Everyone, post up your LED modifications on the interiors of your car. im looking for some inspiration to add to the interior of my 1992.

Can't wait to see what you all have!

 

ill get you all started, heres what i have so far! footwell LEDs and LED dome light

 

You saw my dome light and rear hatch light on the other thread.

I also have floor board lights, both front and rear. Fronts are 3inch strips mounted under dash, rears are the little windshield washer LED nozzles, mounted in each corner of the center console to shine down into rear floorboards.

I also used a LED license plate light inside the center console - all the center consoles (at least Camaro ones) have a hole in the front - it was for the adjustment lever for the console clock that the 1984/85 cars had - I just put the license plate bolt LED in there.

All these are green, and light with lights on as well as with doors open. I'll try to get some pics.

 

I'd like to find an orange set to match my car.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Orang...Q5fAccessories

There you go i trust them! a little wiring but its a somewhat easy mod

 

i'll be busting out some LED mods once i find the bulbs i like. i never have trusted those led strips and tubes and stuff. and plus, soldering is cool, and the chicks dig a guy with a soldering iron.

 

hahahaha^^^ nice... the strips are actually very bright and very good quality IMO

 

Goto any electronics distributor (mouser, Newark) and search led strip. You be amazed at what's out there for cheap.

 

superbrightleds.com

 

a few years ago i had problems with them not lasting very long, but i am sure there are higher quality strips nowadays.

i want to do some up in my headliner... too bad my headliner is trashed.

 

Mine is too! its like all falling out and stuff... damn. someday ill get to it

 

dude, mine is missing several inches in almost every part that connects to the metal. i ended up making a "frame" out of hot pink and neon green duct tape until i get around to the inside.

that just means we can practice on our trashed headliners

 

LOL! that sucks dude.. urs is a bit worse than mine id say

 

Thanks man!

 

I get all my LED goodies from the cheapest ebay seller I can find, and haven't had any issues (some have been in the car 3+ years now). Takes a few weeks for shipping from Hong Kong, but can't beat the prices!

 

ive always wanted LED's shining on the floorboards (front and rear)
for front how do you hook up the LED strips, i have no electrical experience at all..
Rear: the washer nozzels are a geneious idea, i wouldnt mind trying that, how did you hook those up also??

i just dont know how to hook these things up...

 

Well its pretty dang crazy lol.

1. ur gonna need a few things
-14 gauge wire
-wire strippers
-tools for bolts and stuff
-a fuse tap
-a toggle switch
-lots of creativity....

2. all i did is watch a buttload of youtube videos!


I really wish i could help you more, but its not really something that i can explain...

 

could you get a underside pic of the tubes or stripes that shine on the floor boards?

 

aqualord I'll get you something written up tonight or tomorrow - stayed tuned to this thread.

 

auqualord: This isn't the most professional way, but it's easy and doesn't require soldering ...

In the fuse panel, there will be a single slot, with a little arrow pointing to it - it will be marked LPS for Lamps. You cannot put a fuse in it, since a fuse has two prongs and this is a single slot. It provides 12v+ when the lights are on - this is where you get your power. Grab a 18gauge wire, and crimp a 1/4 male spade connector on it - that connector will go into the LPS slot. Run this wire under the dash, from driver side to pass side, and put a butt connector on the end so the end can't tough anything.

Now, use inline wire taps. Place your led strip (or whatever) under the dash panel driver side. The led strips all have very tiny wires, and you'll be using larger wires - the two different sizes do not crimp well in a butt connector. So I strip back about 1 inch of the LED wire cover, and I fold the wire over itself several times, so that it's a thicker mass to squish in the butt connector.

Now, attach a short wire (maybe 8 inches) to the LED positive wire using a butt connector. Then, use an inline wire tap to attach that wire to the one you ran under the dash. ground the LED negative wire anywhere. I like to run a ground wire the same way as the positive wire, and use the inline taps for the ground same as we did for the positives - since the LED's come with such short and small (fragile) wires. Just find a good spot under the dash to ground the negative wire. Repeat for your pass side LED strip.

Then, you can do the same for the rear, just tap another positive and negative wire into the first ones under the dash, then run them under the center console, and attach your LED's for the rear floor boards.

