Technostalgia tail lights better now?

[RenegadeXR]

Originally Posted by tomlink

Sunday I finally got down to removing the lamp, and there was an inch of water in it. I can't say for sure, but I think the bulb connection at the back was loose.

So one thing I notice is that -- and I'm not sure if it's this way on all couple-style cars -- but GM designed the Camaro to have all water drain through two channels that go down the sides of the trunk's lip and then exit down through the tail lamp assembly through the bumper cover. You know those two plastic pieces that sit ontop of the tail lamps with 3 tree fasteners each? The water is channeled to rush down underneath that general area. You can observe it by dumping water down your rear windshield and opening your trunk right after, or after washing your car.

I guess for practical purposes there's no other way to have designed this, but yes, not having the round elbow connectors fastened to the back of the lamps can definitely cause water intrusion if enough water was rushing in at once.

The leftmost driver side one has a particularly weird angle because you need to start it at the 5 o-clock position, which basically hits the inner metal of the bumper, and turn it counter-clockwise to the 3 o-clock position. Anyway, to make life easier, I've found you can actually safely bend the metal that holds the tail lamps back a little. It will snap back to its original position as soon as you let go. You can bend it in or out using one had to tilt the tail lamps up or down a little and give yourself up to 1/2 an inch of extra space as you're screwing that elbow connector in for the lamp harness with the other hand, and that can be a life-saver if in close quarters or if the harness doesn't have much slack to complete the turning motion.

Another thing to be mindful of: If you have a sun roof, there are a couple tubes that run down into the trunk area and feed the water through the same exit point also out the rear bumper cover. If those tubes get disconnected from their grommets, you'll end up with standing water inside your actual trunk cargo space, and that can increase the humidity in the trunk and also cause water intrusion into the lamps even if they have a good seal.

[tomlink]

I'll admit that I have removed and replaced the lights so many times that only a few of the nuts were tightened with a wrench. I have no idea how I ever got in there the first time, but now they are just tightened as tight as I can make them with my fingers. Even at that, the nut on each side deepest in the fender is just barely accessible.



At any rate if anyone wants to make me an offer on the lights I removed that would work for me. Or if anyone has at least that far right light that still works, I'd consider putting them back in. I did not remove the harness on the hope I still might get a replacement or repair that outside right light. The OEM lights are boring. PM me on either.

[1JEWLDSSRS]

Originally Posted by tomlink

Great thread. I made my afterburner repairs several times and I even had a few extra LED strings for future repairs. In August the far right light failed because of moisture. A neighbor alerted me that "my lights are on", when it was actually just a few segments in that one light. I unplugged it so the others would work without killing the battery, because almost all my tools were in storage as I was moving. Sunday I finally got down to removing the lamp, and there was an inch of water in it. I can't say for sure, but I think the bulb connection at the back was loose. There was so much corrosion on the main circuit board it had no hope. I'm getting real good at removing and replacing these. I wish I had a source for just the 1 lamp, but for now I am back to the OEM taillights. Sigh. Almost 9 years.

336-792-2011.... Call this number and ask for Cort Sheldon, I talked to him before about purchasing a replacement set of the Techno's. He is a contact at the new company that now does the Techno's and maybe he could get you a replacement unit for a good price. Rick's Camaro's/Eckler's sells them now, and they are the Techno's, I had called them before I called him..Good luck.

[RenegadeXR]

Originally Posted by 1JEWLDSSRS

336-792-2011.... Call this number and ask for Cort Sheldon, I talked to him before about purchasing a replacement set of the Techno's. He is a contact at the new company that now does the Techno's and maybe he could get you a replacement unit for a good price. Rick's Camaro's/Eckler's sells them now, and they are the Techno's, I had called them before I called him..Good luck.

Good to know. To save people time, the part code is "33-260968-1" which will return results from Eckler's and other resellers. They're being marketed as a "tail lamp conversion kit" with no mention of Technostalagia anymore.

[1JEWLDSSRS]

Originally Posted by RenegadeXR

Good to know. To save people time, the part code is "33-260968-1" which will return results from Eckler's and other resellers. They're being marketed as a "tail lamp conversion kit" with no mention of Technostalagia anymore.

