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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From: Las Cruces, NM
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?
)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.
Joined: 05-18-11
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From: West Chicago, IL
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.
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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From: Las Cruces, NM
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.
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.
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!
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From: Las Cruces, NM
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.

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.
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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From: Las Cruces, NM
Thread Starter
Senior Member
iTrader: (4)
Joined: 09-07-11
Posts: 3,254
Likes: 117
From: Las Cruces, NM
Thread Starter
Senior Member
iTrader: (4)
Joined: 09-07-11
Posts: 3,254
Likes: 117
From: Las Cruces, NM
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?
****, 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?



lol