How To: ALL of my lighting mods inside and out

LilSparkPlug · Post by **LilSparkPlug** » Tue Jul 14, 2009 11:12 am

Not sure which How-to forum this belongs in because it encompasses, electrical, interior and exterior. So I just put it here

Mods move if you wish. Also I linked to the other forum for my other threads regarding lighting mods. If this is unacceptable just let me know and I will copy and paste each one over to here. That's a serious PIA though so I just linked them for reference.

I get PM's on a weekly basis about various aspects of my lighting modifications. Since I have the time I'm putting together a thread that is all inclusive of EVERYTHING I have done lighting wise so far. I will update this thread with other mods in the future as there are a few on the way currently. Any questions, feel free to ask. Hopefully this helps those who want specifics on things.

INSTRUMENT CLUSTER:

The bulbs are from SuperBrightLEDs.com follow the following link they are the 40th item down on the page. They are COOL WHITE and you will need SIX to change the instrument cluster over. Add ONE more if you still have a factory boost gauge.

Purchase them here:
http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/ ... R#WLED-x-x

They say: WLED-x5 LED Wide Angle LED bulb

Cool White = 6000k
Natural White = 5000k
Warm White = 4300k

To Change them: Remove both A-pillars by pulling down towards yourself. Grab a phillips head screwdriver and remove the screws on either side of the car on the top of the dash pad. Pick up a stubby phillips head and remove the two screws in the center grate in the dash pad. Pop the dash pad upwards to remove.

Pull off the instrument cluster surround piece and pull downwards on the knee bolster. There are four screws holding the cluster in. Remove these and pull the cluster out. Flip it over and find the six large gray sockets. Using a needle nose and a shop rag, untwist these and replace your new bulbs. On 2005 SRT models you will need to solder the bulbs instead of simply swapping them. Keep in mind most LEDs are polar, if they don't work the first time turn them around and try again.

The color blue that you get is a crisper blue than what you would achieve with blue LEDS. You keep your redline and your needles stay brightly illuminated as well. It is more of a tealish blue than the royal blue. To show you just how different the color is, look at the color of the odometer compared to the color of the gauges themselves. The odometer is closer to the color you would have if you used blue LEDs, mine is lighter and brighter, but still blue.

HVAC

[/FONT] As for my HVAC, SuperBrightLEDs does now sell white #74 Neo-Wedges in 3mm, if you want to purchase those you are more than welcome to. However when I ordered mine last year only red, blue and green were available. Mine are Corvette Neo-Wedges from Oznium.com in White. You will need THREE of these to complete the HVAC.

Purchase them here:
http://www.oznium.com/corvette-c5-led

If you want to order them from the same website to make things easier they are the 10th one down on this page. Cool white is not offered, but white will do just fine.

Purchase them here:
http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/ ... 50#3022-x4

They say: NeoWedge Instrument LED bulb YOU want the 4MM one. Or order them from here:
http://autolumination.com/srt4.htm

To Change them: Remove the HVAC panel, there are two screws underneath the vents, and pull forwards. Using needle nose pliers twist the old bulbs out and put the new ones in. Keep in mind these are polar, so if they don't work the first time, turn them around.

DOME LIGHT

For my Dome light, another bulb I get alot of questions about, it's from SuperBrightLEDs.com also. It's a 4410x9 Festoon bulb in Natural White. The 32nd one down on this page:

Purchase them here:
http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/ ... 50#3022-x4

They say:4410-x9 LED Festoon bulb

ZeroChad wrote: I just want to add that if your dome light is from the earlier model neons (00-02), it won't use the festoon type bulb. I used WLED-xHP10-D Wedge Base Bulb from superbrights. It is amazingly bright but does get a little hot.

To Change: Using a flathead screw driver pry down on the slot in the lens, it will swing opposite you. Pull out the bulb and pop the new one in.

*note this is an old shot of my interior*

LICENSE PLATE LIGHT

The same 194 that is used for the instrument cluster in Cool White. I had an extra one and chose to use it as a license plate light. It throws light four or more feet off to the side when lit on a dark road. I had a cop tell me my other single LED license plate light wasn't on one night so I upgraded.

TRUNK SETUP

My Trunk setup is also from Oznium.com They are two 28" Flexible LED strips mounted to the underside of the rear deck. They are soldered into the power and ground wire for the trunk light so no other switch was needed. Mine are pink, but they are available in a multitude of colors.

