WestOzGTA

A little project I finally finished off on the weekend...

I made these from 40x3mm aluminium strips, backlit with electroluminescent panels (eBay!). Initially I was intending to cut out the checkered section of the original plastic door sills to make a frame into which I would set the panels. However I decided that it would be too hard to get perfectly straight lines, and the sills are a bit warped as well since the surface they sit on curves up slightly at each end. Plus when I put the panels on top and the holes lined up perfectly I thought they looked so good that I just wouldn't bother with the extra stuffing around.

The only modification I needed to make to the plastic sills was to cut a slot for the EL panels to go through, and I also needed to shave down the "frame" either side of the "body by Fisher" logo since it bulges upwards slightly.

With the added thickness there is just enough room for the doors to close... in fact I get a slight rub on the left hand side at the door jamb end, and it took a tiny bit of paint off the underside of the door, but ahh who cares.

t-top havoc

iTrader: (3)

Good job!!

dieseldog

Nice, I would like to do something similar.

FryeDaddy

iTrader: (1)

so you brought it off ebay and slap it on top? Pretty sick, so much better than the plastic stuff lol

GOATS2QUICK

iTrader: (5)

looks great.

Dakota W.

Looks cool, I had to do a double take- not accustomed to seeing pedals on that side lol.

Richboll

Those really look good! Nice job.

WestOzGTA

I bought the electroluminscent panels/strips from eBay... they are sandwiched between the original plastic and the aluminium panels (which I made).

carlos64030

iTrader: (1)

That came out really nice!

paulo57509

Looks very nice!

I also like the sheepskin seat covers.

ghettocruiser

iTrader: (4)

Ill take a set with red or orange illumination please. Or maybe white to match my possible new gauge combo...

Those look great!

J.

scarbucket

iTrader: (3)

what would you charge to make me a set?

WestOzGTA

Haha... lots... it took about 2h per side, and I don't really wanna go through it again!

Advice is free though... which is charging for what it's worth

Spaceboy1980

iTrader: (6)

I've been pondering this since we got my wife's cube. Her door sills light up "Cube" in blue and I thought it was pretty cool looking. I have a different idea how to do this, mostly because I don't have access to a water jet or whatever you used to cut out your logo. If I get it together I'll post it up.

ghettocruiser

iTrader: (4)

How did you make the actual metal cover with Trans AM in it. Thats the part that I think would need to be produced. Everyone could get the illumination panel and do the fitting. But it looks like you got them laser cut or water jet cut?

How bright are they at night? Can you notice them at all in the daylight?

J.

The Project

iTrader: (6)

Those look KILLER

How did you get the Trans Am cut into the alum. strip?

WestOzGTA

Thanks for the compliment, but no... I wish! That would have saved a bit of time. I did them by hand, with a rotary tool (Dremel copy). I printed out the logo as a mirror image and then stuck the strip of paper to the back of the aluminium using spray glue. Then I painstakingly cut out the design...

First up I tried using the Dremel tungsten carbide cutting bit, however these are designed for hard metals only, so it just got gummed up... very slow going, and I almost gave up at the beginning. In the end I found that a drill bit worked best. Using a 2mm drill bit I drilled holes very close together around the perimeter of the design, then cut between them, again using the drill bit. There was a technique I developed which is hard to describe but kinda like using the drill bit as a router to gradually take out more depth. Actually, a router bit probably would have made it easier...

I did use the tungsten carbide cutting bit as well for less agressive fine smoothing. Then, where I could, I used a very thin flat file and triangular file to get nicer lines and corners.


The EL panels produce more of a soft glow than illumination, as can be seen in the second pic, which was taken without flash. It's hard to show in pics because without flash you don't see everything else too well and with flash everything else is a bit bright. The third pic was taken at the same time, with flash.

The first pic is daylight... you can't really notice the backlight very much at all unless the car is in a shaded area. With the first pic there would only be a subtle difference with them disconnected. With them off in a shaded area they are a darker blue, but in sunlight they look lighter anyway if that makes sense.

jharrison5

That is one cool mod. I'm thinking I'm going to have to borrow this one lol!

86_irocz-28

Where did you buy the aluminum strips from?

WestOzGTA

Just the local hardware store (Bunnings here in Australia)... bought a 3m length and cut it in half in the carpark so I could get it home

DBLTKE

iTrader: (1)

Awesome job dude. I've had it in the back of my head for awhile to do exactly this. 5th gen Camaros have these as an option.

