Interior Lighting Remodeling

[cherrington17]

Whelp... its about that time....



its something i've wanted to do for a while, since the wiring in there is just plain insanity(multiple colors, no rhyme or reason to where or how it goes anywhere..) but today, after work, i got into my car, started it up and my gauges were all dim, which was odd, since they usually light up quite nice.


then smoke started pouring out of my center console. I don't know how or why, but i found my main power wire, heating up and melting the insulation off of itself, then heating up so much the solder joint broke.


so..yeah. tomorrow morn, i'm tearing all the wiring out and redoing it all over the next few weeks. In a more logical manner this time.:dry:

I'll post up here with how its coming along and how i'm doing it. kinda a step by step for the newbs to ask questions and get ideas. (even though we have 3 how tos for this already)

[Alerosaint]

Im a noob....:thumb: what kind of lighting this is??

[cherrington17]

led, dual color. gauges, doors, vents, center console cubby, and floor lighting

[Alerosaint]

ohhh ok...haynes manual have wiring diagrams and stuff...I dont know if that would help you out some

[cherrington17]

hahaha. this is what i currently have. (and am remodeling)

http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/cherrington17/Car%20Pics/P1020312.jpghttp://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/cherrington17/Car%20Pics/P1020311.jpg

a haynes manual would do me no good. :lol:

[Alerosaint]

WoW!...thats nice

[troyertrain]

cherry, i hope your remodeling those floormats :)

but seriously, keep us updated. you were one of the first (well since i joined) that really took off on the LED lighting scheme...

[jerzboi87]

i like the A/C lightin
how'd you do that and was it hard??

[cherrington17]

cherry, i hope your remodeling those floormats :)


:lol: i just wanted something red and black that wasn't plastic... they are some el-cheapos from walmart.


and the project is more time consuming then difficult. there will be pics to follow in the next several days/weeks (depending on how much time/ambition i have)


Update: Off to a good start. (the gauges might have to come out, again, too. but i sure hope not) and the doors will probably stay. the wiring on those isn't horrible, just needs to be recolored. I used whatever i had laying around. so for 2 lighting schemes, i had at least 5 different colored wires, red wire was being used for red/blue/power/ground. so yeah, it got confusing. Not to mention using 18ga wire for a single led. :banghead: laziness never helps w/ electrical work.

http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/cherrington17/Interior%20Re-lighting/P1030597.jpg
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/cherrington17/Interior%20Re-lighting/P1030598.jpg
certainly doesn't take long to tear this stuff out... now i get to do the fun part of ripping it all apart and re-leding/rewiring in a logical manner.


When i originally did this, i had very VERY little wiring experience, and its obvious. :lol:

[cherrington17]

And i'm sticking to the same theme, just cleaning things up a little, and using 3mm leds i have laying around. (i also still have like 500 5mm blues w/ resistors if anyone wants some. $12 shipped per 100)

anyway... on with the project.
Leds.. http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/cherrington17/Interior%20Re-lighting/P1030600.jpg
I did find out that with these little ones, the blues are at least 2x brighter then the reds. so i'll have 2 reds per blue (except for the cup holder, since that won't matter much)


-----------
Illuminated Cup Holder
-----------

Sand down the tip, and one side (just the tip of your doing one color, but i'm not)
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/cherrington17/Interior%20Re-lighting/P1030607.jpg

Epoxy in the middle, little hot glue on the top and bottom to hold it together It might not be pretty, but note the size. thats my index fingernail and thumbnail next to it. This will also be buried, so no-one will see. Lastly, the glue on top will be removed after the epoxy sets. The little bit on the bottom will insulate and prevent shorting/starting fires. :glare:
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/cherrington17/Interior%20Re-lighting/P1030613.jpg
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/cherrington17/Interior%20Re-lighting/P1030614.jpg
(24hr breakfast break... apparently) anywho...

After adding your wires and a little hot glue around the base to seal them, and prevent them from shorting each other.. you get this...
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/cherrington17/Interior%20Re-lighting/P1030625.jpg

Now just thread your wires through the rubber base...
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/cherrington17/Interior%20Re-lighting/P1030627.jpg
and...
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/cherrington17/Interior%20Re-lighting/P1030628.jpg

Now just add some epoxy and let it sit. (will seal it, water tight to prevent condensation from ruining the whole project)
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/cherrington17/Interior%20Re-lighting/P1030634.jpg

Now just connect those wires to a switch, or whatever you want that'll power them and your all set.

[jerzboi87]

how much would you want for a couple of those 5mm blues?
i'd like to get some if you have some extras
im also workin on my interior lightin so i appreciate the step by steps on the cup holder!