Purchase them here: http://www.oznium.com/led-flex-strips

UNDERBODY LIGHTS

My underbody lights are Flowlighting Infernos, call ricer if you wish I know they aren't everyone's cup of tea but I absolutely love them and they are for show purposes only.

Purchase them here: http://www.oznium.com/inferno

Short Video: http://s47.photobucket.com/albums/f171/ ... V02002.flv

LED TAILLIGHT BOARDS

These are the same ones that SRT-4 Store used to sell, I have a few pairs laying around if people are interested in them. They are not assembled however. These were soldered using 5mm wide angle red LEDs and 560ohm resistors. They were installed using BTR's how to in the other stickies. Here are some shots of them. Keep in mind I have 7 coats of Nightshades on my tails, these are quite bright. The fluting in the lens disperses some of the light, but...it works out just fine for me.

The Boards in the Housing:

Parking Lights:

Brake Lights/turn signals:

AUDI DRLS

These 22 superflux LEDs pack a serious punch:

LED Third Brake light
Much brighter than stock and looks OEM. I'm still working on this and need to modify the assembly to fit the leds but the design is completed. I used:

I used the following:
2 x Pre-wired Ribbon LED Strips - Red, 1 Foot = $25.98

Total cost with shipping = $30.18

From:Ribbon LED Strips

Installed:

Dusk:

VISORS WITH VANITY LIGHTS
Certain 2000-2002 Neons came with visors that had vanity lights on them. This was dropped for the 03-05 model year and NO SRTs came with them. I picked up a set by chance at the junkyard when I went to grab a visor clip (evil little bastards always breaking). The visors are negative earth, which means they ground themselves to the roof of the car and all they require is a power wire. You can either run your own power wire to a 12v source, or pull the harness out of the donor car. It clips into where your map light harness clips in near the driver's side tweeter. The clip is a red six pin.

Now to get this to work when you have a sunroof and want to keep your mirror you need to do the following.
1. Keep both harnesses in the car, but plug the vanity harness into the red connector under the dash...that's the one you'll be keeping.
2. Remove the yellow connector lock on your harness (black/brown wires)
3. Push the brown/black wires out of the connector
4. Remove the yellow connector lock on the vanity harness
5. Insert the Brown wire from your harness into the number 4 slot on the vanity harness
6. Cut the metal spade off the black wire and solder it to the black/orange wire coming off the vanity harness.

There you have it...you can keep your mirror, your sunroof works and so do your vanity lights. Just tuck the other mirror harness up into the headliner.

I will be ordering LEDs for these tonight...so an update soon.

With Natural White LEDs from SuperBrightLEDs.com
2x 3022-NW4 31mmx10mm Festoon bulbs Buy them Here: http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/ ... 50#3022-x4 20th one down on the page.

MAP LIGHTS
Finally got around to doing these. I purchased the following in Natural White:
2x WLED-NW6 194 wedge base 6LED - Natural White Buy them Here: http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/ ... 8327.10518 8th one up from the BOTTOM.

To remove the lenses just use a small pocket screwdriver and pry the lens down gently. There's a little recess in the housing for this. Here is a picture compared to stock. Sorry the camera focused on the tree lol I'll get a better one tomorrow.

REVERSE LIGHTS
These are 12 LED 921s from SuperBrightLEDS.com
Buy them here: http://www.superbrightleds.com/cgi-bin/ ... 638#T13-x6
Third one down once the page refreshes to the 921 bulbs. They say: 921-x12 Wedge Base LED bulb
Mine are Natural White:

Here are links to my other lighting modifications. This way they are all in one thread for reference:

Modding your ebay projector halos:
http://www.srtforums.com/forums/f123/ho ... highlight=

Demon eye:
http://www.srtforums.com/forums/f123/pr ... highlight=

My bulb thread with output pictures including headlights and foglights, also includes pictures my old blue dash setup, my gauge setup, and information on my tails. Ballast locations are also here:
http://www.srtforums.com/forums/f123/re ... highlight=

Cup Holder LEDs:
http://www.srtforums.com/forums/f123/cu ... highlight=

Ebay Projector Foglight output thread:
http://www.srtforums.com/forums/f123/pr ... highlight=

Links to my R8 DRL SRT-4 Retrofit:
http://www.srtforums.com/forums/f123/my ... highlight=
http://www.srtforums.com/forums/f123/fi ... highlight=
http://www.srtforums.com/forums/f123/my ... highlight=

Speaker grilles:
http://www.srtforums.com/forums/f123/re ... highlight=

Nightshading taillights the LSP way, not really a lighting mod but it does fit here.
http://www.srtforums.com/forums/f75/how ... highlight=
[/quote]

Flasher fix for LEDs...gives you stock speed
http://www.srtforums.com/forums/f123/ho ... ost7738332

My take on a Custom LED third brake light:
http://www.srtforums.com/forums/f123/cu ... ost7777379

ZeroChad · Post by **ZeroChad** » Tue Jul 14, 2009 11:34 am

Awesome chica!

