[fixit-p]

Originally Posted by Beatcoaster

Those delcity LED's are very directional and have zero light output on the sides, unlike a normal bulb. Painting the interior of the housing chrome wouldn't be beneficial with those LED's since you are probably only getting a 90 degree light pattern, pointing directly rearward; therefore no light reflection in the housing is needed. Not to discount fixit-p or his choices, but that style of LED bulb is very "2001", and if you aren't up on LED technologies then you would think that to be a cutting edge model at a good price. However the opposite is quite true, LED technology has come a very long way over the past 10 years, and the high flux wide angle LED's used on the bulb I have referrenced are light years ahead of the standard bell style LED's used in that model in both light output and quality. In addition to that, the bulb I ref'd above has LED's on the sides as well as the front, so output is nearly 360 degrees, similar or better than a standard 1157 bulb...zero compromise from an 1157 filament bulb, with all the benefits of LED...

Cant argue with the numbers the Del City LED is only rated at 15/4 Lumen @ 20* there are 4 LEDs on the back side to help reflect light from the housing. But they can't compete with the tower type bulbs but it was an economic choice for the interim I'll have to check them in daylight to see how they perform. I do plan on making my own panels in the future which is why I subscribed to this thread I too enjoy doing stuff myself.