Lighted Door Handles :)
Ya it would be! I know BBengineer can do most of the lights in your car, I'm sure he'd be willing to do the door/switch lights as well...it just might cost you a pretty penny. I'm going the cheap route, and I wouldn't be able to go without my car/controls for too long. Probly go crazy
) I'm sure these lights are going to be pretty simple, wiring will consist of the most work. But as I'm waiting I've been working on tinting the white interior lights, and tonight I finished the HVAC display, and it turned out awesome...
Unfortunately, my best camera is my phone...but the picture doesn't do it justice. They are much more vibrant, and you can see every button very clearly (and it's VERY red, not pinkish lol). I'm really liking the looks of this project...and I've got one of the hardest pieces (assembly-wise) done and taken care of!
Another plus to this is I got the passenger temp control light back 
Another toughy is gonna be the radio
I'll post more pics on how to do this with the HVAC (and more peices) later when I have a little bit more time
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 329
From: Owatonna Minnesota
i've wanted to do this accent lighting too in my monte for a long time. but if i recall, and i'm not an electrical expert, that LED's can't really be dimmed? not 100% on that, but i think that's what i remember learning..
anyway, good luck, and i'll be trying it shortly too!
anyway, good luck, and i'll be trying it shortly too!
I don't think there should be an issue with dimming them, as long as the voltage applied to them is lessened. I found the output "dimming" wire from the headlight switch so once I get the LED's in my first task will be to test and see how well they dim with the rest of my interior lights.
The LED's I'm using are floodlights though, I think this is going to be crucial to appearance. The viewing angle of the ones I bought is 140-180 degrees, where most standard (and much cheaper) LED's are 20-25 degrees. I don't know how much it will actually matter inside the bezel, but this way the light won't be as sharp and will be much more spread out to make it seem like it's glowing as opposed to spotlit. I just can't wait till they get here...
The LED's I'm using are floodlights though, I think this is going to be crucial to appearance. The viewing angle of the ones I bought is 140-180 degrees, where most standard (and much cheaper) LED's are 20-25 degrees. I don't know how much it will actually matter inside the bezel, but this way the light won't be as sharp and will be much more spread out to make it seem like it's glowing as opposed to spotlit. I just can't wait till they get here...
I don't think there should be an issue with dimming them, as long as the voltage applied to them is lessened. I found the output "dimming" wire from the headlight switch so once I get the LED's in my first task will be to test and see how well they dim with the rest of my interior lights.
The LED's I'm using are floodlights though, I think this is going to be crucial to appearance. The viewing angle of the ones I bought is 140-180 degrees, where most standard (and much cheaper) LED's are 20-25 degrees. I don't know how much it will actually matter inside the bezel, but this way the light won't be as sharp and will be much more spread out to make it seem like it's glowing as opposed to spotlit. I just can't wait till they get here...
The LED's I'm using are floodlights though, I think this is going to be crucial to appearance. The viewing angle of the ones I bought is 140-180 degrees, where most standard (and much cheaper) LED's are 20-25 degrees. I don't know how much it will actually matter inside the bezel, but this way the light won't be as sharp and will be much more spread out to make it seem like it's glowing as opposed to spotlit. I just can't wait till they get here...
Jburd I realy hope you post a "how to " with picture when it's done really sounds like a kool project. Nice of you to share it too.
