Ha Sorry John.

I don't know to be honest. If I can find Nissan centercaps that are the same size and colour match, I'll obviously install them. If I can't, I'll leave the Infiniti ones on.

The Tein Sticker may disappear. Walking out to the car after getting groceries yesterday I saw it from a distance, and said, WTF Matt, that looks ricey. It looks good up close, when examined, but I think from the 'quick glance' and from far away, it's too much of an eye catcher.

I'll try just pulling the 'T' first, but I think it's gone.

 

Aw crap. Now I have guilt.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Lighting-Contr.../dp/B001CM74R2

maybe? didn't really look too much

 

Sorry for the OT: but I'm almost certain Sparks actually uses 15s, IIRC he shaved a little bit off the front calipers to make them work.

Anyway, carry on.

 

Why?

Not illuminated, and at the price. I paid $4 for the POT and **** I have currently.

Thanks for looking though. I need an illuminated one, even just an small blue indicator would be fine. The issue seems to be the logistics of illuminating a rotating ****. Ideally, this would mean a contact plate and point on either end (same as most steering wheel horns)

 

Mostly I'm just kidding. There's a fine line between opining and convincing. Hard to tell when I'm crossing it.

This is me sometimes...

 

Nah John, although I value your opinion, that isn't the reason for my decision (it's still on the car BTW, for now I haven't decided 100%)

If I remove it, it will simply be due to the fact that it doesn't flow with the overall appearance I have in mind. Mainly, I just wanted your opinion on the green, That's the main reason it stands out so much, and it just doesn't work.

 

Well, I still haven't removed those Cattman decals I mentioned. Although I fully intend to now. It's kind of like shaving a mustache, or cutting off a pony-tail. Fortunately for you, it's only been there for a few days, so the familiarity hasn't taken root yet.

Save yourself, man, before it's too hard to turn back!

[edit] OK, I did it. Just a few moments ago, the decal I was obsessing over is gone.

I feel like I'm in stealth-mode, although the reality is that I was all along.

Free-dom.

 

Whoo hoo, just like pulling off a band-aid!! Good for you man.

Mine is still on there.

I have been too busy to even look at it. I'll deal with it later.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I got my LED's in to test my latest theory, I was shocked, it actually worked!!

Here's a Pair of pictures.

Left side is All Blue LED conversion~~~~~~~Right side is Stock Incandecent bulbs (2), NEW bulbs for fair/proper comparison



Now, Left side is the same- ALL blue LED~~~~~Right side is LEDs , only 2, in the stock locations




I was surprised to find that the LEDs actually created a crisper light, and pulled more vibrant colour out of the gauges.
I didn't expect that, normally that's not a job a LED can do better than an incandecent.

You may ask, what's the big deal?

Well, this now means I can Brighten gauges with LEDs while retaining all the stock colouring, this is especially important in the SE white faced gauges. The colour scheme can stay the same, just way brighter, also, I can get the needles to glow brigher as well.

I'm excited this works, it opens a new avenue for LED mods to me and my Clients

This Applies to ACC and other components as well, I can brighten them without changing the colour or modifying the factory tinting.

 

Finally did my Key ring after finishing a set of gauges.

 

Well I pulled apart my center console, I've been procrastinating on this job because of the amount of work necessary even to change the bulb.

Anyways, I'm there now

I Tried a few different things, mainly to catalog for other customers, but I almost kept one of them. I'll explain while posting pics,

Here's the stock Shifter Illumination (yes, it's currently illuminated):



Now, pulled everything apart, and installed one of Tyutyunnik's 5 SMD bulbs, in comparison, looked amazing! Still centrally located though, and everything else is blue, so moving on:





I had to know, so I installed the 15 SMD bulb that I put in my headlights/reverse lights and trunk light, (these things are BRIGHT):




^^^^^^If I ever do a white interior, that's going down.
Man that looked good. Anyways, not blue, and there was still some localization around the Neutral indicator, so, I tried a chinzy Ebay multi blue LED i had laying around and a single 5mm Flat top T5 also:





Still localized, and too dim/off colour, now I suppose I have to get to work

 

Well I accidentally ordered the wrong PCB board, so I may as well put the one sided copper stuff to use.

