Constrictor
02-17-2004, 10:02 PM
The creative juices were flowing last year when I decided to install some LED accent lights in my car.
My first order of business was to replace the very dim lights that are in the inner door panel that illuminate your power window and lock switches. The bulbs that are there are so dim that they almost dont even work.
I took mine out and put a bright red LED in its place. It works very well and lights up the panel nicely, but is not obtrusive when driving. There are many ways to do this mod, but I chose to keep as much of the stock look as possible.
http://www.metalreviewcentre.com/images/Pdrm0105c.jpg
In addition to the LED in the door panels, I thought it would be cool to have LED accent lighting throughout the car. I wanted a couple to light the hatch area and then I saw a picture of another car that had mini spot lights shining down on each seat in the car and wanted to recreate that look.
What I ended up doing was installing 4 white LEDs in the rear hatch light housing. Two that face down, and two that face backwards.
http://www.metalreviewcentre.com/images/Pdrm0077c.jpg
I also installed one at the top of each A-pillar. I dont have any pictures of them in daylight. As you can see, since theyre clear, they are hardly noticable.
These next pics are very poor simply because my digital camera does not work well in low light conditions. In person, the lights are much brighter and have no problem lighting up the interior of the car at night.
(On some monitors, the picture may be too dark, turn up your brightness to see more of the picture)
Rear hatch area (the two square shaped things are my amps mounted on the back wall - the light is perfectly centered on them)
http://www.metalreviewcentre.com/images/Pdrm0096c.jpg
Rear seat and rear hatch area:
http://www.metalreviewcentre.com/images/Pdrm0097c.jpg
Front seat area (this one is really hard to see, but this is the best I could do) - Once again, the LEDs center in the front seats.
http://www.metalreviewcentre.com/images/Pdrm0081c.jpg
Lastly, a shot from the rear of the car looking through the hatch, you can see all 6 LEDs in this shot.
http://www.metalreviewcentre.com/images/Pdrm0080c.jpg
I might try to switch the LEDs to red like the ones in the door, to give a more sinister look (and to show my moderatorness :D) but I like the whitish color cause it makes reading things in the car easier.
http://www.metalreviewcentre.com/LED.htm
My first order of business was to replace the very dim lights that are in the inner door panel that illuminate your power window and lock switches. The bulbs that are there are so dim that they almost dont even work.
I took mine out and put a bright red LED in its place. It works very well and lights up the panel nicely, but is not obtrusive when driving. There are many ways to do this mod, but I chose to keep as much of the stock look as possible.
http://www.metalreviewcentre.com/images/Pdrm0105c.jpg
In addition to the LED in the door panels, I thought it would be cool to have LED accent lighting throughout the car. I wanted a couple to light the hatch area and then I saw a picture of another car that had mini spot lights shining down on each seat in the car and wanted to recreate that look.
What I ended up doing was installing 4 white LEDs in the rear hatch light housing. Two that face down, and two that face backwards.
http://www.metalreviewcentre.com/images/Pdrm0077c.jpg
I also installed one at the top of each A-pillar. I dont have any pictures of them in daylight. As you can see, since theyre clear, they are hardly noticable.
These next pics are very poor simply because my digital camera does not work well in low light conditions. In person, the lights are much brighter and have no problem lighting up the interior of the car at night.
(On some monitors, the picture may be too dark, turn up your brightness to see more of the picture)
Rear hatch area (the two square shaped things are my amps mounted on the back wall - the light is perfectly centered on them)
http://www.metalreviewcentre.com/images/Pdrm0096c.jpg
Rear seat and rear hatch area:
http://www.metalreviewcentre.com/images/Pdrm0097c.jpg
Front seat area (this one is really hard to see, but this is the best I could do) - Once again, the LEDs center in the front seats.
http://www.metalreviewcentre.com/images/Pdrm0081c.jpg
Lastly, a shot from the rear of the car looking through the hatch, you can see all 6 LEDs in this shot.
http://www.metalreviewcentre.com/images/Pdrm0080c.jpg
I might try to switch the LEDs to red like the ones in the door, to give a more sinister look (and to show my moderatorness :D) but I like the whitish color cause it makes reading things in the car easier.
http://www.metalreviewcentre.com/LED.htm