Headlight/Wiper/Defrost/Fog LED conversion

[scubadogg86]

i did indeed do led blue in my 01 explorer i do not have great pics but i can email em to you

 

[shadowless127]

Mustang, just looked at all your LEDs mods, very nice clean work. Will deff be doing the instrument cluster, mirrors, and under the dash LEDs when I get my X.

 

[kythri]

i did indeed do led blue in my 01 explorer i do not have great pics but i can email em to you

That'd be sweet - kythri _AT_ gmail.com will get them to me.

Many thanks!

 

[MustangP51]

What do you use for grinding down the end? Sandpaper, dremel, a file?

Just curious how precise it needs to be.

Don't worry about precision, what you really are doing is ruining the optics of the LED, just grind off the rounded part and thats it, I used a bench grinder.

 

[TheJackal]

Good idea, but I'd rather not hack up the switches just to put LEDs in. Unless they make a 12V LED that's the same size as the bulb.

 

[MustangP51]

Good idea, but I'd rather not hack up the switches just to put LEDs in. Unless they make a 12V LED that's the same size as the bulb.

Hack up the switches?

 

[scubadogg86]

actually you will not hack up you switches at all unless you are a complete knob. here is the led conversion outcome i did the defrost but it was done after these pics. i know they are not the best i will work on it....

 

[MustangP51]

You did a great job, I like the way the blue looks.

 

[shortstack]

just did part of mine heres the pics

little camera tip when taking pics like this, turn the flash off and have the camera sit on something steady so it doesn't move, put on the 2 second timer so when you click the picture and take your hand off it'll give you a few seconds to move your hand, also go in the "tv" mode (full manual) and change the shutter to 2 or 3 seconds and see how the pics turn out.

hope this helps some of you guys

 

[MustangP51]

Looks good.
As for the camera, increasing the exposure time is one good method, I would recommend setting the F stop to the lowest number possible, this increases the cameras aperture, and lets in more light.

 

[scubadogg86]

looks great keep up the good work.... did you grind the heads of the leds

 

[shortstack]

i do not grind my tips off, i cut the tips off with dikes, because grinding leaves the top kinda hazy looking where as cutting/snapping it off with dikes makes it clear.

 

[scubadogg86]

tushay... however i used clear nail polish to get rid of the glaze however what you did saved me a step... do you have any plans to change out your speedometer

 

[shortstack]

i might do indiglo gauges later but thats about it for the speedo

 

[97xlt 4x4]

shortstack, did you use white or blue LED's on your defroster/ fog light assembly? whatever you used, it looks good.

 

[shortstack]

thanks...... their 5mm blue leds 5000mcd's, their actually blue'r then they are in the pic

 

[Gator Jeff]

Looks good! New summer project I think.

 

[patman]

if i use another color led's (say maybe orange or blue or purple) will it show up as the color of the led?

 

[kythri]

I think a lot of it depends on the year.

In my '99, there's green film or green lenses that turn a yellow/white incandescent bulb's light green for the gauge cluster and accessory lighting. If I had put anything other than white LEDs into mine, it'd come out some odd shade because of the green tinting.

On the other hand, the needles are white, so they'd probably take on whatever color the LED is. The needles used to look yellowish-orange from the old incandescents, now they look glowing-white.

See some of the pictures above - I know on some of the switches/buttons, it's possible to pop out the chunk of green plastic "lens" and allow the actual LED color to flow through. On the gauge cluster itself, though? If it's even possible, it's probably a fair amount of work.

 

[SB98UKexplorer]

heres mine in white, yet to finalize the heater controls and shifter lights (UK spec) iv bought white dials that glow in dark to solve trhe green film issue and look much better, dont foget the bulb in the headlight switch.