i was wondering how hard it is to change the interior lights to LEDs...i want to change the driver and passenger side lights under the dash, and possibly the lights that light up the console...can this be done by simply cutting away the old lightbulb and hooking up an LED?....if so will it be bright enough?...i want blue LEDs to match my paint

 

i just did the under dash and the hvac and center console last night and it couldnt have been easier but the radio is a pain is the ***. the little bulb dont come out. as for the other one they are all 194s and easy to swap the just pull out and you put new ones it. also the license plate ones are the same deal and make the car look great but i hear its not legal so thats your call. if you do leds the gauges arent as easy cuz they are stuck i the sockets so you cant just get 194s you need to get special leds with the socket built on their about $1.70 a peice and the other ones arent very expensive either. i have the wide angle 5-led 194s from superbrightleds.com and they work great. its a nice red and it illuminates alot of space with out an overpowering amount of light. im soon to finish it off with the 35 dollars in gauge lights from superbrightleds.com and the 11 dolars for the two festoons for the hatch and overhead lamps from ebay the red does alot for the cars look tho. I was able to do the under dash light in about a minute for both and the center console was very quick but the hvac sucked because the socket holding the light was had to unscrew i felt like i was going to break it but if that feels the same for you just keep steadily applying pressure its supposed to feel like its in very well. the license plate ones were easy too and done from outside you need a t15 driver and just undo the three screws around the black part and you can pull the bulb quickly and easily replace it. Show some before and after tho cuz i forgot and you wouldnt believe the difference it makes if someone just described it to you

 

wow i didnt realize it was that easy...so for now i might just do the driver and passenger under dash lights. are these LEDs popular sizes?...or do i need to order them. it was also kinda hard to read your post but thank you sooo much for the help. thanks again

 

yea i know i edited the last post a few times so it ended up being poorly worded. Those 194s are very common bulbs though but alot of automotive stores dont sell leds so you typicallly need to get them online. This is the link to order off of superbright leds... http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-b...gi?product=CAR
Definately get wide angle bulbs the make a big difference in the amount of light given off by the bulb. Also 1157 are the replacement for all of your tailights and the same thing get wide angle bulbs if you can.

 

I wouldn't bother with the taillights- LEDs won't fill up the housing so it looks weird.

 

actually i thought the same thing but later i found out they make 1157s that are designes to have light fill the entire housing by using different leds on the outside edge. http://superbrightleds.com/tail-brake-turn.html the second bulb down is made to reflect light off of the sides and back edges to fill the housing with color.

 

How much of a difference in the brightness of the lights can one expect to achieve with led's? (Exterior lights specifically)

 

Forget about those too.I tried them awhile back.They still dont fill the lens area & with 30 LEDs on that(i think the LED is called matrix)housing.Anyway i have the superwhite LEDs in all int lamps.Including my OH console(w/34 LED square C.B from superbrightleds).Plus the license plate also ha them in the side markers, but they ONLY blink when the driving lamps are on.Not when they're off.

 

i can show you pics of interior red 194 5 bulbs wide angle leds in comparison to regular 194 bulbs. and the i can show you the license plate bulbs in a comparison but i didnt do my tailights yet or my gauges ill post pics tomorrow for you guys so you can see red also. I dont have kick panels though so if you do you might get a different amount of light.

 

hey guys thanks for the posts...striped, cant wait for the pics...yea this has really got me into doing this, as soon as i get my headers on i might go buy some of this stuff...it looks pretty neat.

 

is this superbrightleds a good company to work with...there website is really hard to work and understand and they look a little shady to me...please tell me what you think...but for the two underdash lights on driver and passenger sides (the lights that light up your feet when you get in) im getting the WLED 5-LED Wide Angle LED bulb its 2.99 plus .75 for blue....im double checking that this is the right size, and the right bulb LED for my purpose...thanks for the help.

 

I just got some led's from superbrightleds.com, and they were fast to email me my confirmation and emailed me when it was shipped (usps), so i should get them tomorrow or by the weekend at least. I got the 5 star wedge 194 (for the map lights) as well as the inverted cone type to see which will light up better (why not, they are cheap!). Also go the fetson kind for the dome and hatch. (All red). To light up the floorboards I was thinking to use a flashlight housing (where the bulb would go) to reflect the light better and mount it in the cover (under dash). I am slowly becoming LED krazy! Will try a few things just for fun......Ive always loved lights...