I just want to add that if your dome light is from the earlier model neons, it won't use the festoon type bulb. I used WLED-xHP10-D Wedge Base Bulb from0 superbrights. It is amazingly bright but does get a little hot.

LilSparkPlug · Post by **LilSparkPlug** » Tue Jul 14, 2009 11:36 am

Thanks for the tip Chad! I'll edit the above post to reflect that.

glasswars · Post by **glasswars** » Tue Jul 14, 2009 1:49 pm

awesome write up girlie

darthroush · Post by **darthroush** » Tue Jul 14, 2009 2:14 pm

Out of curiosity, if you didn't have a tach (no redline), would there be any dark spots or poor illumination of something if blue LEDs were installed?

Thank you for the write up! Very helpful!

Moparty08 · Post by **Moparty08** » Tue Jul 14, 2009 8:49 pm

You kick ass girl. I'll drink to this post cause it rocks so much. Been wanting to do some shit like this and didn't know what the hell i needed without ripping out all my bulbs.

blueneo03 · Post by **blueneo03** » Tue Jul 14, 2009 8:57 pm

damn that looks good i like the trunk thing ive gone through oznium.com and it looks good and how did u secure them along the edge?

OB · Post by OB » Tue Jul 14, 2009 8:58 pm

I have a feeling I helped inspire this write up

Thanks again for the help Crystalmarie!

LilSparkPlug · Post by **LilSparkPlug** » Tue Jul 14, 2009 9:28 pm

Anthony: Thanks

darthroush: The Blue LEDs cause more dark spots than the white ones do due to them being a darker color. Your needles are dimmer than with these and the lack of redline gets old fast. I had a blue LED setup but I favor this one MUCH more. Not that the blue ones weren't nice, it's just these make life so much easier.

This is my old blue setup:

Moparty08: Thanks! I'll be adding more to it as there are a few things en route that I've yet to do

Blueneo03: They come with a pre-cut strip of 3M double sided tape...works like a charm

Derek: Actually since you asked me I received FIVE more PM's, so I said that's it....I'll just post it ALL up for people to see. All in one place so life is easier for everyone.

Hopefully it helps out a few.

And any other questions feel free to post up

I have LOTS of pictures lol

blueneo03 · Post by **blueneo03** » Tue Jul 14, 2009 10:18 pm

hmm forgot about that. did u secure them with anything else? or is that plenty?

darthroush · Post by **darthroush** » Wed Jul 15, 2009 1:26 am

Thanks for the reply

I'd prefer them darker to match the car a bit more and I don't have a redline to worry about, but I don't want dark and light spots. White LEDs it is then.

LilSparkPlug · Post by **LilSparkPlug** » Wed Jul 15, 2009 8:16 am

Blueneo03: Nope it does the job just fine, they barely weigh anything at all.

darthroush: No problem at all, the dark and light spots irritate alot of people, though they are noticeable only to people with OCD lol.

r/tguy02 · Post by **r/tguy02** » Wed Jul 15, 2009 11:14 am

Nice writeup! i was wondering what aftermarket gauges you have in the pilar pods, because they match pretty well with the led's you used. I am going to be puting autometer c2 gauges in my car and they are blue, but i'm not sure if i should go with blue led's or the cool white like you to match them.

on a side note i've seen someone put aftermarket led's in the controls on the armrests and such as well. however they are much harder to replace because they dont have the base that screws out, you have to solder the two wires on. I havent done it yet myself however i took the switches apart to see how it would need to be done.

darthroush · Post by **darthroush** » Wed Jul 15, 2009 1:46 pm

LilSparkPlug wrote:the dark and light spots irritate alot of people, though they are noticeable only to people with OCD lol.

Most definitely wouldn't be good for me then!

heydockyle · Post by **heydockyle** » Wed Jul 15, 2009 3:30 pm

I'll be doing the Demon eye soon. Only with orange.

Thanks for the large How-To!