Yea, when I talked to the girl at Rick's about the tail lights and asked if by chance they were indeed the Technostalgia's, she said yes, and that she wasn't supposed to tell me that!! lol. Only way I knew and when I emailed Tod, who used to be the contact at Thechno, he gave my email to Cort.. lol.

[camguynj]

Originally Posted by 1JEWLDSSRS

Yea, when I talked to the girl at Rick's about the tail lights and asked if by chance they were indeed the Technostalgia's, she said yes, and that she wasn't supposed to tell me that!! lol. Only way I knew and when I emailed Tod, who used to be the contact at Thechno, he gave my email to Cort.. lol.

So the big question is are they still being made or just selling what Techno had in inventory?

If they’re being made by whom ...if by Todd then they probably still have the faulty seal problem that leads to condensation problems. If from inventory then they definitely have the faulty seal problem.

[RenegadeXR]

Originally Posted by camguynj

So the big question is are they still being made or just selling what Techno had in inventory?

If they’re being made by whom ...if by Todd then they probably still have the faulty seal problem that leads to condensation problems. If from inventory then they definitely have the faulty seal problem.

I think the bigger question is: What's the exact model number? "Tail light conversion kit" isn't super descriptive.

The Technostalgia rapidfire / sequential lamps went by a 6700, 6701, 6701b, and 6800 identifier for iterations. The first three tried to fix the condensation issues and wiring harness issues. The 6800 switched to a different LED strip that's less prone to burn out (but the afterburner also way less vibrant with smaller LED's), marine-grade weatherproof resistors, and avoided a direct connection to the battery to avoid parasitic drain.

But the condensation issue was never solved across any of those iterations, AFAIK.

[1JEWLDSSRS]

Originally Posted by camguynj

So the big question is are they still being made or just selling what Techno had in inventory?

If they’re being made by whom ...if by Todd then they probably still have the faulty seal problem that leads to condensation problems. If from inventory then they definitely have the faulty seal problem.

Cort said when I chatted with him, his company, can't remember the name is now making the tail lights and I am not sure what Todd's piece of the pie is.

[1JEWLDSSRS]

So I went back and found an old email from Cort, and this is the company that is making them, but I didn't see them listed anywhere, so not sure if it is left over Techno stuff being assembled and sold, or what, and if when they are gone, they are gone!! lol.

https://www.usa1industries.com/

[camguynj]

Sounds like USA1Indstries bought what ever remaining parts Todd had and is assembling & selling them for more than they ever sold for.

Wonder if Techo (ie: Cool-Leds is the company name) and their other Led products are still in business (or did Todd sell them off too?) as the Cool-Leds website hasn't been updated since 2018

[camguynj]

Not to hijack this thread but if anyone is interested in another light mod check this thread out about how to add turn signal flashers to your side mirrors https://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=113157s.

Just added mine (see last post in thread). Cheap, EZ and very practical & cool looking IMO. Post any questions or comments in the other thread.

[1JEWLDSSRS]

Originally Posted by camguynj

Sounds like USA1Indstries bought what ever remaining parts Todd had and is assembling & selling them for more than they ever sold for.

Wonder if Techo (ie: Cool-Leds is the company name) and their other Led products are still in business (or did Todd sell them off too?) as the Cool-Leds website hasn't been updated since 2018

Yea, I saw that too. I think "cool leds" is gone as well.

[tomlink]

Thanks for all the feedback, but I'm not going to lay down another $400 for a set of lights. I'm really looking for just the one far right light. My harness, the resistors, and 3 lights work fine. I just want 1 light. And I think that is not going to happen. I'll check with the contacts mentioned though.

[RenegadeXR]

Just as an update: At almost exactly the 1 year mark since my repair, 2 LEDs began flickering on one of my afterburner rings and burnt out. This was after the car was subjected to several random deluges with all the stormy weather outside.

I think these strips are a little sensitive to being bent too sharply, since I killed one of the rings by bending it ever slightly too hard last time. The ring that just burned out was one of the first lamps I repaired last year, and I wasn't very gentle with it initially. So I think the humidity killed off a part of the strip that I'd previously muscled around too hard.