DISCLAIMER: I will not be responsible for anything that may happen to your car due to this modification. This is DO AT YOUR OWN RISK.

I finished my clear corner LED project over the long weekend. I am extremely happy with the results and all my expectations have been met and exceeded by the end product.

Goals of the project:
1. Better than stock lighting (I live in an urban environment and frequent the streets of NYC. This involves a lot of “pulling out” of side streets. The corner lights aid in visibility when I am slowing inching out onto a busy road.)
2. More reliable / longer lasting lighting.
3. To learn how to build simple circuits for future LED projects.
4. Just because I am an LED *****.

Tools needed:
-Pair of Nissan Skyline clear corner lights
-Dremel Tool with multiple attachments
-Flat blade screwdriver
-Wire Cutters
-Grey Ceramic Header Spray Paint
-Soldering Iron
-Solder
-Copper wiring
-Epoxy Glue
-Silicone Sealant
-RadioShack PC Board
-9V Battery
-(32) Hi Flux Amber 3900MCD/70 Deg. View (Part# HF-Y3970 from Superbrightleds.com)
-(8) 330 Ohm Resistors

Step 1: Paint your PC board with the High Temp Ceramic header paint (Let paint dry!)

Step 2: Solder the first array of four LEDs and the accompanying resistor to the PC board. ( I arranged my LEDs in a series via the following diagram)

Front Side:


Step 3: Add copper wiring between LEDs and resistor.
Back Side:

If you need some info on how to wire LEDs please visit the following sites:

For basic LED series wiring: http://www.theledlight.com/ledcircuits.html
To calculate what resistors to use and for LED array diagrams: http://led.linear1.org/led.wiz

Step 4: Test your array by hooking it up to a 9V battery.


Step 5: Repeat Steps 2-4 for the other three arrays.

Step 6: Finish wiring all the arrays together and do one final battery test to see if they are hooked up correctly.


Step 7: Use the dremel to cut out the circuit from the rest of the PC board (Take measurements to make sure that it will fit into the housing)

Step 8: Next we need to open up the clear corner housing to mount your newly created circuit. Take the dremel to the upper right or left hand corner of the housing. Cut a slit where the clear plastic and back housing meet.


Step 9: Take your flat head screwdriver and carefully pry the back side of the housing away from the clear piece (Do this slowly and carefully).

Step 10: Once the 2 pieces of the housing are separated paint the backside with the header paint. (Let paint dry!)

Step 11: Take the dremel tool to the back part of the housing and cut holes to allow the LED circuit to sit flush (This step takes a lot of minor tweaking to have the circuit sit correctly in the housing. Be Patient!)


Step 12: Once you get the circuit to sit correctly epoxy glue it to the back side housing.


Step 13: Take the (+) and (-) leads and solder them to the appropriate contact points in the clear corner’s original bulb holder.

Step 14: Reattach the bulb holder to the back side of the housing.

Step 15:Add silicone sealant to the exposed circuit in the backside of the housing. (If you want something more permanent you can always use JB Weld to do this. I wanted something I could remove just in case something goes wrong with my circuit. You just want to make sure it is water proof.)

Step 16: Epoxy glue the clear lens back to the rear part of the housing.

Step 17: Add silicone sealant where the clear lens and back side of the housing meet. You want to make sure it is waterproof.

Step 18: Let everything dry for 24 hrs.


Step 19: Repeat all the previous steps for the other clear corner.

Step 20: Hook these bad boys up to your car!

 

Pics of the results:



These things are REAL bright! They are significantly brighter than stock bulbs and worlds away from those "drop in" Matrix LED bulbs which are so popular. If you want the real deal on LED lighting you have to make them yourself.

Anyways, I apologize for the crummy pictures. I need to figure out how to use my camera better! Oh yeah, special thanks goes out to Afr0Puff for answering all my questions!

Next up: Projector Retro + Amber LED Clearance strip. Stay tuned.........

 

nice job pete... looking forward to the next round of work

 

excellent. i may do this on my sedan - been itching for a simple project lately.

 

I bet it looks 1000 times better in person!

 

very nice

 

just wondering, would doing this have any effect on the blinker mod?

 

Excellent work! Very impressive DIY write up! Now do a DIY thread on how do put LEDs all the way down the clearance strip!!!!

 

Do you mean making the clear corners blink? Yes you could do that fairly easily. If I decide to convert my front headlight turn signal to LED I will likely make the clear corners blink (Due to the front signal becoming very directional).

 

I am working on that! I just need to find a driver side headlight housing before I can begin the project.

 

Get a tripod for your camera for those night pictures. Pretty cool mod!

 

Funny thing is I was using a tripod on all of the pics. I just need to learn how to focus/light meter things. Ehhh....I will have my camera skills up to par for the next DIY.

 

I like it. thanks for sharing