[cherrington17]

I sell them for $12 shipped, per 100. they come with resistors.

[clutch1]

Nothin worse than a short that comes out of no where and you have no idea where it is. Jeez, good luck with it.

On another note, I Really like how you make those multicolored LEDs.. never thought of gluing them together to, how all intensive purposes, end up with one. Cool stuff dude!

[clutch1]

double posted.. nuke this.

[Cyber Knight]

Lookin' forward to seeing the finished product, the man does great work!

[kniedelm9490]

sexy i did alil of it but i pulled them all out

[[ion] C2]

awesome stuff i'll get this on a how to soon. you are awesome at close up shots

[cherrington17]

One thing to remember... when doing these projects ALWAYS TRIPLE CHECK YOUR POLARITY!

the cupholder project i did above, i just had to REDO because i had them backwards. it sucks to have to demolish the whole thing, just to redo it, on the account of personal stupidity. :glare:

[cherrington17]

Since I already did a vent HOW TO, i'll just add these pics, for a sort of photo version. The method still applies, i just cleaned it up some.(and am using 3mm leds, instead of 5mm)

http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/cherrington17/Interior%20Re-lighting/P1030639.jpgBack of the vent. The white is epoxy from where the old ones were mounted. I dremeled it some just so it was flat. I also filled that old hole in with epoxy. (hence the tape underneath it, that you'll see later)
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/cherrington17/Interior%20Re-lighting/P1030640.jpg
6 Small holes for the led Leads...
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/cherrington17/Interior%20Re-lighting/P1030641.jpg
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/cherrington17/Interior%20Re-lighting/P1030646.jpg
Leds in place, and epoxied. (mounting kinda is self explanatory)
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/cherrington17/Interior%20Re-lighting/P1030644.jpg
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/cherrington17/Interior%20Re-lighting/P1030645.jpg
Wiring, after the fact. Common grounds make life simple. Then just a power wires for the 2 reds and single blue.

http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/cherrington17/Interior%20Re-lighting/P1030647.jpg
Vent Before Lighting (can barely see the leds in there)

http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/cherrington17/Interior%20Re-lighting/P1030654.jpg
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/cherrington17/Interior%20Re-lighting/P1030661.jpg
After. Its got a nice subtle glow now. Before, it was kinda bright, espicially when it was really dark at night. So I wanted to go a little more dim.



and the ever popular tyedye shots. (both red and blue on) Hopefully, it'll never look like this, but incase anyone is interested... here ya go.

http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/cherrington17/Interior%20Re-lighting/P1030662.jpg
http://i178.photobucket.com/albums/w246/cherrington17/Interior%20Re-lighting/P1030663.jpg




and ion, my dad has multiple fishtanks, so he got a camera with a good macrozoom. that thing takes AWESOME close shots. (and i personally hate when people post blurry ones) :lol:

[YALEROYNOT]

Nothin worse than a short that comes out of no where and you have no idea where it is. Jeez, good luck with it.

On another note, I Really like how you make those multicolored LEDs.. never thought of gluing them together to, how all intensive purposes, end up with one. Cool stuff dude!

like when you put 65 leds in for a third brake light. sounds like a good idea till you get a short :rolleyes2:. then its a nightmare. :lol:

cherrington17: going to make glow needles for those gauges ? ;)

[cherrington17]

^i WOULD, but can't. i gotta get this project done soon, then get back to studying to get myself back up to where i should be. then with school starting in Aug, and my bro getting married shortly before that, i'm gonna need to keep my car in one piece.... no more projects for me.

[jerzboi87]

hey where did you get your power source from, like where did you hook your switch up to?
im thinkn bout wiring my lights to my head unit.

[lonnie]

OMG next time attach the images so that I can see them at work.....lol

[cherrington17]

hey where did you get your power source from, like where did you hook your switch up to?
im thinkn bout wiring my lights to my head unit.

I connected all these lights to a switch under my headunit (i have a custom made switch panel there) and the switch is powered from a fuse tap on the passanger fuse panel. the top right fuse labelled INST LPS. it will use the car's dimming system to power the lights when your DRLs turn off and headlights turn on.

OMG next time attach the images so that I can see them at work.....lol
???, having issues? :lol:

[lonnie]

I connected all these lights to a switch under my headunit (i have a custom made switch panel there) and the switch is powered from a fuse tap on the passanger fuse panel. the top right fuse labelled INST LPS. it will use the car's dimming system to power the lights when your DRLs turn off and headlights turn on.


???, having issues? :lol:.............:lol: indeed!!

[cherrington17]

i'll bump this for the noobies....

but as i stated before in the thread, double, triple, quadruple check polarity!!!

about 4 months ago, i had to tear the center vent out, because one of the two reds i put in there, was backwards. :glare: so i had to rip it all out, replace that ONE led with a new one, in the correct direction and now it works great.