Now - this will not turn on the lights when the doors are open, just when the lights are on. Having the LEDs light up when either the door is opened or the lights are on involves a bit more - I'll do a write for that.

 

OK - wiring for the the LED's to come on with either the door opening or the lights being on requires use of relays - because the door switches turn on/off a ground, and the fuse panel connection we used turns on/off a positive with the light switch. Have to use a relay to change the on/off of the door switch negative to a on/off of a positive to light the LEDs. A relay is bascially a switch that is operated electronically - when the relay gets 12v+ and a ground, it moves a switch from one position to another, so that current can be directed where you want it.

So, we need to tap into the driver side door switch wire, using an inline tap - this will be the ground for the relay. Then the relay needs a positive - it will get a constant positive here directly from battery since we want power even when the key is out (opening door, key still in pocket). So, the relay has 12v+, and when we open the door, it will get the ground it needs to activate, and then it will send power from fuse panel to the LEDs. It gets wired like first pic below.

BUT, there's a problem. If you do this only, when the door opens, the positive current from the relay will backfeed through the LPS circuit in the fuse panel, and make all the park lights outside light up everytime the door is opened! So, we need another relay to keep the current from backfeeding - we need a connection from LPS to the LEDs, but need to keep power out of LPS unless light switch is on.

So you have to use another relay, between LPS and the wire going to the LEDs. It would get wired like 2nd pic below.

So in the end, we have the completed circuit, 3rd pic below.

If the door opens, relay1 gets a ground, activating relay and sends 12v+ out to LEDs. But relay2 is open, so no power backfeeds to the headlight switch.

If headlight turned on, relay2 is activated, sending 12v+ out to the LEDs.

If both doors open and headlight switch on, the both relays are activated, and both send 12v+ to the LED's - but this isn't a problem, the LED's will only draw the current they require, which is very very little, and won't hurt anything at all.

These relays are SPDT relays, standard relays on the shelf where the fuses are in any auto parts store, about $8 each. No need for fuse anywhere - the LEDs draw so little current, and the relays need very little to get activated. Plus there's already a fuse in the panel for the LPS circuit.

Hope all that makes sense!

 

the way that you explained it and the diagram you posted actually makes me believe i can do it. thank you so much. i had to look up certain words like inline wire taps and those butt things. but i believe i can do it now. thank you.!!!

one question though...ever plan on puting a switch somewhere so you can actually choose when you want them on? i read that the switch and the wires just have to go before the main wire that hits the LEDS. cause some times i doubt i would like the interior lights on with my head lights. guesing the main wire would have to go into the connector (or just after it) that goes into the lamp area.

 

Yeah, just rig a switch right before the LEDs.

I have mine on always, doesn't bother me at all. They shine down into the floorboards, not in your face - basically the floorboards just glow (in my case green). You don't even notice the light unless you actually look into the floor.

 

Inline taps: http://www.wiringproducts.com/contents/en-us/d265.html

Butt connectors: http://www.wiringproducts.com/contents/en-us/d47.html

1/4 inch male spades (second item): http://www.wiringproducts.com/contents/en-us/d50.html

All this stuff available anywhere, Walmart, auto store, etc. You CAN do it, it's not hard. Just need an assortment of terminals (spade and butt), and the taps, and a crimping tool, some electrical tape, and some wire - maybe $15 plus cost of LED lights/strips.

 

Got these from my work. They are 5 LED blubs inside and there is 2 of them side by side as a dome light. Man its bright in there now and I did the same in the foot wells too

 

Just use the wire from the kick panel light to your LED's... LEDs pull way less current than the bulb lights so you dint have to worry about any different wiring. It's all already hooked to your door switch.

Just my 2 cents

 

That's fine if
1) you have courtesy lights (not all of our cars do)
2) if you don't want them to come on with the headlights.

 

I did that to my car and it is a pretty cool little mod as light in these cars was never great

 

here we go again

anyway, cant believe nobody of you guys changed out the ashtraylight right under the upper dash for a led.
anyway, the car

the interior



the ledmods


I also changed the ones in the rearview mirror.






and ofcours "I can see paradise by the dashboard lights"