Has anyone heard from Tom of Deloreana.com?

[kobachi]

Looks like his last post was May 2016 and he was recovering from a rather nasty flu -- but he hasn't posted anything since then and that's around the last time his website was updated, too. I hope he didn't encounter further medical complications! Does anyone know?

[jackb]

I've been looking forward to some more products from him as well (particularly the LED side markers). I hope all is well with him and he's still around.

[Bill6298]

I could have sworn I just emailed with him a few months ago but the last I could find was 2013. I have a gmail address and will reply back to see if it's still good.

Speaking of Tom, is Walter Coe around? I own Tom's DeLorean from back when he lived in Florida. He and Walter rebuilt just about everything.

[Drive Stainless]

I last communicated with Tom on 9/30/2017. He was alive and well at that time!

[Bill6298]

I last communicated with Tom on 9/30/2017. He was alive and well at that time!

That's great to hear. Beyond Tom's LED and concave mirror products, I've always appreciated his overall knowledge for the past 20 years or so. His welding repair job in my VOD has impressively stood the test of time.

[Bill6298]

Just heard back from Tom. He is doing much better and said he plans on making a full comeback hopefully after the first of the year.

[bigmac]

Tom. When are the side markers going to be ready please?


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[Shep]

Tom. When are the side markers going to be ready please?

I remember you saying that was still a lower priority before battling the flu for about a year, but don't know I've seen this question answered yet: will they be compatible with the side blinker mod?

[Tomcio]

Tom. When are the side markers going to be ready please?

I'm trying to make up for the lost time now...
I have installed the first set using the new LEDs on my car. It's currently undergoing testing to make sure the new LEDs are good. So far I'm very happy with the results. The lights actually turned out brighter that the OEM bulbs. I'm thinking if I should keep them as bright as possible or if I should dim them down a bit. What do you guys think?

As soon as I'm confident that everything is good I will start assembly. It's a time consuming process as it's manual assembly done by me. I will keep everyone updated on the progress.
For now the mirrors are number one priority. Once that is done I will start assembly on either the door lights or the side markers. TDB

I remember you saying that was still a lower priority before battling the flu for about a year, but don't know I've seen this question answered yet: will they be compatible with the side blinker mod?

Shep, the flu was really no big deal considering what I found out when I went to my doctor. Got some tests done and when the results came in they called me and told me to come in RIGHT NOW. That's when everything else was put on hold. Anyway...
The side markers will work with blinker repeater mod. They will require one component to be added to the wiring and I will probably offer two versions - regular and blinker mod.
Once I get around to building the front parking/turn signal lights they will have a special connector on them and the side marker will either connect to the stock wiring for normal operation or directly to the front light to work as side marker and blinker repeater. Unfortunately that is still a future project although I have to think about building at least the first test set soon. The reason is that the law here doesn't allow yellow parking lights... they need to be white. So, I have designed the light to have three functions 1. yellow turn signal, 2. white parking light, 3. white DRL
We'll see...

[Shep]

I'm thinking if I should keep them as bright as possible or if I should dim them down a bit. What do you guys think?

Pics first? Maybe a comparison shot if you're able to compare incandescent vs. "cube LED" vs. your LED, within the red lens.

Me personally, here's how bright I like my bulbs, quoting DPI Josh at varying points:

"Second coming of Christ"
"Saw deer scattering 40 yards behind when backing out of the shop"
"Brake lights that summon demons after dark"
"As if a DeLorean wasn't visible enough..."

Should give you a pretty good feeling of how bright I like 'em

I would say take a poll, but you know me, I'm on the list of "buying as soon as it's for sale". Blinker mod, but unless you have a source on clear housings, I gotta stay with 1 set yellow, 1 set red, no white at all because the lenses don't work with it. Blinker mod for both. Hell I'll pre-order if it helps.

- - - - -

Also remember guys, LED's don't burn out, they instead have half-lives of brightness. In other words, after a certain amount of time, the brightness of an LED will halve. I have an "extreme" example of this that I always reference to fully demonstrate the effect, I have attached it here. In essence, the middle row of LED's (while still quite blindingly bright) have only been on a total period of about 5 minutes if we're pushing it. The top and bottom row? 5-10 years. This is worsened by the fact that they are blue LED's, which, while neat looking, dim far faster than any other color. Which is exactly why none of that math works on a car: they're not running 24/7 and they're not running blue primarily, there will be some natural dimming over its lifespan, but it is a very slow and not noticeable process. In fact, it's purely because I know to look for it that I find it.

What I'm getting at is if you're on the fence because you think it might be too bright, it will, via natural use, dim to a level of your liking. Slowly, but it will dim, so give it a chance.