Here it is, rough cut, and roughly marked.

Disclaimer: I didn't get fancy with positioning, that's maily because I didn't want them to be extremely directional, I wanted them to be aim-able, rather than spending a ton of time lining them up, it is much easier to just aim them before completing install.



Holes drilled, LED's getting prepped:



Making T10 Wedge adapter (plug and play)



Board rough cut, ready for test fit:




Test fitting:



Trimmed and installed, ready for aiming:



Before aiming:




After aiming:






I'm going to try a Blue Sticker on the indicator as well, see what it looks like, but I like the way the red contrasts now that it has a blue light with it, we will see how it turns out.

Fully assembled pics to come later.

 

Bookmarked for finished pictures, and Indicator Colour change test.

Ok just going to post the Indicator colour change here for now:





It was difficult to see, So I chose to remove it again.

 

this thread is overly epic...my eyes cannot accept this much epicness from one thread...*** you and your thread lol

 

I agree. Tuner's skills are increasing at some weird exponential rate.

 

LOL

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9AySS3Ff2Y Next in-car project?

 

I'm morphin'

I just have to install one LED in the Master Switch, fix the hotspots in the ACC, and possibly install a Blue LED in the Hazard switch (can't decide if I want to or not), and I'm done with the Conversion.

Then It's just a matter of adding a few things.

1. Mirror signals
2. Cup holder Lights
3. Exterior Door handle lights
4. Interior door 'grab' lights
5. Sleek, Lighted Potentiometer, if I can ever find one
6. Underhood Lighting (new ones are on the way)

I also was thinking of wiring the Key ring light to illuminate when the lights are on. Seems like I may have to add a relay... I don't know if I'll bother with that at this point, I have better things to spend my time on in regards to modifications still.


I can't wait for these dam clear lenses for my 5.5 lights, I want to install them!

 

Well, now you're just making up words.

 

i think ever is a real word

 

Well I'll be darned...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potentiometer



"Also know as POT." Gee, you think I would know what one.

 

You guys crack me up, thanks for lighting up my day. I just paid $10 for 4 #194 Blue bulbs so I needed cheering up.

Hopefully they work. I'll post tonight.

I installed a blue gear indicator as well, but it's hard to see (not much of an indicator now),
I am going to try cutting the plastic underneath the stickers so that light illuminates through the indicator, if that doesn't help, I'll keep it red.

Either way, pics of that and the ACC revamp should be up later tonight.

 

Oh, And: Fixed ^


I'm such a grammer jerk, although I blow it in that regard constantly

 

Fixed the fix, 'cause your fix was a fail. Grammar Jerk.

 

I really didn't even pick up on that, too funny.

EDIT MADE~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Post #134 updated with Blue indicator pics. It was Fail, back to red indicator. Once You see below, as well as finished product, It works with the scheme I've got running now.

 

As ridiculous as that would be in a vehicle, it would be ridiculously cool too. I would of course, never do it, but damn wouldn't it be insane to see an LED screen on the roof panel of a car or like a suburban or Limo or something, and programmed to a controller in dash or into a controller at the rear of the vehicle?

I think I've seen similar stuff done in a couple vans on TV/You Tube, but not to that extreme.

Either way cool light show.

 

Well I went out today and bought 4 #194 blue Incandecents to try in the ACC.

Reason? Hotspots that occured with the old LED install, as discussed earlier.



Well lets give it a shot. Need to make the holes in the circuit board bigger:



Ok, fits now, but doesn't go in fully.



Check for external clearance, nope.
Make external clearance with precise hole drilled out over exact location, check:



Extend wires, solder to board:



Assemble:



Test:




__________________________________________________ _____________

Well, I acheived the uniform lighting, the problem? It turned out baby blue, that would be fine, if I was Snoop Dogg and that was the colour theme.

Unfortunately (or fortunately, ) I am going with deep blue.
Ah well, back to work.

 

Ok, incandecents didn't pan out. No biggie, just burned $10

I Enlarged the other two holes a bit (not as much). Just enough to do some fancy LED aiming and install.

I strategically installed 3 LED's into the right hole.

