs are there but more more low profile and they look intentional....unlike the ones on the SC. Someone already said autozone bolt ons...your right.


Please excuse brevity and spelling errors. Sent using iPhone

[javadog]

Originally Posted by garrett490

Oh ok. But other than that it bolts right up to an SC?

Yes. The only other difference on valances is that on the right side, there were two different locations used for attachment, maybe a couple inches apart. Not hard to deal with.

For the same effort, you could replace it with a fogless valance. Readily available, the new ones come with two tabs on the right side so they will bolt up to any car from 1974 through 1989.

None of the fog lights do anything worthwhile, hardly anybody drives in fog anyway, and the lenses get blasted with grit and look terrible in not that many miles. Can't see why anybody wants something that is as useless as those.

JR