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View Poll Results: Interior lights behind the dash trim pieces?
Rice.
16
37.21%
Not rice, sounds nice.
27
62.79%
Voters: 43. You may not vote on this poll

Rice or not rice? LED's behind dash trim.

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Old Sep 8, 2011 | 10:59 AM
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Rice or not rice? LED's behind dash trim. *NOW WITH MOCKUP PICS*

(New guy!)Thinking about putting red LED lights behind my dash trim so the edges of the trim glow at night. Will wire it to come on when the cluster lights come on. Everything will fit and the light shines through the gaps fairly well. I want something that isn't overbearing, and I don't really care for under-dash lighting. I am going to do it eventually anyway, but what do you think? Rice or not rice?

Last edited by Jesse; Sep 8, 2011 at 10:24 PM.
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Old Sep 8, 2011 | 11:23 AM
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That uhh, might make it a bit hard to see at night?
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Old Sep 8, 2011 | 11:27 AM
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I'M not gonna do it to my car, but go for it buddy. Welcome BTW
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Old Sep 8, 2011 | 11:36 AM
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I like the soft glow accent lightning in the newer cars if you do right it will look great
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Old Sep 8, 2011 | 11:47 AM
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i vote not rice, but it really depends how 'nice' of a job you can do with it. you mean ur gnna stuff 'em between the speedo cluster and the housing around it?

what i'm getting at is, there should be NO exposed wires. Also, you should never have bright leds glaring you in the eye, so they need to be unseen, just so that the light they omit is visible, but not the bulbs themselves. with those guidelines, not rice. in for pics.
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Old Sep 8, 2011 | 03:32 PM
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Originally Posted by riceburner
i vote not rice, but it really depends how 'nice' of a job you can do with it. you mean ur gnna stuff 'em between the speedo cluster and the housing around it?

what i'm getting at is, there should be NO exposed wires. Also, you should never have bright leds glaring you in the eye, so they need to be unseen, just so that the light they omit is visible, but not the bulbs themselves. with those guidelines, not rice. in for pics.
No, no, of course not. I want subtle. I wouldn't want to be blinded by these super-bright lights. I am removing the trim on the dash which people usually remove and paint body color or wrap in carbon fiber. I believe it comes stock in silver, or my G5's case some lego-walmart carbon fiber imitation something or other... The snap-in trim immediately above the glovebox is hollow not solid, and an LED or neon strip fits nicely.

Ideally, I plan to do some intricate sanding so the light showing through will be uniform. Then I'll route all the wires through the passenger side trim, through the radio trim, and do my connections behind the gauge light controls. I have a mockup done on the passenger piece but the "OMG TRYYYYY MEEEEE" button and battery pack are still connected so I can show my best bud(kid I mentor through Big Brothers Big Sisters) tonight. I'll post a pre-project pic when I show it off to him.

Otherwise thanks for the welcome! A relative of mine drives a v6 Mustang that he tore the muffler off of, taped fog lights on the bumper, and has chrome letters saying "LEGEND" and he calls my car rice. Lol!
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Old Sep 8, 2011 | 03:36 PM
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sounds like a nice plan, post up some pics if you do it!
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Old Sep 8, 2011 | 04:31 PM
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in for pics.
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Old Sep 8, 2011 | 04:48 PM
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Interested
in for pics
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Old Sep 8, 2011 | 04:51 PM
  #10  
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should turn out pretty good if you do it the way you say. and yes subtle is better. and welcome to the world of CSS
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Old Sep 8, 2011 | 07:46 PM
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Sounds like it'll look pretty sick as long as you can hide the wires
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Old Sep 8, 2011 | 07:50 PM
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From: Norf Cakalacky
ya i wants pics
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Old Sep 8, 2011 | 07:53 PM
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i dont get how this could really work.. but in for pics if you do it
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Old Sep 8, 2011 | 10:21 PM
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Here is a pic of the potential, but note this is *NOT* the actual color seen right now. This picture's white balance is way off but I wanted to give an idea where the lights would go.



This is the actual color seen, but too dark to see dash in this pic:



Showed em to a bunch of kids and they loved them. A couple adults too. Please also note this is only a mockup. I would route the wires through the trim around the radio unit and behind the trim to the right of the steering wheel. This opens up behind and below the steering wheel cover. There is a great deal of clearance between the trim and the mounting surface.
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Old Sep 8, 2011 | 10:24 PM
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thats actually really nice imo
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Old Sep 8, 2011 | 11:09 PM
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no teasing lol
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Old Sep 9, 2011 | 10:30 AM
  #17  
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After seeing the pics, I like it. I kinda wish the glow was a bit more.. expanded? like if it were to glow a bit further and soften out to the edges instead of the hard light. think of a shadow I guess..
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Old Sep 9, 2011 | 10:33 AM
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i like
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Old Sep 9, 2011 | 10:35 AM
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Haha. nice
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Old Sep 9, 2011 | 11:27 AM
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Not rice.. just because I like how everything is hidden
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Old Sep 9, 2011 | 11:50 AM
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Originally Posted by 07cbaltLS
After seeing the pics, I like it. I kinda wish the glow was a bit more.. expanded? like if it were to glow a bit further and soften out to the edges instead of the hard light. think of a shadow I guess..
That's my ultimate goal. I'm going to go buy a cheap knock-off dremel tool today and do just that. Of course, in these pics I literally just put the lights between the trim and the dash and pushed the demo button. I haven't peeled the adhesive backing off and set them yet.
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Old Sep 9, 2011 | 11:53 AM
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In for finished project
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Old Sep 9, 2011 | 12:18 PM
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From: Norf Cakalacky
ya me2, so hurry up
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Old Sep 9, 2011 | 02:49 PM
  #24  
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Originally Posted by MastaShaKe_88
ya me2, so hurry up
Good things come to those who wait. I hafta get out of my QBA class first. Linear Programming in Excel sucks. Except that you can get online while the professor is helping those with brain disorders.
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Old Sep 10, 2011 | 01:08 AM
  #25  
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Finally done! From start to finish it took 5.5 hours including the grinding down. Would have taken a lot less time but some #@$$#%@ blew his horn next to my car while I was routing wires and made me blow the 2A EPS fuse. ****, just go knock on your GF's door!


This is how it looks with everything mounted and wired. I wired the lights to come on with the instrument cluster lights at night.



Here is how they will look at night.




Anyone else wanna try?
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