Spaceboy1980

iTrader: (6)

Wow, way lower tech than they appear. Excellent work! I have the components ordered for my secret way of doing it and the lexan already cut... perhaps I've said too much.

Da Spudro

Cool. I've been wondering how to go about doing this to my car for while. Think I'll probably use a slightly different approach though. I've used EL stuff bfore and it doesn't hold up to heat very well, so i'll probably make the alluminum sill covers, cutting out Camaro Z28 in them, use a peice of fogged lexan and mount a 16 color changing led strip under them so i have the option of changing colors like the mustangs... Not sure if the new camaros do it or not...

Thanks for the idea, and the basis for me to go from. Looks great by the way - hope the EL holds up better for you then it has for me

WestOzGTA

Thanks. Me too... I hadn't heard or thought about any problems with heat so hopefully they'll be fine.

My first idea was to fill the cutout with something translucent white (which I tried, using polymorph pellets) and backlight with LEDs. However I found that I didn't get enough diffusion of the light and still had bright spots. Either the LEDs need to be further away, or I'd have needed at least 30 per side. I googled for other options and found the EL stuff, the added benefit being that it's a lot thinner than LEDs.

If you can get LEDs to work and give nice diffused backlighting then the colour changing would be really nice.

ghettocruiser

iTrader: (4)

Wow Im impressed! Thats quite a bit of patience and work to make that lettering! Ive used those carbide bits on alum before...its frustrating. Actually, using just about anything on alum can be frustrating haha. Way to stick it out and make your vision a reality!

Thanks for the info! Maybe a fun thing to play around with some winter.

Justin

NowhereFast

They look excellent. A very upscale touch.

What did you wire the EL panels into? Are they switched to come on when the door is open?

WestOzGTA

Yep - they each came supplied with a small 12v DC to 110v AC (I think) inverter... these are just wired into the courtesy lights that are by your feet.

86_irocz-28

going to see what i can do using a led strip with multi color so far started cutting out the lettering ill post up pics later if anyones interested

t-top havoc

iTrader: (3)

Please do post pics!

Richboll

Yep, I'd like to see some pics also. This looks like a good mod that can be easily reversed if needed.

t-top havoc

iTrader: (3)

I have searched ELtape & there is alot of stuff out there!
Colors--
White, Red, Yellow, Blue, Aqua,Green.
Length & width vary.
A couple sites say you can trim with scissors.
Depending what you want, invertor & splitters available or may come with as a kit.

Chubb

That is cool and innovative!!!

86_irocz-28

Crap design trying to figure something else out with them

sidwyz

Maybe you could cover those LED's with chrome mesh, might defract the light and cover the high spots, and give it an industrial look in the day time as well, to the OP this is a cool yet subtle touch, definitely has my gears turnin

t-top havoc

iTrader: (3)

How far are the lights from the sill?
What did you cover with?

86_irocz-28

Maybe a 1/8 inch between the sill and the led's

Sidwys if I did do mesh id probably do black to blend it all together and not to take away from op's great idea and very nice piece

Spaceboy1980

iTrader: (6)

Updating where I finally got to on this. I have my red EL ribbon and the driver's side ready to wire in and install.

Here's a teaser:

Spaceboy1980

iTrader: (6)

Lit up with a 9v, it's not pink in person.

6SIX6

iTrader: (35)

That looks awsome man

Richboll

Nice job. Did you machine the letters out? That looks good enough to sell.

Spaceboy1980

iTrader: (6)

It's actually a piece of tinted lexan that I put a sticker over and painted with satin paint.

ghettocruiser

iTrader: (4)

That looks fantastic!

WestOzGTA

Great job!

KITT1983

iTrader: (3)

Are these for sale ?

scarbucket

iTrader: (3)

I woukd totally buy a set of these

Spaceboy1980

iTrader: (6)

I think WestOzGTA's are a more durable design. If mine get scratched then red light will leak through where it was scratched.

88monteSS

Did you put the paint on the top or bottom? If you painted the bottom it shouldn't get scratched easily.

And I would totally buy a set or ship mine to you to modify if you were decide to start selling them.

EDIT:Although thinking about it for a minute, unless the lexan was really thin, the letters probably wouldn't be all that sharp if it was on the bottom maybe. IDK, I'll have to find some lexan & experiment.

Mirror Image

iTrader: (2)

Im in for a set

VAN454

great work, I have been thinking about the same setup so it's good to see how they look

88gtadan

that is insanely awesome
very nice job