Prepping:



Installed:



Test:



Not 100%, but enough to move ahead with production. Install buffer to filter additional LEDs in one location.:



Installed 2 in each of the remaining holes, aimed:



Completed shots, the Point and shoot makes it look hotspotted a bit still, the only thing, is the center is ever so slightly brighter, but it's not a small 'spot' that's brighter, it's the general area, and it pans out evenly. I think it's almost perfect. Not worth messing with aiming/buffering. I'm quite pleased with it



With Blue shift indicator still installed:



Back to the Red shift indicator, much better, and ACC ON:



Head Unit on:



Red Hazard, Red Shift Indicator, ACC ON, Defrosts ON:



Red Hazard, Red Shift Indicator, ACC OFF, Def OFF:





So, I didn't get everything together because I started late, and the #194 hiccup set me back. So full pics tomorrow night when I get it re-assembled.

I have to say, there's a whole lot of 'whinning' going down in the center display/console now. Great focal point.

And after looking at the pictures again, I may modify my buffer on the lighting near the control **** (ACC). Just a little modification to even it out, and bring a little more light to that side (brighten it up a touch).

 

JEEZUS man, you are quite the perfectionist. I would finish up the ACC and call it a day. The color isn't THAT different. Matches enough for me, but I guess thats the difference between you and I. Although in the end it will be EXACTLY the way you want it, so I guess it'll all be worth while. Is your house the same way? lol

PS: I've been trolling your thread the whole time, just havent posted. I must say it's all great work!

 

For those of you with a small screen:

 

thats gorgeous

 

Good uniform dispersion with the filament bulbs.

I like the baby blue.

 

Thanks Man. Yeah I'm a perfectionist, that's why I'm offering my services
I'm even more picky with customer's vehicles.

If I didn't care about it, I would have kept the Hotspot job I did originally.

BEFORE (Ver.1) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~AFTER (Ver.2)~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~AFTER Again (Ver.3)


I am pretty happy with it, thanks man!

I am not opposed to the baby blue, but it's very difficult to do baby Blue LED's, they end up looking wrong. Baby Blue is one of those difficult colours to do properly in lighting, especially if you're mixing and matching different LED's and bulbs. It would have been a disaster. I would not recommend it to anyone. I tried that on my old Neon (yeah I tinkered with it too, don't hate)

 

So, in another response to the comments on how picky I am. I chose to revamp the ACC again.

And also, in response to the comments on the 'Epicness', I suggest you sit down for this final picture then, it's somewhat of a 'piece de resistance', the most uniform ACC Job I've seen done without pulling the ACC apart and installing multiple LED/SMD. Even then....

This is the final version, I assembled everything else too. The Point and shoot shows localization still, but you can't see it in person any more. It's more uniform than most stock Incandecent set ups.

Flash on (daytime appearance) YES, you can see it in daytime, even in direct sunlight



Strap in for the completed version, lord have mercy it looks good:









I have to adjust the one footwell neon I just replaced (driver side, you will note it's not very bright in the pics, it's not positioned) and I think I'm going to re-do the Master switch LED's with the more directional ones, they light up a touch brighter.

Once those finalizations are done, I'm cleaning the car and doing an interior photoshoot. Hope to have that done in the next week.

 

Oh and again for the small screens:

 

Wow, that's a REAL nice job on the LED conversion. I wished I had the skills and knowledge to do something like that to my 6th gen.

 

The night shots really do look good. Amazing, IMO. But Matt... your AT shift ****. You're going to have to replace that before you take high-quality photos intended for marketing.

 

Arg tell me about it. There used to be a TSB for it because EVERYone of them is exactly like that, same location and everything. No luck with the dealer or Nissan though.

I would like to replace it with a 5 speed **** ideally

In any case, I'm going to have to live with it for now. Can't find one at the wreckers cause they're all worn out, and I"m not paying dealer cost

And changing it looks like a PITA.



Now that you've got me thinking about it, I wonder if I could find a way to take the residual silver finish off with some fast acting cleaner or something. Something similar to the oil composition in a persons hand that caused the finish to come off in the first place.
The chrome/stainless look under the finish is appealing, if I could get that throught the area that would be fine. I would hate to risk wrecking it even more though.... hmmm.

 

Now you're thinking! That would be a unique look, too.

How could it possibly look any worse?

Go for it.