LilSparkPlug · Post by **LilSparkPlug** » Wed Jul 15, 2009 4:33 pm

r/tguy02: The gauges are by Prosport, more pictures and info are in this thread:
http://www.srtforums.com/forums/f123/re ... highlight=

If your gauges are more royal blue go with the Blue leds, if they're more turquoise then go with prosports.

I have LEDs on the way for those in the doors and such, two different sizes....I'll be doing that probably this weekend. I got the order in today but they sent the wrong ones.

darthroush: Me either! LOL

heydockyle: Your welcome! Post pictures when you're done! I only did the halo mod orange for a friend, he didn't want the demon eye though.

pyistazty · Post by **pyistazty** » Wed Jul 15, 2009 6:55 pm

this is going to be so off topic, but i have to ask, ilisparkplugs, i keep lookin at your sig, what hood is that? that isn't the SRT 4 hood is it?

oh and awesome lighting guide, i'm really tempted to get that inferno LED from oznium, so hot.

TheRandom1 · Post by **TheRandom1** » Wed Jul 15, 2009 7:38 pm

Great write up! I'm going to be following your lead on some of these in the near future!

LilSparkPlug · Post by **LilSparkPlug** » Wed Jul 15, 2009 9:11 pm

pyistazty: No it's not the OEM SRT hood, though it fits like one. It's a TruFiber fiberglass Mini Cuda hood made for the SRTs, unfortunately it's been discontinued. I love the flowlighting inferno....it's really fun to play with.

Sean: Thanks hun

Rez0nate · Post by **Rez0nate** » Thu Jul 16, 2009 1:15 am

What about the defroster lights and the shifter lights?(ATX) What size bulbs are needed for those?

heydockyle · Post by **heydockyle** » Thu Jul 16, 2009 1:18 am

I was gonna do the halo's orange but broke on of the led's off because of the 90degree angle you have to bend them at and only had three left so did them blue.

So I'll have blue halo's and orange eye's. And 6k hids. All thanks to your extensive projector fog how-to's lol.

Jenni · Post by **Jenni** » Thu Jul 16, 2009 7:36 am

Something for your switches (3mm-LEDs and 470-Ohm-resistor - or what the seller recommends for 12V)

http://picasaweb.google.de/LegomanBerli ... berSpiegel

r/tguy02 · Post by **r/tguy02** » Thu Jul 16, 2009 8:00 am

^^^yeah, thats what i was talkin about. However an english translation would be nice, but the pics are good.

LilSparkPlug · Post by **LilSparkPlug** » Thu Jul 16, 2009 8:10 am

Rezonate: The Defroster bulb can be purchased here: www.byvampdesign.com. It's not something I ever did (yet) so I can't tell you exact size. The Automatic shifter light on the 2000 I took apart was a 194.

heydockyle: Sweet! Glad to help

Carsten: That's what Ill be doing to mine once they send the proper LEDs in. Just not in blue or white. They should be here by this weekend. Then I'll help you with the english translations

Jenni · Post by **Jenni** » Thu Jul 16, 2009 8:20 am

Look under the pictures - it is all also in english.
And you all feel free to sign in and leave comments under the pictures.

(Picasa is really nice for pictures. Online and on your computer...)

PS: Yeah, Max told me your plans... I guess it will look COOL!

r/tguy02 · Post by **r/tguy02** » Thu Jul 16, 2009 10:07 am

yup i see it now thanks, did you just translate that or did i just miss that somehow yesterday? good job!

heydockyle · Post by **heydockyle** » Thu Jul 16, 2009 10:27 am

Did you use the film from vamp to change your mileage?

LilSparkPlug · Post by **LilSparkPlug** » Thu Jul 16, 2009 9:02 pm

Carsten: Hell yes it should! First of it's kind, they were shipped out yesterday so they should be here by Saturday at the latest. My other pieces were shipped today too! WOOOOOO

Lights excite me

r/tguy02: It's been that way for awhile ha ha you just needed to click on the shots for larger ones to see it.

heydockyle: Yes and I hated the damned thing. I just recently took it out. You absolutely CANNOT see your mileage during the day at all. Only at night. Since I'm a stickler for oil changes that was poor for me so I removed it the other day.

darthroush · Post by **darthroush** » Thu Jul 16, 2009 10:20 pm

I had an extra 9LED festoon bulb laying around. I went to replace my dome light bulb just now, and mine takes a 579. Three different bulbs now for the dome?

heydockyle · Post by **heydockyle** » Thu Jul 16, 2009 11:02 pm

Okay so I'm just gonna leave mine green also because not seeing mileage in the day would eventually piss me off.