LED Bulbs
By Bob Bentzinger, MG Club of St Louis by Bob Bentzinger, MG Club of St Louis Reprinted with permission from MG Driver.

I have been in the process of upgrading the turn signal and brake lights on my 1974 MGB Roadster.

Photo 1: This photo shows the bulbs which I have used in the rear (amber) turn signal on my MGB. The bulb on the far left is a standard 1156 single filament incandescent bulb. It consumes the most electrical power at about 23 watts. The middle bulb is the first LED upgrade I made and it consumes the least power of all three at about 2.4 watts. The bulb on the right is the latest LED upgrade. It is the brightest of the three and still consumes much less power than the incandescent bulb at about 6 watts. The LED’s are much more efficient at producing light because there is very little heat created.

Photo 2: This photo shows some of the other bulbs which I have used in my MGB. The bulb on the far left is a standard 1157 dual filament incandescent bulb. It is used in the rear (red) Brake/run signal and the front (amber)Turn/run signals on my MGB. It consumes a maximum of about 23 watts with the brakes applied. The middle bulb is the first LED upgrade I made to replace the standard 1157 bulb. It consumes a maximum of about 4.8 watts with brakes applied. The bulb on the right is the latest LED upgrade to the brake/ run bulb. It is the brightest of the three and consumes a maximum of 6 watts with the brakes applied. I got this bulb from a motorcycle shop.

Photo 3: This photo shows the turn signal bulbs illuminated for comparison. The standard 1156 bulb and the first-generation LED next to it put out about the same amount of light. The LED on the far right is about 60% brighter than the LED in the center.

Photo 4: The latest rear brake and turn signal LED’s in situ...plenty of room.

Photo 5: The latest LED installed in the front turn signal.

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