[lonnie]

Hey you still selling those leds for 12bucks for a hundred? When I get my third brake light I'm going to need at the least 100 for I plan to do.

[cherrington17]

nope. my stock has been gone for a while.

[lonnie]

nope. my stock has been gone for a while.
Where did you get yours from...or maybe I should go to onzium?

[cherrington17]

i ordered from ebay. as i always do for big purchases. if you just need a couple, oznium is the place.

[cherrington17]

Just finished a little tweak.. figure it didn't deserve its own thread..
(sorry for the blurriness. I was in a hurry and its not fully back together)


Vid will come later of the new color fading. (youtube is being annoying and freezing on me)

[JunkProwler]

How did you make the mileage blue?

[Vella's Alero]

How did you make the mileage blue?

There is a How To for the guages in particular. Basically you change the regular bulbs with LED's and take the film off of the back of the face. It's somewhere on here but I don't have time to search for it cause I'm at work.

[Silentalero]

i'll bump this for the noobies....

but as i stated before in the thread, double, triple, quadruple check polarity!!!

about 4 months ago, i had to tear the center vent out, because one of the two reds i put in there, was backwards. :glare: so i had to rip it all out, replace that ONE led with a new one, in the correct direction and now it works great.

one question, why are you putting a resistor on each one? Why not do sets of 4 and run it in series? Makes life a lot easier. (assuming these leds are 3v)

Plus seeing that vent pic i had a odd feeling you were gonna switch the polarity. Dont you know the long stem on an led is always + ;)

[Fenderxcore]

How did you make the mileage blue?

Please don't tell me you're talking about the odometer

[cherrington17]

How did you make the mileage blue?
It appears blue.. but its actually green.


Plus seeing that vent pic i had a odd feeling you were gonna switch the polarity. Dont you know the long stem on an led is always + ;)
Not always. The reds i ordered were backwards.:banghead: Which makes it ridiculously difficult when working with both colors.
Plus, nearly all the time, I trim the leads before I solder. The downside being,like a retard, I trim them the same lengths. :glare:



...and for some reason, my computer (or the websites) are being gay, and won't upload video. Photobucket AND youtube both failed. Let them sit for a couple of hours, and they both froze w/o uploading... :mad2:

[BlackJack]

Looks good Chris. I don't like interior lighting particularly because it's usually done with excess or in rediculous places.

Now if you wouldn't mind, get hot showing us how you're going to make the odometer both red and blue (green) LOL

[cherrington17]

Looks good Chris. I don't like interior lighting particularly because it's usually done with excess or in rediculous places.

Now if you wouldn't mind, get hot showing us how you're going to make the odometer both red and blue (green) LOL

There just is no pleasing some people... :glare:
:lol:

I'm really glad I put that rotary swich in. There are some days, I can't stand having even the vents on... let alone the floors. So I just pick a gauge color and call it a day...

[cherrington17]

Vid.. FINALLY!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2B408AmUK4I

[colonel6632]

not yet processed. lol, i guess i'll just wait a bit

[Spike440]

Out of curiousity do you think you could make a materials list / total cost? or a rough estimate of how much it costs for all this, would be very appreciated. :D looks awesome by the way!

[cherrington17]

:lol: ohh boy. lets see....

Leds
wire
2x 4700uf axial electrolytic capacitors
hot glue
heat shrink tubing
electrical tape
epoxy
toothpick for mixing/applying epoxy
drill
drill bits
table
chair
soldering iron
solder flux
12v power supply for testing
a dark room for testing
a camera for pictures

and more importantly... more downtime then you can reasonably want to spend modifying ONE unit with leds. (ask nate)

total time spent? unknown. If i had to ball park... I'd say 30+ hours. Its been changing/evolving since I started working with Leds. But if your looking for how-tos... check my sig. I'm pretty sure i have most of the basis covered in there.

[Spike440]

awesome thank you! would need to get the drill and soldering iron first before I did something like this then. :P

[cherrington17]

yes. making your own mounting holes definitely help. and you can't do it w/o being able to solder... and solder well.

practice practice practice.

[MattismodderX]

sweet gauges man. and i lol'd at the related videos. 85% being anime xD

[cherrington17]

sweet gauges man. and i lol'd at the related videos. 85% being anime xD

no idea whats going on there.. i noticed that too.

[BlackJack]

it's all relative. The guy that does the anime probably has an LED desk lamp for working at.

[lonnie]

Where is the switching unit?

[cherrington17]

where my ETS button would have been.

the actual relay (array, i guess) is in the center console next to my shifter.