led taillight project... How to with pics
Ok... So last month i decided I wanted to try and add leds to my taillights. So i ordered prewired 10mm leds from china. I ordered 100 of them in red. With chrome led holders. paid 52.00 shipped. I then ordered a dual function wire harness for about 8 bucks shipped. Allows you to use regular leds as running and brake lights. Then i paid 13.00 for two trailer wire harnesses. So once everything came in I got started. First I put the tails in the oven at 250 for 10 mins, the trick is to put them lens down on a cookie sheet with a damp towel on the cookie sheet so the lens dosent melt. Once I got them apart I was able to see what i had to work with... SO i made a templete out of poster board of the inside of the taillight and traced it onto some thin sheet metal. I then cut it out with metal sheers to the shape and test fitted it. Once i did this and got it right i figured out what pattern of lights i wanted to do. I wanted to fit as many as possible. The jdm tail is divided into two side so in drew a line on the sheet metal when the split was and used this line as a guide. Make sure to remember the measurements from the center line so both sides match. The first side is eaiser, its a little tougher making them match perfect, soi take your time. i measured the lights one inch apart side to side and top to bottom(what a pain in the ass to make both sides match...) So once done i used a 1/2 drill bit and drilled out each of the 82 holes and make sure you take your time, you want the lbulbs to line up. Once the was completed i installed each bulb holder. Then one by one insalled each prewired led. I used wire stripers and wired them in a series, then sodered them. I then drilled a small hole under one of the vents on the back of the taillight to run the two wires thru and put sealer in the hole. I then put the bezel in place and taped it on the edges with metal a/c duct tape so it would not be seen. I then reinstalled the taillight lens, i did this with a heatgun and reheating the glue and glueing back together. Then to the positive wire from the leds i wired the dual function harness. Now the way i wired it to the car was using a trailer wire harness for each side. This way i can remove the taillight if needed to replace turn signal and reverse light. So i cut one brake light holder/harness from each side and wired it to the trailer wire harness and wired the other side to the tailight and pluged it in. Also make sure you put the old unused light socket in the back of the taillamps so they are still sealed. Then just bolt back in place and admire your work..
trailer wire harness
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i3...12-08_0851.jpg
the metal cut to fit
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i3.../Photo0062.jpg
led holders in metal and tes fitted.
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i3.../Photo0056.jpg
leds wired into the metal, sodared and taped up
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i3.../Photo0061.jpg
Test fited with leds in holders and wired up lighted up using a 9 volt battery
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i3.../Photo0060.jpg
now lighted up with the lens on with the 9volt battery
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i3.../Photo0059.jpg
running lights on car
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i3...07-08_2306.jpg
brake lights (night)
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i3...11-08_2010.jpg
(day)
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i3...12-08_0926.jpg
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i3...12-08_0925.jpg
here is how it looks done before the install
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i3.../Photo0057.jpg
after the install
http://i75.photobucket.com/albums/i3...12-08_0924.jpg